Anne, The Real Conscience of The Famous Five

Much has been written about Anne, one of the human members in Enid Blyton's Famous Five
series. Most of the literature on Anne has portrayed her as being a very weak and meek human being that may not be an inspiration for any one that is strong-willed and decisive. However, the question becomes as to whether this is what the real Anne stands for, let alone portrays.

In the first Famous Five book, Five On A Treasure Island, Anne, to some extent,lives up to the stereotypical archetype that many of her critics have portrayed of her, for she is quite meek as an Eileen Soper illustration of her taking a plate of bread and cheese to Georgeafter the latter's kicking her in the ankle during lunch. Of course, George is remorseful of this act as she demonstrably hugs Anne. Contrary to what some stereotypical prototypes of Anne would later be in the series, she participates equally and fully in several activities in this adventure asdemonstrated by several Eileen Soper illustrations. Anne's ambivalence toward adventures is well demonstrated in several adventures to come such as in Five Fall Into Adventure when towards the end of this adventure she is animated at having been left out of most of it and vows never to be left out of future adventures, yet in the following adventure, Five On A Hike Together, she expresses dismay at falling into unplanned adventures!!!

From observation, Anne is the most meticulous and intelligent of all the four children in the wayshe undertakes her duties, as well as how she does in the academic arena. For instance, inFive Go Adventuring Again, among the four children, she is the only one that doesnot need tutorial coaching. In Five On Kirrin Island Again, Anne is the most ardentsupporter of Uncle Quentin's "controversial" scientific plans on the island. Later in Five Have A Mystery To Solve, she is commended for having come first in her class in addition to having been captain of the games in her school. The two feats are often difficult to attain school. Anne can also differentiate between venomous and non-venomous snakes. In Five Run Away Together, Anne is meticulous at making beds; an aspect that Julian notes.Though many critics cite such activities as stereotypical, by the time we get to Five Go To Demon's Rocks, it is Dick that is making the beds. Again in Five Run AwayTogether, it is Anne that first figures out that the scream that Julian and George may have heard in the night, during the children's escape to Kirrin Island, might be that of the kidnapped girl, Jennifer Mary Armstrong, despite her having been asleep at the time. In Five Go Off In A Caravan, it is Anne that first notices that a strong elephant is pulling one of thecaravans; an observation that is assisted with an Eileen Soper illustration.

In Five Get Into Trouble, Anne stays up in a tree during Dick's mistaken kidnapping. Understandably, Anne is physically unable to come to Dick's rescue because of her physique andin any case, were she to alert the kidnappers that she was around, she too would be taken prisoner and thus, the other children will not know what has become of the two. Therefore, from a political point of view, Anne plays the role of a participant-observer whereby through her intellect, she can see as well as be witness to the kidnapping of her brother at the same time as this will give her the opportunity of narrating what has actually happened to Dick. In Five On A Hike Together, Anne rescues Timmy's hind legs from a tree branch by burrowing her self in a hole and pushing them out. Despite her appearance as being mild and meek, Anne has another side to her character. For example, in an Eileen Soper illustration in Five Go Adventuring Again, her demeanor is seen to have changed in the process of her accusing her instructor, Mr. Roland, of being horrid for not permitting Timmy the dog to live in the house after having bitten him. In hind sight, Anne may well afford to accuse Mr. Roland in that manner, after all he is not coaching her tutorially because of her superior intelligence. In Five Go To Billycock Hill, Julian tells George that there is another side to Anne's character, that is her fiery temper that is unknown to the public. For instance, Anne is willing to bash people on their heads with their transistor radios (then a fairly new invention) for disturbing the peace in their countryside encampments. Anne can also detect when someone is as cold as Mr. Lenoir in Five Go To Smuggler's Top, while she can act like a tiger in Five Have A Mystery To Solve.

All in all, Anne appears in most adventures as a "moderating" influence vis-a-vis the other three kids. For example, George has "tomboyish" mannerisms , while Dick at times exhibits "eccentric"foolhardiness, whereas Julian exudes authoritarian tendencies. No wonder Anne could be called the real "ambience" and "conscience" of the Famous Five in light of what she exhibits in several crucial situations in these adventures; an aspect she demonstrates to the very end of the series whereby she expresses concern at the fate of Charlie the Chimp should his boss, Mr. Wooh, a criminal, wind up in jail.

Stephen Isabirye is the author of The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (http://www.thefamousfiveapersonalanecdotage.blogspot.com/).