Fatherhood in the Forest

[tabouli.livejournal.com]

Reading through people's comments on the last post, I found myself musing on the fathers depicted in the Marlow series. Even though none of them play a major role, there's quite a range.

The omniabsent Commander Marlow seems the kind of father who sees putting an expensively framed cabinet portrait of the family in his room as a substitute for taking leave to see them (see also Nicola's preference for a photo of Giles' ship and Nelson over photos of her family members?), but otherwise appears a friendly, no-nonsense sort of fellow. You have to smile at his pragmatic military preference for Nicola's crew cut in Falconer's Lure.

Arguably the most negative depiction of a father in the series is Mr Hopkins. When Berenice proclaims Meg's tormented family life to the masses, Meg shifts from being a workaholic nonentity to a disturbing reflection of her father's abuse, reinforced by his brief, dour cameo near the end of The Cricket Term (in which Forest hints that he also abuses his wife). On the subject of pastoral care at Kingscote, it's faintly reassuring that the school did attempt to intervene on Meg's behalf, even though it didn't succeed.

Mr West is warm and engaging; Mr Merrick is wry and genial, and seems to have a pretty healthy relationship with his son, where Patrick respects the boundaries he sets and wants his approval without fearing him. Our fleeting glimpse of Mr Todd suggests to me a conservative pillar of community type who indulges and secretly enjoys the eccentricities of his wife. Then, of course, there's Edwin, who is the only father whose parenting we see centre stage in the series.

There was a very interesting discussion of Edwin on Girl's Own in 1998 or so, which revealed a divide among Forest fans. Some would have happily had him locked up for the riding crop scene; others agreed that this was appalling behaviour, but allowed him more leeway. He is certainly a stern and authoritarian parent, though when he see him he is under a lot of stress and seems used to being the disciplinarian half of the parental team: see Rose's appeal to Mrs Marlow when he pushes her to stop reading and go outside. I'm not sure what I think of him as a parent, but he's certainly an interesting and complex character.

What do other people think about Edwin, and Forest fathers in general?

Comments

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

I always thought Ginty needed a Rhett Butler kind of person; someone who doesn't care that she's a vain, changeable piece of fluff; someone that sees behind the pretty mask.

I hadn't considered the similarities between Ginty and Scarlett - that's really interesting!

I think what Ginty mostly needs is several years of standing on her own two feet.

[owl]

Yes, that, too. It would have been interesting to see if the Attic tern kerfuffle had any lasting effect on her. It's the first time in the books any of her mistakes have had serious long-term consequences.

[owl]

That would be Term, not tern. Oops.

[ankaret.livejournal.com]

Not a secret Marlows / Flight of the Heron crossover then? ;)

[owl]

What, someone else who's actually heard of Flight of the Heron?

I leave no tern unstoned

[oursin.livejournal.com]

It's mentioned in Autumn Term as the reason why Nicola wants Thistle as the name of their Guide patrol: I've also heard it name-checked in other works of a similar period. I think I read it, many years ago, but can't remember much about it.