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William Brown is a fictional character in the Just William series, written by Richmal Crompton and first seen in the book Just William. William is inquisitive, bold, and extremely naughty. In an interview with Richmal Crompton, it is revealed that she based the character on her younger brother.
Character
Although he is very cheeky and challenges authority a lot, he has a heart of gold, is high-spirited and always tries to do the right thing. (Whether it is trying to get rid of an annoying relative that his father doesn't approve of or trying to get the old Bott's gardener's job back.)
William has a strong sense of justice and also rebels against any authority which he thinks oppresses freedom. Despite William's bad marks and school complaints, he is far from being an idiot. He is a strategist, quite intelligent and is not afraid of giving as good as he gets. He can at times be a romantic, allowing his feelings to run away with him. He is also quite a good pianist, (Finding a school for William).
Enemies
- Hubert Lane: William's main rival, Hubert Lane is a stuck-up kid and a nasty piece of work. He too has a gang; while William's is called The Outlaws, Hubert's has no particular name (though Crompton refers to it as the "Hubert Lanites"). Hubert often tries to down tread the outlaws, by buying them cheap, horrible xmas presents or trying to beat William in a costume competition.
- Bertie Franks: The most prominent member of Hubert's circle (other than Hubert himself). He is Willam's second worst enemy. In the story William the Gangster, Bertie had seceded from Hubert's gang and formed a separate gang of his own.
- Violet Elizabeth Bott: Violet Elizabeth is the six-year-old lisping daughter of the local nouveau riche millionaire. William is unenthusiastic about her company, but is forced to endure it by her effective threat: "I'll thcream and thcream and thcream 'till I'm thick".
Love life
Although it seems unlikely with William's attitude, that he would be interested in girls, there have been moments where William has given in to softer feelings. One example is a girl called Joan, who used to visit her grandmother during the holidays, William supposedly fell in love with her and gave her the high-privilege of being an out-law, However Joan moved away with her parents soon after.
Angela
In one of the Short-stories, William the Superman, William meets and falls in love with an attractive girl called Angela who, to his dismay turns out to be the elder sister of a new enemy, a rather cheeky boy dressed in a white sailor's suit, who is in William's class, At first, William is determined to teach him a lesson with the help of his outlaws. However, upon learning that he is Angela's little brother, does all he can to make the boy feel welcome, however Angela soon moved away with her family to America, leaving William supposedly disappointed.
Family
William is the youngest of three children born to Mr and Mrs Jonathan Brown. His sister, Ethel is nineteen and generally regards William as a nuisance and tends to ignore him or else treats him with cold disdain; his brother, Robert gives him the same treatment.
Mr Brown, the head of the household, although he does not show it, finds his youngest son's challenge of authority amusing as he tends to share the same feelings of resentment towards the same people as his son, and is secretly pleased when William manages to thwart them; he shows these feelings towards his son as subtly as possible by telling him off, but often leaving him with a ten-shilling note.
Mrs Brown is milder and loves her little boy dearly; she often likes to believe that William is just 'an innocent victim of circumstances'.
Robert is William's seventeen-year-old brother, a hopeless romantic, and often overdoes it with girls. He sees his little brother as a nuisance and often tries to ignore his existence.
Ethel is the eldest of the three children; she is beautiful and charming and has the ability to charm any man from miles around, something William finds pathetic.
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