Zohar Shavit,
Poetics of Children's Literature,
The University of Georgia Press,
Athens and London, 1986 ©
Chapter Four
Adults and Children
in Non-Canonized Children's Literature
As discussed earlier, children's literature is subject to
systemic constraints that are imposed on the texts and to
a large extent determine their characterization and pre-
sentation. One of the most powerful constraints is the
special and often ambiguous status of the addressee in a children's
book, since it must appeal to the child reader and the adult, who is
regarded in culture both as superior to the child and as responsible
for deciding what is appropriate reading material for the child. This
tendency has developed because our present culture, or at least the
establishment involved in the production of children's books, attach
great importance to the child's reading material as crucial for his
development and his mental welfare. Hence the phenomenon of in-
stitutionalized and noninstitutionalized censorship of children's
books has developed, which has the power to banish or accept a
children's book (see the dominance of censorship over children's
books in America, discussed in Stein 1975 and Donelson 1976). As a
result, those people whose goal is to guide and direct children's read-
ing -- teachers, librarians, and parents -- are overwhelmed by peri-
odicals evaluating children's literature.
This forces the children's writer to compromise between two ad-
dressees who differ both in their literary tastes as well as in their
norms of realization of the text. The writer must skillfully craft this
compromise, employing a complicated range of "compensation strat-
egies" while remaining within the limits of the system's prevalent
norms, in order to reach both addressees. While most writers appeal
to both addresses in their works, others use either the ambivalent
text, discussed in the previous chapter, or non-canonized children's
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literature, discussed in this chapter, as solutions to the addressee
dilemma.
Although the two solutions normally stand at extreme poles on the
axis of norms of writing for children, they do share one common
denominator: in both, the writer manages to ignore one of his ad-
dressees. In an ambivalent text he uses the child as a "pseudo-
addressee" (by officially addressing the text to him, but primarily and
practically addressing it to adults). In popular literature he ignores
the adult and rejects the need to court him and obtain his approval.
The result of the second approach is usually the rejection of the text
by the "people in culture" who will probably impose various re-
strictions on the text. In most cases, they will attempt to prevent its
being read by children; in extreme cases, they might banish it from
the library or even burn it (see Davis 1976). One consequence is
certain: the book will not be recommended by teachers and li-
brarians. In fact, they will do their best to boycott its purchase and
hence threaten its commercial prospects.
Faced with these consequences, why are writers for children ready
to take the risk? This question is even more crucial when the main
movitation for writing and publishing popular literature is recognized
as the opportunity not to gain status and recognition (the chances of
that are poor) but rather to achieve commercial success. Interestingly
enough, these condemned books do eventually manage to succeed
commercially. As a matter of fact, they are sometimes extremely suc-
cessful. Surveys of reading habits and publishers' reports show that
the more lowly regarded writers are, the better their books sell (Enid
Blyton's books and the Nancy Drew series illustrate the matter; see
Donelson 1978 and Whitehead 1977). How is this possible? How do
the condemned texts manage to overcome the boycott and sell so
well? The answer for this seeming paradox involves many factors, not
all of which can be discussed here. My aim is simply to focus on the
textual features which, in my view, are responsible for this success.
However, the boycott imposed on these books ironically only in-
creases their sales, for it forces children willing to read them to buy
them -- they are not in the local library. Obviously, this is not the main
reason for their huge success. Rather, their great appeal to such a
huge audience has to do with the stereotypical plots and charac-
terization common to any popular literature (see Kreuzer 1967,
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Even-Zohar 1978a). In the case of children's literature, the ster-
eotypical presentation involves the texts portrayal of a children s world
in which adults hardly exist at all. In fact, this portrayal is one of the
manifestations of the writer's ignoring of the adult reader. Moreover,
popular literature for children not only tends to ignore adults, but
also to create an opposition between two worlds, based on deictic
oppositions (an opposition between two territorial dimensions
and/or two dimensions of time, suggesting an uncompromising
boundary between children and adults).
Thus, the text offers a world that excludes adults; even if adults are
present, they are subject to negative evaluation. Of course, the por-
trayal of a children's world in which adults do not take part is also
typical of canonized children's literature.1 There are quite a few can-
onized texts for children where not only "orphaning" of children
occurs, but a total separation between children and adults takes
place.
In this respect, the difference between canonized and non-can-
onized children's literature lies in their attitude toward the adult
world. While canonized children's literature takes the codex of the
adult world as a model for imitation, non-canonized children's liter-
ature tries to challenge and to create the impression of a new codex,
typical of children only. Indeed, it is usually no more than impres-
sion, because the new codex imitates that of the adults in many re-
spects. However, while in canonized literature the separation is only
physical, non-canonized literature does try to create a mental separa-
tion, but not always with much success. The two opposing worlds of
adults and children in non-canonized children's literature will be ex-
plored here by analyzing a sample of Enid Blyton's texts (as well as
some remarks on the parallel American case of the Nancy Drew
series).
Enid Blyton was chosen primarily because she was both prolific
(writing about six hundred books) and popular (selling millions of
copies, Stoney 1974). Her books were translated into many lan-
guages and published in many countries, including the United States
1 The handling of adults and children in canonized children's literature is also very
different from adult literature, which uses similar subjects mainly for allegorical p
poses. For instance, Richard Hughes's A High Wind in Jamaica describes children as
little murderers, which would never be acceptable in children's literature.
95
(which is unusual, as American children's literature tends to translate
very little, and if it does, mostly "classic" texts). Some of Blyton's
books were even made into a television series. In short, Blyton's suc-
cess is beyond doubt and by no means accidental; consequently, her
case is of significance. In addition, it is my belief that characteristics
in Blyton's books are also typical to less prominent popular literature.
For similar reasons, the parallel American case of the Nancy Drew
series is an ideal model for investigation (for a more detailed analysis
of the Nancy Drew series, see Donelson 1978). Written over the
course of fifty years (since 1930) by several ghost writers (mainly by
Harriet Adams) under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene, the books
of the Nancy Drew series have also sold millions of copies. At the
same time, the series has also been one of the most defamed in the
United States.
In addition to the parallel success and "low esteem," the Nancy
Drew series resembles Blyton's books (in spite of obvious dif-
ferences) as far as the main issues of portrayal of the relationship
between adults and children is concerned. The fact that the two se-
ries differ in prominent respects, such as the hero's age (children
versus adolescents) and the structure of the plot (one plot versus two
parallel intersecting plots), should not prevent the observance of the
overall similarity between them in one of the most important issues.
The two series face similar problems and offer similar solutions in
handling the relationship between adults and children, while main-
taining and advancing middle-class values. Nevertheless, my discus-
sion will focus on Enid Blyton's texts, as they prove to be an ideal test
case for quite a few kinds of national popular children's literatures.
A Test Case: Enid Blyton's Works
CHARACTERIZATION OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS: SOME
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
How does Blyton portray children? Whether it is the Four, the Five,
the Seven, or any mystery, the same portrayal of children repeats
96
itself: a group of children of well-to-do families are involved (mostly
during their vacation) in some adventure or mystery that they manage
to solve without adult help. Only toward the end of the story do they
bring it to the attention of their parents or the police (or both), at
which time they are highly praised by those adults. Deviations from
this structure were found to be slight and insignificant, after sam-
pling eighteen books that were picked at random and checked
carefully.
This portrayal of children posed some difficulties for Blyton, es-
pecially as far as the relations between adults and children are con-
cerned in regard to the values of the texts. Blyton portrays middle-
class children whose values the text does not violate, but rather ac-
cepts and even reinforces (for a similar problem, see Neusch?fer
1971). How then is it possible to maintain middle-class values that
assume both the dominant position of parents in the hierarchical
family structure and the children's obedience and at the same time
that create two opposing worlds between children and adults? The
answer to this conflict involves the sophisticated presentation of
adults and a varied range of devices used to create an exclusive world
for children.
Adults as described by Blyton fall into three different categories in
regard to their presentation in the text and the extent of their involve-
ment in the adventure (these categories also overlap with their social
standing, their physical description, and consequently, their evalua-
tion by the text). Thus, during the adventure adults surrounding chil-
dren either hardly take part, disturb the children and almost prevent
them from solving the mystery, or constitute the criminals against
whom the children fight.
In Nancy Drew books, this pattern is slightly different, not only
because Nancy is much older than Blyton's children, but mainly be-
cause she is not part of a group of children. Still, in most cases Nancy
manages to solve the mystery with the help of her girlfriends, Bess
and George (George, by the way, is a boyish-looking girl who bears a
most striking similarity to Blyton's George). In some cases, she is also
assisted by her boyfriends, Ned and Dave. However, Nancy shares
with her English counterpart a high social standing, good manners,
and of course an uncanny ability to solve mysteries.
97
RELATIONS BETWEEN CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS
Blyton's texts emphasize the good manners and education of her
middle-class children. Children of other classes rarely enter the
scene; if they do, the text repeatedly stresses their inferior status.
This occurs in the text's unflattering description of the gypsy girl,
who will never be like the children of the Five:
She had been taught to clean her teeth and wash and do her hair....
. . . but all that was forgotten now that she was leading a gypsy life
again!
"In a day or two she'll be the filthy, dirty, tangly-haired, rude girl she
was when we just knew her," said George, combing out her own hair
extra well. (Five Have a Wonderful Time, 100, my italics)
On the other hand, the text always emphasizes the good manners of
the children:
Julian stood up politely. (Five on Finniston Farm, 36, my italics)
"We like talking to Janie," said Julian politely. (76, my italics)
The Nancy Drew texts take her good manners for granted; hence it
is necessary to account for any seeming deviation from it. For in-
stance, when Nancy is eager to read a letter she has just received, the
text remarks: "A letter from Europe was something she did not often
receive, and she was tempted to be impolite enough to discover its
secret" (Nancy's Mysterious Letter, 7); or when she reads a letter that
was not addressed to her, the following explanation is given: "Nancy
had been taught that mail is a personal thing and unless specific
permission is given, it is to be left strictly unread by anyone but the
addressee" (Nancy s Mysterious Letter, 167). The presentation of chil-
dren as well-mannered, middle-class children made it impossible to
create a clash between parents and children. A clash of this sort
might cause inconsistency in the values of the text and blur its clear-
cut values, which do not allow for a complicated value system. On the
other hand, a clash with parents seems to be inevitable once the
children begin their adventure by themselves. Skillfully Blyton man-
aged to avoid the clash with parents by utilizing the following three
devices: parents are "heard but not seen"; parents are replaced by
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substitutes with whom a clash is not only permitted, but advisable;
when the text portrays a clash between child and parent (or relative),
the parent eventually turns out to be a false one, making the child
only serve as an alibi for some devious intention of the false parent.
The device of parents "heard but not seen" is very common. In
some books, Blyton simply gets rid of parents by sending them away.
Either the children are on vacation or the parents are on vacation or
both, and they communicate via the telephone or letters. When this
trick is worn out, Blyton's parents become too ill for the children to
see; she even goes as far as sending parents to a hospital. For in-
stance, in The Secret Seven, the mother is just going to a meeting: "I
think Mummy's going out tonight, so it should be all right" (The
Secret Seven, 65). In Five Are Together Again, the children cannot get
near the parents: "You see, neither your uncle nor I have had scarlet
fever -- so we are in quarantine, and mustn't have anyone near us"
(13). Meanwhile, in Five Run Away Together, George's mother is taken
to a hospital: "Your mother was suddenly taken very ill . . . and
they've taken her away to hospital and your father went with her"
(32). Nevertheless, not always such a drastic removal of parents is
required. In quite a few texts, parents do exist somewhere in the
background, but they rarely participate in the scenes (sometimes not
even in the dialogues and almost never in the adventures themselves).
Their absence is accounted for by standard societal expectations:
fathers are at work, hence, no problems raised; mothers are attend-
ing some meeting or giving a little party, so obviously, children must be
kept away (the territorial boundaries of children are discussed later).
The absence of parents from dialogues (much of the texts is de-
voted to dialogues) is not so total and systematic as their absence
from the actual adventure. Dialogues in which parents participate do
occur, but quite often the parent's speech is reported or given in
embedded speech or the parent speaks to the child from behind, thus
achieving his actual absence from the scene. For instance, in The
Secret Seven, mother does take part in the dialogue, but she is not to
be seen:
"Janet, Janet, what's the matter, dear? What's happened?"
"Oh -- nothing, Mummy," called back Janet, suddenly remembering
that this was Secret Society business. (38, my italics)
99
In the same book Peter reports that "Mummy said we could go out;
it's a nice sunny morning" (10, my italics), while in another case the
child's speech is given in direct speech but the mother's in embedded
speech: " 'Will she be able to come and see us tomorrow morning?'
He asked Barbara's mother, and she said yes, she thought so" (10, my
italics). In Nancy Drew books, an even less complicated solution was
offered: Nancy's mother died when the girl was very young. Her sub-
stitute, Hannah Gruen, is very kind, though her low social position
precludes the possibility that she takes part in the adventure. Nancy's
father, on the other hand, supports his daughter, appreciates her tal-
ent, and even asks her for help. But even he seldom participates in
the adventure. The text always manages to find an excuse to exclude
him from it, as is plainly evident in the following episode: "Nancy
knew, even before she opened it, what the envelope contained. She
had often found such messages from her parent, and always they
contained the same announcement: ' -- an unexpected call out of
town. I will not be home for two or three days"' (Nancy's Mysterious
Letter, 91). Either Nancy goes on vacation, or her father goes away, or
both are away; still they continue to communicate by telephone, even
at the expense of long-distance calls (as they do in The Mystery of the
Brass Bound Trunk). However, as in Blyton's books, Nancy's father
physically exists in most cases only at the beginning of the adventure
or when it reaches its climax. In such a way, the texts manage to
reinforce the actual existence of children and minimize the presence
of parents whose existence they cannot cancel altogether.
Middle-class ethos is also maintained by the text's emphasis on the
children's attitude toward their parents and on their good manners.
The children are always polite to their parents, respect them dearly,
and usually maintain ideal relationships, as is evident from the fol-
lowing description of Nancy Drew's father: "Carson Drew was a tall,
distinguished-looking man of middle age, with keen, twinkling blue
eyes like those of his daughter. He and his only child were good
companions and shared a delightful sense of humour" (The Ghost of
Blackwood Hall, 20). In contrast, the attitude of Blyton's children to-
ward their parents is emphasized by the fact that they always obey
their parents' orders. Moreover, the texts stress their obedience in a
typical English manner: they are never late for their meals unless
they have some extraordinary reasons! (In Five on Finniston Farm,
100
they are trapped underground and thus cannot come to tea on
time -- a lesser excuse than that will not do.)
SUBSTITUTES AND PSEUDO-PARENTS
The children's respectful attitude toward their parents is especially
prominent when compared to their attitude toward pseudo-parents
or substitutes. The only real father with whom a clash occurs is
George's father in the Five. But, take note: the seeming clash with
George's father is "justified" by his characterization as a volatile ge-
nius and by the knowledge that it is only a temporary conflict. As a
matter of fact, George's father loves her, understands her, and only
wants her to have the best: "He was a very clever and hard-working
scientist, impatient, hot-tempered, kindly and very forgetful. How he
wished his daughter was not so exactly like him" (Five Have a Won-
derful Time, 13). However, in all other cases the conflict is with a
pseudo-parent. It is either a stepfather (like Mr. Andrews in Five Go to
Smugglers' Top) or a pseudo-relative, who takes the child under his
care after the death of the child's parents, mainly in order to use the
child for criminal purposes (such as Martin Corton's father in Five on
Kirrin Island Again or Novie's uncle in Five Go Off in a Caravan).
For fear of contradicting the middle-class ethos, Blyton had to
avoid any clash with parents. But she did need some kind of conflict
between children and adults to create two opposing worlds. To do
this, Blyton compensates for her handling of parents by justifying
confrontation with other adults who populate the texts. The first and
most important compensation is given in the form of a parent-sub-
stitute whom the texts very often portray as the source of conflict with
the children. There might be a very simple conflict with one's nurse
(Miss Ely in The Secret Seven) or a very serious one, as in Five Run
Away Together or Five Go Adventuring Again. In Five Run Away Together,
the substitute is the Stick family, requested by George's father to take
care of the children when her mother is taken to the hospital
(George's father forces the children to obey them: "Surely you chil-
dren can see to yourselves and make do with Mrs. Stick till I get
back!" [40]). In the end, it is only thanks to the children that the
Stick's plot to kidnap a child and rob George's house is unsuccessful.
In Five Go Adventuring Again, the substitute is Mr. Roland, who is
101
hired by the parents to teach the children during their vacation. He is
liked by everybody but George and eventually turns out to be a spy
who is after the important scientific work of George's father.
Again, the Nancy Drew books are much simpler. The texts do not
offer substitutes but rather two options: either you are a criminal or
you are a virtuous person who helps to catch criminals. Moreover,
the texts hardly allow for any surprises concerning the criminals, and
Nancy almost always knows who they are, almost from the beginning,
sometimes even before meeting them!
THE CRIMINALS
The preceding discussion has shown that Blyton compensates for the
need to portray peaceful relations with parents by increasing the
negative attributions of their substitutes. She does this mainly by
placing the substitutes into the group of criminals with whom the
children fight, a group that stands opposite the parents on the value
scale of the text. The criminals as fixtures in every text provide a
satisfactory solution for the need to create the opposing worlds of
children and adults. They do not violate the ethos of the text, yet they
play an important role in the development of the adventure. The
criminals are either parent-substitutes or people of inferior social
standing (often physically and/or mentally defective and almost al-
ways rude and violent). Note the description of Mr. Stick in Five Run
Away Together: "He was not a very pleasant sight. He had not shaved
for some days, and his cheeks and chin were bluish-black . . . his
hands were black and so were his finger-nails. He had untidy hair,
much too long, and a nose exactly like Edgar's" (42). Moreover, one
feature is common to all criminals with no exception -- they are
ruthless to pets, especially dogs. Cruelty to pets (the children always
have a dog -- Timmy of the Five, Scamper of the Seven) even be-
comes a distinguishing sign of criminals because the dog's disap-
proval of a person foreshadows a later negative evaluation by the text.
The scope allotted to a person's attitude toward the children's dog
(and vice versa) equals and even exceeds all other characterizations.
As a matter of fact, more often than not very little is known about the
criminals, but much is always known about their attitude toward the
dog. For instance, Mr. Roland's dislike for dogs and Timmy's indif-
102
ference to him serve as the first clues to suspect him in Five Go
Adventuring Again, as does Timmy's apparent distaste for Martin and
his father in Five on Kirrin Island Again. But when the great-grand-
father of Five on Finniston Farm seems to be ruthless, his genuine
good nature is revealed in his attitude toward Timmy:
George was staring in amazement at Timmy. "He's never done a thing
like that before," she said.
"All dogs are like that with old Granddad." (Five on Finniston Farm,
31)
This device helps to emphasize the children's point of view because it
adopts their scale of evaluation; the children, as different from adults,
judge people this way. In Blyton's books, their judgment is eventually
revealed as a just one.
In the Nancy Drew series there is no need for such distinguishing
signs as dislike of pets or physical looks because Nancy seldom
makes mistakes in identifying the criminals. She usually identifies
them promptly, and I have not found a single case where she was
mistaken. In one instance, she concludes that it is the postman's
stepbrother, just from hearing that the postman indeed has a brother
(Nancy's Mysterious Letter). In other cases she immediately knows who
the criminal is either after seeing his hand or his silhouette:
She remembered where she had seen a hand like that! It belonged to a
fellow who used to work at Larry's service station. She had not liked his
insolent manner. (The Secret of the Wooden Lady, 16)
Nancy became excited upon hearing this description of Brex. The
footprints in the wood had been those of a tall, slender man! (The Ghost
of Blackwood Hall, 21)
However, both in the Nancy Drew series and in Blyton's books, the
children's efforts to solve the mystery and fight against the criminals
are always the core of the story. Their correct judgment and adept
instincts in fighting crime are present in every text. In fact, it may
well be that the "raison d'?tre" of the texts' adventure is to reveal the
children's virtue and judgment in contrast to those of adults. The
latter, while not active participants in the adventure, often become
103
obstacles to the children's successful efforts. Such an obstacle is the
policeman Goon (a constant figure in the mysteries of "Fatty" and his
friends), who always tries to prevent the children from solving
crimes. Invariably he fails to solve the mystery himself; moreover, he
is always surprised to find out that the children did manage to follow
the right clues and thus to draw the right conclusions (see The Mys-
tery of Holly Lane and The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage).
Still, as soon as the children manage to solve the mystery and the
story almost reaches its end, adults who previously disappeared from
the scene re-enter it. Reunion of the previously opposing worlds is
achieved and the regular hierarchy is back in order, once parents
and/or police inspectors take over and criminals are handed to them.
Peter told his father and mother what had happened and his father, in
amazement, went to examine Kerry Blue....
"Good work!" said the inspector . . . "Very good work indeed." (The
Secret Seven, 89-90, 93)
"I certainly think these children deserve a reward for the good work
they have done," remarked the inspector. (Five Run Away Together, 180)
"The inspector's awfully pleased with us," said Julian. "And so is Sir
James Lawton-Harrison, too, apparently. We're to get a reward." (Five
on a Secret Trail, 182)
Like the children in Blyton's books, Nancy Drew also manages to
solve crimes without the police's help. Nevertheless, she enjoys their
appreciation and cooperation, as is seen in The Secret of the Wooden
Lady: " 'Thanks very much, Miss Drew,' the [police] officer said.
'Just one more debt this department owes you"' (17). Sometimes,
however, the police officers envy her efforts (check, for instance,
Nancy's Mysterious Letter, 24).
In most cases, though, the police do not take part in the mystery
itself and come to Nancy's help when everything is almost over and
the reunion of the two worlds is achieved; for example, in The Bun-
galow Mystery the police arrive toward the end, just at the right mo-
ment to arrest the criminals whom Nancy so skillfully has managed to
find: "She was right. Help had come! A moment later police and
emergency squad cars stopped at the top of the ravine. Four officers,
104
two stretcherbearers and a doctor, clad in white, hurried down to the
group" (169). Until then, until the reunion of the two opposite
worlds, the text maintains an exclusive world of children.
THE CREATION OF A CHILDREN S WORLD
How does Blyton manage to build an exclusive world of children?
The creation of a children's world is primarily achieved by separating
the two worlds and by focusing on children who solve serious and
even dangerous mysteries by themselves. Clearly, the children do
take risks and endanger themselves. In The Secret Seven, Peter and
Jack are caught by the criminals, who subsequently beat them and
lock them in the cupboard and later in the cellar. In Five Go to Smug-
glers' Top, the children are caught by the smugglers, who imprison
them in the underground tunnels and leave them to starve and suffer;
likewise, the kidnappers of Five Have a Wonderful Time imprison the
children, only this time in the high castle tower. In Five on Kirrin
Island Again, the children's lives are in danger as the criminals threat-
en to blow up the whole island.
Nancy Drew also seems to find herself in threatening situations.
Usually she gets locked in at least once in every mystery. Often be-
fore that, she is either hit or kidnapped, as is evident from the follow-
ing three examples:
The arm was tight against Nancy's throat; a man's arm in a rough coat
sleeve, cutting off her breathing. His fingers pressed into her left shoul-
der. (The Secret of the Wooden Lady, 6)
Nancy told them how the hand had clutched at her throat when the
lights went out in the studio.
"I tried to scream and couldn't. I was lifted bodily and carried out of
the room."
"Where?" George asked.
"I couldn't see. A cold, wet cloth was clapped over my face. I was
taken to the basement of an empty house and left there, bound hand
and foot." (The Ghost of Blackwood Hall, 36)
Apparently prepared for such emergencies, the two men pulled heavy
cords from their pockets and tightly bound the girls.
105
Karl Driscoll dragged in Susan, who was also tied up, and the three
girls were forced roughly down the cellar stairs, through the passage,
and into the beach house. Raskin locked the cellar door from the inside
and pocketed the key.... Karl rasped, "You girls will never see
daylight again." (The Clue of the Broken Locket, 167-68)
The impression of a children's world is created not only by focusing
on the children's adventures and adopting their evaluation; this effect
is further enhanced by the creation of an environment of children --
in essence by "framing" their world. This framing, in which a tem-
porary boundary between children and adults is erected, becomes
possible thanks to three devices (aside from the handling of the adult
world): the stylistic level, the location of the adventure and its timing,
and the description of the way the children pass their time. All three
devices, which will be described here briefly, contribute to the por-
trayal of a separate world for children.
In manipulating the stylistic level, Blyton not only uses simple vo-
cabulary but also utilizes words whose stylistic function is to desig-
nate a child's world. In this connection, her common use of various
expressions and exclamations are of special importance. For in-
stance, "bother," "blow," "golly," "gosh," "bags I don't do that," "fib-
ber," "old thing," and "never say die" appear frequently and empha-
size the existence of the children's world.
In Nancy Drew books, an even simpler vocabulary and syntax is
used; the lexicon of the text is very limited and the syntax tends to cut
sentences short. However, I could not trace a similar use of ex-
pressions and exclamations, except for George's use of "Hypers."
The reason for this could be the girls' age (they are adolescents and
not children), or because the series has other devices (which Blyton's
lacks) to create the girls' world, such as the descriptions of their
looks, dress, and cars. The following detailed description of Nancy's
dress, and her careful and skillful driving habits reveal her distinctly
adolescent world:
I'll wear my raccoon coat to the game, but I ought to have a hat in the
Emerson colors. Orange and violet -- hm! Perhaps one of those snappy
new sport ones in violet with an orange feather. My lavender evening
dress with the -- no, I'll wear the deep yellow one with a corsage of
violets. (Nancy s Mysterious Letter, 81)
106
Nancy's new car had all the latest devices and its clever driver certainly
utilized them, yet without taking undue chances....
The swift autumnal twilight had set in, and Nancy switched on her
parking lights to comply with the "sunset law." Although traffic was still
thick in the heart of the city, Nancy threaded through it without diffi-
culty. (Nancy s Mysterious Letter, 17, 28).
But the most important device that Blyton (and to a certain degree
Keene) utilizes in order to frame the children's world is not the styl-
istic level; the effect of framing the children's world is mostly
achieved by descriptions of the times the children spend together. In
all of Blyton's books, children spend much of their time eating. Prob-
ably assuming that children are attracted to food as adults are to sex,
Blyton seldom avoids an opportunity to describe vividly the children's
meals, as the following extracts illustrate:
"Fried sausages and onions, potatoes, a tin of sliced peaches and I'll
make a custard," said Anne, at once. (Five Have a Wonderful Time, 32)
They opened a tin of meat, cut huge slices of bread and made sand-
wiches. Then they opened a tin of pineapple chunks and ate those,
spooning them out of the tin, full of sweetness and juice. After that,
they still felt hungry, so they opened two tins of sardines and dug them
out with biscuits. It made a really grand meal. (Five Run Away Together,
103)
Soon, they were all sitting down at the tea-table, glad to see a wonder-
ful spread! Great slices of thickly buttered bread, home-made jam,
home-made cheese, a fat ginger cake, a fruit cake, a dish of ripe plums,
and even a home cooked ham if anyone wanted something more sub-
stantial. (Five on Finniston Farm, 165)
The same phenomenon appears in Nancy Drew books, though in a
less prominent manner. Each text devotes at least several paragraphs
to a detailed account of Nancy's delicious meals, as the following
excerpts describe:
Hannah announced dinner, and the girls went into the dining room.
. . . Plates of clear tomato soup with brown crispy croutons were await-
ing them. (Nancy's Mysterious Letter, 95)
107
Nancy poured two glasses of milk. Lastly, she made a crisp salad of
lettuce and tomatoes and marinated it with a tangy French dressing.
(The Bungalow Mystery, 46)
The dinner was delicious. Bess could not resist topping hers off with
pecan pie. (The Clue of the Broken Locket, 8)
The fixation upon the children's meals, besides being a good way to
fill up the pages, is part of Blyton's effort to adopt the children's point
of view; this effort is further seen in her manipulation of time and
location. As previously discussed, Blyton's adventures usually take
place during vacations, when deviations from everyday rules are per-
mitted, even within the strict framework of middle-class values. For
example, the adventures in The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage, Five Go
Adventuring Again, Five on Kirrin Island Again, Five Go Off in a Car-
avan, Five Go to Smugglers' Top, and Five on Finniston Farm all occur
during vacations. Even when it is not vacation, the children's secret
meetings do not take place in "regular territory." Blyton's consistency
in handling this matter is rather surprising. Not even in a single ad-
venture do the children gather at their own houses (unless a house
becomes extraneous for some reason). Sometimes the children meet
in the shade at the bottom of their garden ("Fatty's" garden or Peter
and Janet's of the Seven); other times, Blyton goes as far as sending
them away -- perhaps to the nearest island (Five on a Treasure Island)
or even as far as Faynights Castle where they spend their vacations
on gypsy caravans (Five Have a Wonderful Time), which become mod-
ern caravans in Five Go to Smugglers' Top.
Such consistency cannot be observed in Nancy Drew books, as
some of the mysteries are solved when she is at home (see The Secret
of the Old Clock and Nancy's Mysterious Letter). Still, her father is usu-
ally absent and so her home becomes her own territory. Quite a few
Nancy Drew mysteries, nevertheless, also occur when she is far away
from home (The Bungalow Mystery, The Mystery of the Fire Dragon, The
Clue of the Broken Locket). Sometimes Nancy even goes so far as
to fly to Arizona (in The Secret of Shadow Ranch) or to leave the
United States for South America (in The Mystery of the Brass Bound
Trunk).
By using such techniques, Blyton and Keene manage to achieve the
physical separation of adults and children. The deictic oppositions
108
are not just a metaphor but create a reality in which two distinct
territories exist. It is only toward the end of the story, when the ter-
ritorial separation disappears and the children have returned to their
ordinary territory, that the two opposing worlds merge into one. Once
the children are back to everyday life, the ordinary hierarchy gov-
erned by middle-class values prevails. The temporary illusion that
Blyton and Keene create of an exclusive children's world disap-
pears -- only to appear in the next adventure, and attract more and
more enthusiastic child readers and less and less adult approval.
Texts
ENID BLYTON'S WORKS
The Mystery:
The Mystery of Holly Lane. 1953. London: Metheun.
The Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage. 1954. London: Methuen.
The Four:
The Adventurous Four. [1941] 1972. London: Dean and Son.
The Adventurous Four Again [1947] 1973. London: Dean and Son.
The Five:
Five on a Treasure Island. 1942. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1950. New
York: Crowell.
Five Go Adventuring Again. 1943. London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1951.
New York: Crowell.
Five Run Away Together. [1944] 1964. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Five Go to Smugglers' Top. 1945. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Five Go Off in a Caravan. 1946. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Five on Kirrin Island Again. 1947. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Five Have a Wonderful Time. [1952] 1963. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Five on a Secret Trail. [1956] 1978. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Five on Finniston Farm. [1960] 1978. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Five Are Together Again. [1963] 1978. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
The Seven:
The Secret Seven. [1949] 1977. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Published
as The Secret Seven and the Mystery of the Empty House. 1972. Chicago:
Children's Press.
109
Well Done, Secret Seven. 1951. Leicester: Brockhampton Press. Published as
The Secret Seven and the Tree House Adventure. 1972. Chicago: Children's
Press.
The Secret Seven on the Trail. 1952. Leicester: Brockhampton Press. Pub- lished as The Secret Seven and the Railroad Mystery. 1972. Chicago: Chil-
dren's Press.
Secret Seven Fireworks. 1959. Leicester: Brockhampton Press. Published as
The Secret Seven and the Bonfire Mystery. 1972. Chicago: Children's Press.
Shock for the Secret Seven. 1961. Leicester: Brockhampton Press. Published
as The Secret Seven and the Case of the Dog Lover. 1972. Chicago: Children's
Press.
THE NANCY DREW SERIES
The Secret of the Old Clock. 1930. New York: Grosset and Dunlop.
Nancy's Mysterious Letter 1932. New York: Grosset and Dunlop.
The Haunted Shadow Boat. [1937] 1972. London and Glasgow: Collins.
The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk. 1940. New York: Grosset and Dunlop.
The Bungalow Mystery. [1940] 1960. New York: Grosset and Dunlop
The Secret of Shadow Ranch. [1945] 1971. London and Glasgow: Collins.
The Ghost of Blackwood Hall. [1947] 1975. London: Fontana Paperbacks.
The Mystery of the Fire Dragon. 1961. New York: Grosset and Dunlop.
The Clue of the Broken Locket. 1965. New York: Grosset and Dunlop.
The Secret of the Wooden Lady. 1967. New York: Grosset and Dunlop.
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Contents