Rhoda Penmark

**Rhoda Penmark** is the main antagonist of the original 1955 film *The Bad Seed*. Rhoda Penmark is a "bad seed" and a young psychopathic serial killer, whose secret evil tendencies and sinister behavior are genetically inherited. She is very similar to Henry Evans from *The Good Son* and Henrietta Evans from *The Good Daughter*.

## Early Life

Rhoda was the daughter of Christine and Kenneth Penmark. She was raised as an only child. Rhoda's father, Kenneth, was a military general, so he was barely at home and only visited during the holidays. Rhoda and her mother, Christine, moved around from state to state due to Rhoda's father being in the military. Rhoda Penmark is a psychopath. Before the events of *The Bad Seed*, Rhoda killed her family dog and later killed an old lady named Mrs. Post who lived next door to her. Rhoda enjoys going roller skating during her free time.

## The Bad Seed

Rhoda Penmark was living in an apartment in New York with her mother and attended Mrs. Fern's school. Rhoda Penmark was jealous and upset that she didn't win the Penmanship Medal and that Claude Daigle, another student in her class, won it instead. Rhoda claimed she wrote the best hand and that the medal was hers, and Mrs. Fern didn't give the medal to her because she had it out for her. On the last day of school, Rhoda's class hosted a summer picnic on the beach. Rhoda Penmark chased Claude Daigle to the wharf and demanded him to he give her medal. When he refused, Rhoda took off one of her shoes and hit him over the head. She continued viciously hitting him over and over again in the head with her shoe until he was unconscious and bleeding, and then she pushed him over the edge of the wharf, causing him to drown. Rhoda took the medal and hid it with her.

Rhoda acts completely unaffected by Claude's death, even stating that she wasn't sad because Claude was the one who got drowned and not her. At first, Christine dismisses the idea that Rhoda is involved in the little boy's death in any way, but she eventually becomes suspicious. Mrs. Fern, the teacher at the school, suspects Rhoda had something to do with Claude's death and told Christine that her daughter is prohibited from attending school the following year. LeRoy, the janitor employed by Mrs. Breedlove, knows that Rhoda's sweet, angelic facade is all just an act and knows that she is really a cold blooded psychopathic killer. Leroy spies on Rhoda and repeatedly accuses her of killing Claude Daigle. LeRoy threatens to tell on her time and time again, only for her to call his bluff and say that no one would believe him. However, despite her claims, Rhoda starts fearing for herself and her psychopathic nature being discovered.

Christine, meanwhile, tries to relieve her fears about her daughter, by talking about Claude's murder to her adopted father and Mrs. Breedlove. That same night, Claude's mother turns up at Christine's home drunk. She tells Christine that Claude's death is very suspicious and that she should ask Rhoda about her last moments with Claude.

While Christine is looking for Rhoda's necklace, which Mrs. Breedlove is engraving for her, she discovers the Penmanship Medal in Rhoda's treasure chest. Initially, when confronted by Christine, Rhoda denies any wrong-doing.

However, after Christine discovers Rhoda's blood-stained tap-shoes, Rhoda nonchalantly admits killing Claude, as well as their late neighbor and their dog. When Christine's father tells her about her real mother, she realizes that Rhoda has an innate need to kill, and will eventually end up in prison or a mental institution.

While Christine is wrestling with her conscience, Leroy searches the boiler room for the tap shoes. Rhoda locks him in and turns on the incinerator, burning Leroy alive. After learning what her daughter has done, Christine sees that Rhoda will never stop killing, and so decides to kill her and herself. She puts a lethal amount of sleeping pills in Rhoda's milk and, after Rhoda falls asleep, commits suicide by shooting herself. Christine survives the suicide attempt and is taken to the hospital for injuries. Rhoda Penmark later sneaks out that night and goes to the beach to look for the medal, but gets struck by lightning and falls into the ocean and dies.

## Personality

Rhoda is portrayed as a sociopath, although the term was not widely used at the time the book was written. While intelligent and superficially charming, she has no conscience or empathy, and does not hesitate to harm or even kill whoever stands in the way of something she wants. An adept manipulator, Rhoda could easily charm and mislead adults; other children sense her true nature, however, and avoid her.

The novel reveals that Rhoda's evil is genetic. Her mother, Christine, who was adopted as a baby, is the daughter of executed serial poisoner Bessie Denker, whose sociopathy apparently skipped a generation and was passed on to Rhoda, rather than Christine. Because Christine didn't know her true parentage, she had no idea that her child would be evil from birth.

## Appearance

Rhoda is a slender young girl with long, light golden blonde hair that’s almost platinum blonde. Rhoda is a very girly girl who dresses in very feminine, preppy, and fashionable. She loves wearing bright, colorful skirts and dresses and wears matching color ribbons in her hair, complete with pink or black tap dancing shoes.