| Arthur Puppington | |
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 "You're not even worth it." -Arthur (Passing) | |
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Gender |
Male |
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Hair |
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Religion |
Atheist |
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First Appearance |
"Passing" (young appearance) |
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Last Appearance |
"Beforel Orel: Trust" (old appearance) |
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Family & Relationships |
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Arthur Puppington was the husband of Angela Puppington, the father of Clay Puppington and the paternal grandfather of Orel Puppington.
Personality[]
Arthur appeared as the calm, mature, down-to-earth, and more sane member of his family. He overall appears to be a friendly person who is known to have undying love for Angela Puppington (Arthur's high school sweetheart and wife). However, their marriage became distant after Angela's many stillborn births, sudden devotion to religion, and possibly having a child. When Clay Puppington was born, Angela practically withheld all affection for Arthur and redirected it towards Clay, as she spoiled him rotten. But while Angela was alive, although he missed her affections, Arthur seemed to put up with it. It's noted that while Arthur was annoyed by Clay's constant stories and being favored by Angela, he did love his son.
He tried being as active as he could with his son and tried to enforce some stability with Clay. As the calm one, Arthur did try to be careful of Angela's weak heart and reminded Clay whenever he could to remember his wife's condition. It's possible that Arthur was an atheist or agnostic before meeting his wife, and with Angela's death he became a full atheist. It also destroyed his relationship with Clay.
His relationship with Clay was never repaired after Angela's death. He blamed him for her death, and practically shunned Clay most of his life. He saw that Clay would purposely annoy him to get punished. He might have realized Clay was manipulating him to find a sense of self-worth and began withholding punishment.
In Beforel Orel, Orel Puppington came to live with Arthur. There, Arthur gained a very strong bond with him and displayed his trust in truth and a need for proof of things by teaching Orel about these things. He appears to be one of the few sane people in his family and loves Orel.
Plot[]
Arthur and Angela were high school sweethearts who got married afterwards. They decided to try to have a child, but were unsuccessful for the first ten times in ten years due to Angela's habitual smoking, drinking, and thrill seeking activities (riding roller coasters, jumping on trampolines, etc). They steadily grew more distant with each one, as shown in the photo album. During Clay's pregnancy, she became fervently religious and once he was born she considered it an act of God, Clay being her "miracle child". Due to this, Angela became hopelessly devoted to Clay, her "precious, only ever", while being almost completely indifferent towards Arthur, refusing to let him kiss her and giving him Clay's leftovers for dinner.
Despite all of that, Arthur still loved Angela deeply; careful not to startle her weak heart, reminding Clay of her heart condition and begrudgingly accommodating all of Angela's outrageous fawning over Clay. However, he did wish they could go back to the way things used to be before Clay's birth. Arthur tried to bond with his son though. When Clay was 12, Arthur attempted to pass "Ol' Gunny" on to his son and maybe take him on the coming of age father-son hunting trip. When Clay played his prank, Arthur noticed the half-empty bottle of ketchup and realized his son was merely faking and shook him until he stopped. The shock proved too much for Angela's heart and she died in her husband's arms. It was then that Arthur became openly hostile towards Clay.
Right after Angela's death, Arthur pushed Clay off when he hugged him and was prepared to smack Clay for saying, "You'll go to hell for saying there's no Heaven.", but held back, claiming Clay to be "not even worth it". From then on, Clay begins thinking of corporal punishment as a show of love, and took every opportunity to provoke his father into hitting him. Arthur sees through this abuse seeking when he would later give Clay Ol' Gunny, not as part of the male Puppington tradition, but because it was "tainted" with Angela's blood. Clay once again tried to taunt his cynical father into hitting him. Instead of punishing Clay, Arthur simply walked away.
Arthur lacks his wife's strong fundamental views. Unlike Angela, he doesn't believe in miracles, has no problem using the Lord's name in vain (something which Angela condemned), and was aggravated at the constant use of the "Lost Commandments". After Angela's death, his previous disregard seemed to have developed into full atheism, claiming there is no Heaven and not saying amen at Angela's funeral or grace at the table.
In "Elemental Orel", Orel received birthday money from from his grandpa (potentially Arthur but may have been Raymond Hymentact), which irritated Clay. In "Help", Clay lied to Bloberta saying both his parents were dead, meaning the two were very much estranged. Since Arthur wasn't at the wedding, it either meant that he didn't want to go (due to their bad relationship) or because Clay didn't tell him.
Arthur is given a big role in Beforel Orel, showing his relationship with his son and grandson. Arthur and Clay are shown to still hate one another. Bloberta notes that they haven't spoken in years and that he hasn't been told anything about his own grandson, though in truth both men's stubbornness doesn't help. Arthur is shown to be living peacefully on a farm near Sinville. Clay basically dumps Orel on his father, when Bloberta is pregnant with Shapey.
Not wanting to teach his son or be anything fatherly to him, he decides to leave Orel there to avoid his son's questions. Though it isn't a friendly drop off, he ditches Orel out of the car with a suitcase and drives off fast. Arthur, recognizing the car, threatens to shoot his son's car if he gets on his land. This shows how badly their relationship has gotten and Clay is no better, as he gives his father the "finger" before driving back home.
Arthur is not exactly used to Orel, since there have been no children in his life since Clay was a kid. He's also somewhat exhausted by his grandson's over friendly personality, hyperness, and clinginess. It becomes clear to Arthur that Moralton is a bad influence on his grandson as he didn't know the simplest of things such as what chickens are or even the existence of nature. It also becomes clear that his parents aren't teaching him anything, like when he saw the horse go into labor. Orel didn't understand that the horse was giving birth or that the baby came from her.
During this time, Arthur does begin to feel an attachment to his grandson. When Orel asks him if he's stupid, Arthur admits he doesn't want to believe that. He believes he has proof that Orel isn't stupid and explains to him what "proof" means. He cautiously asks his grandson if he remembers how he told him chickens were made. When Orel replies "nature", he points out to him how that's his proof. But, he quickly explains to Orel that sometimes people lie and explains to him what "lies" are.
He then notes that he has faith in people. While he's reluctant to explain what "faith" is, he cautiously asks Orel what he thinks of God. When he sees that Orel doesn't know what God is, he decides to talk about that issue some other time. The longer he stayed, the more Arthur grew to love his grandson deeply. He became a father figure to him during his time on the farm.
When Clay decides to bring Orel home, Arthur reminds him not to trust until there's proof. It's before he leaves, when Orel expresses how much he really does care for his grandfather that Arthur says he can always trust him. Little Orel tells his grandfather he knows and doesn't need proof to trust him. When Arthur asks why, Orel quickly states because he was his grandfather and gives him a hug.
When Orel returns, Clay is extremely displeased by what he's learned from Arthur. Along with Reverend Putty and Miss Censordoll, he tries to practically brainwash Orel into believing in God. Clay also tries to convince Orel not to pray or believe anything his grandfather says. However, their words and advice (mostly bad) confuses the naive boy. He writes a letter to Arthur that he plans to do what he's been told to show he believes in God like Abraham did with Isaac. Arthur realizes the boy will try to use Shapey as Isaac and do what Abraham did to prove his loyalty.
Arthur quickly drives to Moralton and reaches Officer Papermouth. Together, they rush to the church and stop Orel just in time. In a way, while Arthur stopped him from hurting Shapey, Orel became pulled into Moralton's ways. He saw that God did stop him (like Abraham), through Arthur. Arthur is shocked then gravely disappointed that Orel's most likely become a religious zealot like his deceased wife.
It's while waiting for Orel at the station that Arthur and Clay actually speak for one of the first times in years. Arthur takes blame in how Clay raised Orel. Clay, not wanting to admit his faults, denies any of it. He then admits that he was surprised that Orel knew nothing about God, given how Moralton was a deeply religious town and how Clay had been raised by Angela. He then asks Clay why Orel hadn't been taught about God.
Clay then lets his guard down and tells his father the truth. He didn't have the confidence to answer any of Orel's questions, let alone talk about God because he felt worthless. And for one of the rarest moments, Clay cries, and in front of his father. Arthur then remembers why, when he told Clay after Angela died that he wasn't "worth it". An awkward silence is left between the two. For a brief moment, it's possible that Arthur felt concern for Clay, seeing how he had treated his son.
But the moment dies quickly, as Clay does not want to reconcile and sees that God is the only answer to all of Orel's questions. He then states to his father that he never wants him to see Orel again. When Orel is allowed to go home, Arthur quickly wants to embrace his grandson.
Whether to prove competence or to hurt Arthur, Clay tries to remind Orel what he's suppose to do around his grandfather. Orel, seemingly, obeys and states that "grandpa is bad and shouldn't be trusted". This hurts Arthur to hear Orel say that, but gives Clay great joy. However, Orel winks at his grandfather, showing that he was only pretending in front of Clay.
Arthur smiles, knowing Orel still trusts him. To show up his father, Clay announces he'll take Orel to his study for a lecture. Orel, however, is just excited that he gets to see it. Arthur smiles at his grandson's innocence and leaves for Sinville. The episode ends with a letter from Arthur to Orel.
"Dear Orel,
Always remember, son, even though you are the perfect candidate for brainwashing in this town, you’re also too pure and good-hearted to be corrupted.
Love, Grandpa"
Family and Relationships[]
Angela Puppington- Angela was Arthur's high school sweetheart and the love of his life. They enjoyed their time together in their youth and were very affectionate. The trouble started when they decided to start a family. Due to Angela's wild lifestyle, she had several miscarriages. As time went on, the two became distant. By the time Clay was born, Angela had become a religious zealot and she shut Arthur from raising Clay. She would often make her neglected husband eat their son's leftovers. Despite the neglect, he still loved his wife dearly and tried to make sure she was happy. Her death had a profound effect on him, causing him to neglect Clay out of spite.
Clay Puppington- Arthur's relationship with his son was mildly normal during Clay's early childhood, He disliked how Angela neglected him for Clay and missed the time before Clay was born. None the less, Arthur did try to keep himself involved in his son's life and tried to set some form of boundaries for his son. Unlike his wife, Clay did not reward his son's spoiled behavior and tried his best to fix it. He was completely distraught when he thought Clay had accidentally shot himself with his gun. Arthur did truly love Clay and showed a firm attitude when he realized Clay had played a trick. However, the strain of the events caused Angela to die of a cardiac arrest. Angela's death completely destroyed their relationship as both blamed the other for her death. Arthur soon further shut out Clay when he realized he was using his "discipline" to substitute for the affection that Arthur would not give him. In Beforel Orel, the two still show that their disdain for each other hasn't lifted. Clay lets down his guard and admits he didn't have any confidence to answer Orel's questions, let alone talk about God to him. Clay then genuinely cries in front of his father. For a brief moment, Arthur shows concern, realizing how his son's been affected. The episode ends with Clay, regretfully watching his father leave but stubbornly refuses to let go of his hate.
Orel Puppington- Arthur and Orel's relationship is better explored in the Beforel Orel special. Clay leaves Orel at Arthur's farm and at first Arthur is a bit uneasy with the hyperactive grandchild and shocked at how clingy he is. Over time he sees that his grandson is being badly taught by his parents and Moralton. He also sees that Orel is only guilty of showing too much faith in others. During the stay, Arthur becomes a real father figure to Orel and Arthur grows to love his grandson deeply. The feeling is returned by Orel. Though Clay tries to get Orel to turn on his grandfather, Orel is still shown to be faithful to his grandfather. It also shows that although Clay and the town have tried to make him forget Arthur's teachings, Orel, even as a child, still sees that he can trust and love his grandfather unconditionally and thus Clay and the town failed on their attempt. Although he does not appear in the main series, Arthur is still involved in Orel's life as he sent his grandson birthday money in the episode Elemental Orel.
Appearances[]
Season 3[]
- "Passing"
Other[]
Trivia[]
- According to Scott Adsit, had the series continued beyond the third season, Arthur Puppington would have become a regular member of the show's cast, returning to live with Clay after learning that he was dying from a terminal illness. Arthur would be the only parent figure to Orel. Bloberta would not be pleased about Clay's lie about his father being dead. Clay would have proven Arthur right about the latter being ultimately a pathetic, oafish, self-centered man who has no love for anyone other than himself. Orel and Arthur would've started to get along with each other.
- Arthur's first name incorporates "art." Like the rest of the Puppingtons, his last name incorporates "puppet."
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