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May 6, 2008 1:14 PM

HELEN'S HEROINES: Darrell Rivers

Hands up who wanted to go to boarding school after reading the likes of Malory Towers by Enid Blyton? Who wanted a French teacher like Mam’zelle? I definitely wanted to be friends with Alicia, Sally, Irene and Belinda. I also wanted to sit in the common room with them, do prep with them (even though I didn’t know what ‘prep’ was at the time) and play lacrosse (ditto). I wanted Midnight Feasts and to swim in the large, natural swimming pool carved out of the Cornish coast. And most of all, I wanted, of course, to be Darrell Rivers.

Darrell is twelve when she goes to Malory Towers for the first time. Her first term however doesn’t start too well as Darrell has a tendency to lose her temper quickly, a trait she inherited from her successful surgeon father. She does however, have a sound sense of what is just and right. Even if she does deal with it in the wrong way. For example, when Gwendoline pushed Mary Lou under the water, with typical Gwen spitefulness, Darrell gave Gwen a good slapping leaving red marks on her legs. What demonstrates her strength of character though is how quickly she apologises afterwards, to both Gwendoline and the rest of the form who were thinking about sending her to Coventry. And she means it.

In her first term she falls in with the mischievous Alicia meaning her school work suffers, as although Darrell has a good brain she cannot afford to coast. Unlike Alicia who is incredibly intelligent and sharp. Darrell didn’t much like Sally at first and her temper comes to the fore once more when she shoves Sally across a room, leaving Sally groaning about her stomach. It is appendicitis though and Darrell wasn’t to blame for the pain. She does however resolve to work much harder on her temper and be nicer to Sally.

When Alicia and the rest of the form, apart from Mary-Lou and Sally turn against Darrell, believing her legendary temper responsible for a malicious attack on Mary-Lou’s fountain pen, Darrell becomes best friends with the loyal Sally and likes her much more than the sharp Alicia. Sally is cool and calm to Darrell’s hot headedness. They compliment each other well.

From the first book, First Term at Malory Towers, we quickly get a good idea of what Darrell is like. Strong minded, courageous, loyal, just, forgiving. This is a theme that follows her throughout the rest of the books. As she progresses up the school she becomes games captain, head of forms and finally head girl of the whole school.

It is not a smooth ride, as she has to resign as head of the upper fourth but soon takes it up again when she sensitively sorts out a case of sibling rivalry. When Miss Grayling, the headmistress, said to Darrell, "You will all get a tremendous lot out of your time at Malory Towers. See that you give a lot back." That is exactly what Darrell does, providing entertainment and inspiration for little girls everywhere.

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Posted by Helen Redfern on May 6, 2008 in Helen's Heroines | Permalink

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