“Appearances make impressions but it is the personality that makes an impact” (unknown). Frank Pemberton (a.k.a. Bob Stanley), from Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, is a horrible murderer with an appearance of a “film star” (125). The protagonist, however, is a lively eleven-year-old girl who loves her family. While there exist differences between Flavia and Mr. Pemberton, their similarities are striking. The contrast between the characters brings out Flavia’s special qualities.
There are aspects of Mr. Pemberton and parts of Flavia that are alike. One of them is that they both lie. Flavia lies to the police on the telephone to defend her father, since she heard the quarrel between him and the red-haired man. Frank Pemberton …show more content…
One useful skill Flavia has is the ability to manipulate people. She sobs at the police station which gains the officer’s sympathy. As a result, when she asked him if she could see her father, he went to find out. She also makes Inspector Hewitt allow her to speak to her father privately. “I’m not saying another word until you let me speak to Father”(pg 172). Frank Pemberton is not as manipulative. If he has that ability, he might have made Flavia tell him what she learns or even commanded someone else to commit the murder, by injecting the carbon mixture, instead of himself. What an even more “perfect crime”(pg340)! Although Mr. Pemberton lies just like Favia, he doesn’t seem as experienced. His lies are very suspicious and sometimes obvious. “He was thinking of asking your father to write a history of some obscure postage stamp” (304). “It was a lie and I detected it at once … excessive detail, the offhand delivery, and the wrapping-up of it all in casual chitchat” (304). When Flavia lies, the bystanders would not be able to tell. “I’ve never seen him before in my life” (32). Flavia cares about the people important to her, especially her father. She tells Inspector Hewitt that she is the murderer to get her father out of the police station. Mr. Pemberton, on the contrary, was not so nice to the people he knows. He was Horace Bonepenny’s assistant while at Greyminster in the magic club but he betrays him and
There are aspects of Mr. Pemberton and parts of Flavia that are alike. One of them is that they both lie. Flavia lies to the police on the telephone to defend her father, since she heard the quarrel between him and the red-haired man. Frank Pemberton …show more content…
One useful skill Flavia has is the ability to manipulate people. She sobs at the police station which gains the officer’s sympathy. As a result, when she asked him if she could see her father, he went to find out. She also makes Inspector Hewitt allow her to speak to her father privately. “I’m not saying another word until you let me speak to Father”(pg 172). Frank Pemberton is not as manipulative. If he has that ability, he might have made Flavia tell him what she learns or even commanded someone else to commit the murder, by injecting the carbon mixture, instead of himself. What an even more “perfect crime”(pg340)! Although Mr. Pemberton lies just like Favia, he doesn’t seem as experienced. His lies are very suspicious and sometimes obvious. “He was thinking of asking your father to write a history of some obscure postage stamp” (304). “It was a lie and I detected it at once … excessive detail, the offhand delivery, and the wrapping-up of it all in casual chitchat” (304). When Flavia lies, the bystanders would not be able to tell. “I’ve never seen him before in my life” (32). Flavia cares about the people important to her, especially her father. She tells Inspector Hewitt that she is the murderer to get her father out of the police station. Mr. Pemberton, on the contrary, was not so nice to the people he knows. He was Horace Bonepenny’s assistant while at Greyminster in the magic club but he betrays him and