Francie Wilford
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#1: Francie Wilford Author: KatieLocation: A Yorkshire lass in London PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 1:00 pm


Please discuss Francie here...

 


#2:  Author: Alison HLocation: Manchester PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:58 pm


I think Francie was basically just a pain! I know she lost both her parents when she was young, but that was no excuse for being rude to her stepmother's new husband. & being horrible to Ruey because she was jealous of Ruey's friendship with Margot was pathetic - you could understand it from a younger kid but they must've been 15 or 16 by then. & didn't she refuse to own up to messing about in lessons once and let someone else get the blame, or am I mixing her up with someone else? I know she reformed in the end but we didn't see much of her after that.

 


#3:  Author: betterincini PostPosted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 8:19 pm


I quite agree with that, and to be honest, Margot herself was just as bad

 


#4:  Author: BessLocation: Cambridge UK PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 12:54 am


She was a pain, but not an unrealistic one, I thought - at my college, there'd always be just a few people in each year group (reguardless of age and 'maturity' or ability) who were total pests, and I guess Francie was one of those. Possibly attention seeking. I always felt somewhere in between being sorry for Francie, and yet having an urge to slap her.

Her sudden intense hatred of Ruey was a bit odd, given that she knew Ruey had been adopted by the Maynards and they were expected to look after her.

I liked that she came to realise she wasn't the only person with problems, and that her own problem really wasn't all that bad. I wish she just hadn't disappeared, and Ruey too (unless I just have missed the book in which they're central characters, lol.)

 


#5:  Author: ChangnoiLocation: New Mexico, USA PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 2:30 am


I rather liked Francie. She was someone for whom EBD's normal methods of treating a schoolgirl didn't seem to work. She had problems, but no one "butted in" and solved them. They just left her to them. They punished her and were lenient with her by turns in an attempt to get her to work and behave, and they're surprised when it didn't work.

Francie doesn't seem to have had THAT much consistency in her life to begin with, what with the changes of parents and all, and then she goes to school where her behavior is never treated the same way...it will make for a troubled child.

Yes, she's obnoxious, but so would I be in that situation. Because the school has not been consistent in its dealings with her, how is she supposed to know where she stands? How is she supposed to know what is acceptable and what isn't if she's gotten away with things before?

I feel, essentially, that she's just a troubled kid whom no one pays adequate attention to. Where was Mary-Lou when you needed her?

Apparently I cannot get off the child psychology soapbox this evening...sigh...

Chang

 


#6:  Author: LizBLocation: Oxon, England PostPosted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 11:07 am


That's a good point about Francie's inconsistent treatment Chang.

I like the bit in Genius where Francie has to learn the poem as a punishment and Nina comes along and encourages her but pointing out the rhythm in it and Francie then gets into it to the point where she decides to learn the rest of the poem even when she doesn't have to.

And for those who want to see Francie play a bigger role in her later school life, I recommend Ray's excellent drabble in St Agnes Very Happy

Liz

 


#7:  Author: RayLocation: Bristol, England PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:01 am


*bluishing* Thanks Liz

Seems I really *should* comment on this thread, seeing as how I have spent (probably) more time thinking about Francie than can be good for me!

There are two things about Francie that have been in my memory ever since the first time I read a book she featured in: The scene in New Mistress where she throws the pellet at Len and then the scene in Triplets where she and Len are giggling together. And between the two (plus other scenes, including the one mentioned from Genius), I've always had quite a soft spot for her.

She's probably one of the most realistic teenage characters in the series. She's moody and irrational. Her dislike/hate for Ruey, as irrational as it was, I found entirely believable; who *hasn't* set their heart on something being one way at the start of a new school year and found that actually, it's going to be 180 degrees different?

I don't think, really, that the school was that inconsistant with her. The authorities do their best to try and find the right way to handle each girl, and if one thing doesn't work, they're bound to try another approach, and Miss Annersley does tell Miss Ferrars in New Mistress "She's one girl who can be ruled most easily through respect."

Her early life almost certainly didn't help her out look on life. EBD's timeline's not terribly clear from the explanations in Ruey, but it certainly comes across that the first time she meets Mr Vigors is when she's told he's going to be her 'new' daddy - and what eight-ish year-old likes that kind of sudden change, particularly seeing as EBD implies that her step-mother remarries remarkably soon after Francie's father's death!

The nicest thing about Francie, though, is that she more or less makes good on her own. She's left alone by the chief butters in who (presumably, at least) recognised most of her troubles as being just normal teenage growing pains and by Ruey, she's growing out of being the sulky pain. By the end of Ruey, she's grown up and if you watch her appearences in the rest of the books she features in (and I can give you a list, should you want one!), she's almost a different person. Almost. Jane does comment that Francie's still got a wicked tongue if you show up late for prep!

Ray *hoping this makes sense*

 




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