 Arnold in 1958 | |
| Arnold Culliver | |
| Portrayed by | Lyndon Smith |
| Episode | The Boy in the Box |
| Status | Deceased (1958) |
Arnold Culliver was "The Boy In The Box". He was believed to have been dropped off at the Fernwood Home for Orphans with his "sister", Gretchen.
In reality, Arnold was the son of one of the nuns of the orphanage, Grace Ashley, and a doctor who experimented with behavioral therapy, Clayton Waters. Grace took Arnold to the orphanage with the hopes of him being adopted by a good family, but his unruliness kept him there.
Another nun, Sister Vivian Dole, was the one who disciplined Arnold on a regular basis as Grace was unwilling to. Grace spoke to Clay about using one of his behavior modification therapies on Arnold so as to make it easier for him to be adopted.
Grace brought Arnold into the Institute one night and they subjected him to electroshock therapy which was not meant for children. Arnold developed a fever and died the next day, his last words being meant for Gretchen, saying he'd meet her by the horses (they promised each other they'd meet at a horse ranch on his 18th birthday if he got adopted before her).
Sister Vivian and Sister Grace then took Arnold's body and left him in the box on the field he was later found in. Grace secretly visited the site every year on the anniversary of Arnold's death until her own death in 2004, only ever seen by Walter Rafferty, the man who found her son.
Arnold had been the most popular child at Fernwood. Even the former orphans who didn't like him still had fond memories of him. News of Arnold's death is greeted with utter disbelief from his ex-playmates; they really thought he was going to live a long life.
Arnold had blonde locks. The former orphans refused to believe his death at first because his post-mortem photo showed that his hair was shaved. His hair is the only clue that Sister Grace was his mother because she was also blonde.