The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

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Let’s talk about the characters in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and their various personalities. Alan Bradley’s character portrayal in the book is generally in strict accordance to the social values and beliefs during the period of time the story is set in. His characters reflect the realistic, British people of the 1950’s. However, Flavia de Luce, the main character, is, in a way, the stereotypical rebellious protagonist, and one of the only characters in the book whose traits do not follow the traditions of the time. Flavia’s bold personality and “tomboy-ish” ways do not match the prim-and-proper behaviour expected of women at the time.

That being said, “Flave”, as she likes to be called, is not your stereotypical 11-year old girl. While most girls her age are playing with dolls in the park, Flavia invests her time in chemistry: namely her specialty, poison. She is a child prodigy instead of a typical schoolgirl. Her audacious and rash character can be considered brutal and “un-ladylike”, something strictly frowned upon. Also, while most 11-year-old girls will scream at the sight of death, Flavia was fascinated, and even went on to launch her own investigation. Therefore to say Flavia de Luce is a typical stereotype of an 11-year-old is simply outrageous.

Though she is in no way a stereotype, you cannot say that Flavia is a realistic character either. How many young girls have you seen who can spout facts about chemistry better than a high-schooler? Sure, Flavia presents some characteristics of a typical 11-year-old: though she is mature for her age, her actions can be very irrational at times, such as scaling the tower of Greyminster. But even reader reviews agree that Flave seems more like a teenager than a...

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...e and daring, the usual qualities of a headmaster. Maximillian Brock, Daphne’s piano teacher, seems to be the stereotypical “nosy neighbour”, who inquires each time about Flavia’s family life. Finally, even King George VI is a stereotypical character: a typical king, George sits in the background of the story and does not do much. He is very polite and cordial – as expected of him. From all of these characters, you can see that Bradley used many stereotypical characters in the story.

Therefore we can come to the conclusion of the characters in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. The men in the story are portrayed to be very British-like: stiff and uptight, withdrawn, almost. The women, on the other hand, are very polite, and they look up to the men. But it seems as though everyone in the book has one thing in common: they appear to be drawn and reserved.

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