Yes - why is that? When I was a kid I used to read Billy Bunter books and thought they were really funny. Public schools were a completely different world. I just looked up Billy Bunter on Wiki because it was so long ago. This is what is written. Remind you of anyone? Looks like Billy got to run the country in the end.
“ Bunter's defining characteristics are his greediness and overweight appearance. His character is, in many respects, that of a highly obnoxious anti-hero. As well as his gluttony, he is obtuse, lazy, racist, nosy, deceitful, slothful, self-important and conceited. These defects, however, are not recognised by Bunter. In his own mind, he is an exemplary character: handsome, talented and aristocratic; and he dismisses most of those around him as "beasts". The negative sides of Bunter are offset by several genuine redeeming features; such as his tendency, from time to time, to display courage in aid of others; his ability to be generous, on the rare occasions when he has food or cash; and above all his very real love and concern for his mother. All these, combined with Bunter's cheery optimism, his comically transparent untruthfulness and inept attempts to conceal his antics from his schoolmasters and schoolfellows, combine to make a character that succeeds in being highly entertaining but which rarely attracts the reader's lasting sympathy.”
