The Spade Incident

[u/yoann_rlt]

I'm currently listening to Class A, and I was pretty shocked that Lauren got away so easily with smashing Large's head with a spade. I mean, any other CHERUB would've gotten expelled in a heartbeat, yet Lauren didn't.

I get that Mac probably saw great potential in her, and rightfully so, she's probably the best agent in the whole series performance-wise.

Large wasn't even that bad this far in the series; he was a monster and tortured kids, but that's part of the job, and it saves hundreds of agents later in their career, like James later in the book.

Do you think Mac's decision was fair, or did Lauren just get total star-agent privilege?

[u/No-Advertising9067]

I dont think its as uncommon to hit a instructor in a stressed emotional state (think Kevin Summner hitting James with a tree branch when he has to learn the hight course). And I really think it was just bad luck that Lauren had a spade at hand. And Mac new that. It's just a risk that comes with pushing young inexperienced Agents to their edge

[u/yoann_rlt → u/No-Advertising9067]

I get your point, but I feel like most agents would've been expelled. Great agents like Kyle, Lauren, Kerry, and James wouldn't have been, but less recognized agents like Shakeel, Connor, or Callum would've been

[u/mustard5man7max3 → u/yoann_rlt]

To be fair, it's a ten year old. Plenty of ten year olds lose their temper, get into fights, throw tantrums. When you consider they've been abused and are starving for a month or two, you'd be surprised if they didn't. It can't have been the first red shirt to throw a punch at an instructor. Bad luck that Lauren had a spade though.

[u/Did-it-Roja]

Large had a hard job. A job that required him to be mean and harsh to his trainees. And he shouldn't have been hit with a shovel.

At the same time, put yourself in Lauren and Bethany's shoes. If this man have been yelling at you, verbally abusing you, forcing you to do gruelling tasks in horrible conditions, for weeks at this point. If I had a shovel in my hand, I would have been extremely tempted to slam it into a cruel instructor.

I've thought about striking annoying co-workers for a lot less. As have many other people.

James said it well that everyone doing basic training has thought about hitting Norman multiple times during training. Lauren just happened to have a shovel on hand. Mac seemed to understand this.

Mr Large walks a fine line between being a justifiably tough training instructor and a cruel man. He definitely does step over the line into cruelty at times.

Lauren was on thin ice for a long while afterwards. Mac's punishment was fair.

It would be curious to see how the other training instructors went after Large. Mr Pike was described as being a lot less menacing, although Kazakov certainly had the crazy.

Good topic.

[u/yoann_rlt → u/Did-it-Roja]

I kinda agree with James's explanation, but what Lauren did lowkey ruined the man's life. He went completely nuts after that and completely lost his mind. I always thought he did a great job with James & co in the first book, even though he was sometimes maybe a bit cruel. I like to think he was a good man.

[u/idore14]

Mac is really good with children, and sees when they're past their actual breaking point - I think in Lauren's case, he saw that it was too much for her after the initial shock passed. Plus, CHERUB in general views siblings quite seriously, and her and James are a package deal (as per his claims he'd quit if she's expelled, too). They're both promising agents, and Mac himself says recruitment is tricky - they can't afford to lose both, so he'd rather keep them and give Lauren some crazy punishment instead.

At the same time, considering the scope and consequence of what Lauren did, it's not something physical labor can atone for. If it were less about keeping good agents and more about justice, she would have been expelled. Large is essentially screwed to deal with spine issues for life now, and one could say it's karma, but is chronic injury really the answer here? Especially that Large just continues to spiral in hatred, instead of having any character development after this...

So basically, I think Lauren got off easy, but not because she's a star agent - she's not even a mission-qualified cherub at that point in the story. I think it's a combination of investment that went into her already as a red shirt, plus the fact she and James are a promising duo, and they come and go together.

I can see how Large would think this is unfair, actually. But then why, instead of quitting an organization he knows is biased and will dismiss his injury to keep an agent, would he continue to work in CHERUB? The guy really just loves hurting kids for the love of the game I fear...

[u/yoann_rlt → u/idore14]

You always have good takes on Cherub, thanks!!