Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton is a character in the Uncle Fred books by P. G. Wodehouse.[1] A member of the Drones Club in London, he's a nervous young man described by Sally Painter, the woman who loves him, as a "baa-lamb". Due to his craven disposition, he's easily bullied (in a good-natured way) by his Uncle Fred, Earl of Ickenham, who gets him to go on mad adventures where they impersonate people. Their exploits together have instilled in him an irrational fear of his uncle, and he is exceedingly glad that Lady Ickenham strictly forbids her husband from setting foot in London, a prohibition which, of course, Uncle Fred flouts at the earliest opportunity.
Pongo is the brother of Valerie Twistleton. He is known for having an open heart with a large welcome mat, which women frequently flit in and out of. However, in Uncle Dynamite, he finally got himself engaged to the truly ghastly Hermione Bostock, though exactly how he managed to do so is still a mystery. With the help of his Uncle Fred and the knowledge that she regularly wakes up at 6 in the morning, he realised that they were not meant to be and promptly got together with Sally Painter.
He is a close friend of Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps, and the two always perform a "cross-talk" act written by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright at the annual Drones smoker event.
Pongo Twistleton appears in the novels Uncle Fred in the Springtime, Uncle Dynamite, Cocktail Time, and Service With a Smile as well as in the short stories "Uncle Fred Flits By" and "Tried in the Furnace".
Pongo is a friend of fellow Drone Bertie Wooster and is mentioned in several Jeeves stories: Right Ho, Jeeves (chapters 1, 8, 10, and 23), The Mating Season (chapter 2), Ring for Jeeves (chapter 4), and Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (chapter 13).[2]
References
- ^ "Pongo Twistleton". Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ Ring, Tony; Jaggard, Geoffrey (1999). Wodehouse in Woostershire. Porpoise Books. p. 258. ISBN 1-870-304-19-5.