John Scantlebury Blenkiron is a fictional character who appears in several books by John Buchan, including ''

Greenmantle ''Greenmantle'' is the second of five novels by John Buchan featuring the character Richard Hannay. It was first published in 1916 by Hodder & Stoughton, London. It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being ' ...

'', ''

Mr Standfast ''Mr Standfast'' is the third of five Richard Hannay novels by John Buchan, first published in 1919 by Hodder & Stoughton, London. It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being '' Greenmantle'' (1916); Hannay's ...

'', ''

The Courts of the Morning ''The Courts of the Morning'' is a 1929 adventure novel by John Buchan, featuring his character Sandy Arbuthnot. The prologue is narrated by Richard Hannay, so the novel is sometimes included in Buchan's Hannay series. The action is set in Oli ...

'' and ''

Sick Heart River ''Sick Heart River'' (1941) is a novel by Scottish author John Buchan set in Canada. It was published posthumously. The book was published in the United States under the title ''Mountain Meadow''. Plot summary Sir Edward Leithen is diagnosed w ...

''. Blenkiron comes from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and has assisted Richard Hannay. When Hannay first meets Blenkiron, it is revealed that he suffers from

dyspepsia Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier ...

and so often drinks boiled milk, eats dry toast and fish. Subsequently he has an operation where a part of his duodenum is replaced by rubber tubing and his digestion is restored. Blenkiron often professes his wish to join the war or "be let into a scene of real bloodshed", but he confesses that he "has never seen anything gorier than a presidential election." Blenkiron also does not seem short on money and is used to living the high life. As a consequence, when he travels through Europe as an English

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

, he becomes quite comfortable living with successful German politicians and Generals. Blenkiron is a strong believer in the Christian faith and quite often comments on his faith. He often remarks that he is a "Neutral" as that he comes from the United States and is quite proud of the fact. In "Greenmantle", on meeting (Major, at that time) Richard Hannay, he pronounces the word as "Nootral", a dramatic device giving the reader a nice literary clue as to his origin in the USA and dialect. in "Mr Standfast" he also states "I considered that the time had come to pay for valuable "Noos" ".

Appearance

Blenkiron, as described by the author, is a "big fellow with a fat, sallow clean shaven face." He also has "a pair of full sleepy eyes".

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

calls him "a fat and rich but nonetheless brave and humorous figure". In the last chapter of ''Mr Standfast'' (the third Hannay Novel by Buchan) Blenkiron achieves his desire to participate in "a real high-class Armageddon". Hannay has him inspanned as a battalion-commander in British uniform, leading the actions of a scratch American Engineer-company and other emergency troops put together in a hurry. Blenkiron and his companies successfully stem at a vital time, the strong German advance towards Amiens, and so he prevents the loss of newly-dug trench lines - a loss which would mean disaster for the whole front.

Evaluation

According to Charles Moore, Blenkiron's presence in ''Greenmantle'' is due to the book being written with the purpose of getting the United States to join the Allies in World War I. This happened in 1917, the year after the book's publication. H. E. Taylor notes that Buchan portrays Blenkiron positively as a businessman. He suggests that Buchan "may have felt more comfortable delineating a positive business character as a foreign national who, by reason of his absurd pastiche accent and diction, could not in any case aspire to gentrification."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blenkiron, John Fictional secret agents and spies John Buchan characters Literary characters introduced in 1916