STEAL Analysis of Franklin

Franklin's character analysis reveals that he is blunt in his speech and sometimes disregards others' emotions. However, he also shows empathy and cares for his father's well-being. Throughout the novel, Franklin becomes more forgiving and feels relief when he learns the truth about his mother. He harbors some resentment but still wants the best for his father. Franklin's actions include smoking, projecting confidence, and helping his father even when angry. He looks stereotypically First Nation and appears strong and confident. Overall, Franklin is described as impulsive, physical, and emotionally-led with a depth of personality. Hello guys, and welcome back to the podcast. So, today we're going to be doing a Steele analysis of Franklin. Steele is simply an analysis using speech, thoughts, effect on others, actions, and looks. So, we are essentially going to be answering the question, How would you describe the character? So, for speech, I believe that Franklin is fairly blunt in what he's saying. Evidence of this would be on page 225 when he says, You're saying you never once thought about him? Scared shit like you was, you never once gave him a thought? I think you're lying. So, just goes to show that even in a fairly awkward situation, he shows a disregard for other people's emotions, which isn't a bad thing, but it is a factor of his character analysis. On the contrary, though, I believe he's also a little empathetic. So, there's evidence again on page 225 when he says, I could get you back to the fire. It should be warmer for you there. So, even when he's angry at his father, he still cares for him and for his health. And another quote would be on page 219 when he says, Did you tell her? The kid asked. Nah, I never figured anyone would care about what was going on in my head. Not even her. Just the strangeness of those thoughts made me kinda ashamed. She might have liked to know. Might have been good. So, this just showed that he not only listened to the story, but emotionally understood and tried to put himself in the shoes of his father and offer some insight. So, now on to thoughts. So, you can tell throughout the novel that he sort of becomes more forgiving of his father. And he feels forgiveness. Because throughout the text, he learns about the struggles which his father faced, which is why he is who he is. The most clear quote being on page 243 when he says, Maybe I was supposed to forgive him. Do ya? The old man asked. Don't know that either. Kinda like a thousand pound word for me right now. Furthermore, you can kinda tell he feels relief towards the end of the story. Because he finally understands the truth about his mother. He's finally been provided with closure. So, although he is forgiving and has relief, he clearly harbors a little bit of resentment, which is clear on page 216 when he says, I don't want years. I want to be able to quit looking at women I see and wondering if that's how she looked. But you can't give me that, can ya? So, he also clearly wants the best for his father, regardless of his resentment. Again, evident on page 238 when he says, War's over, Eldon, he finally said. I hope when you get where you're going, that she's standing there waiting for ya. He also, relating back to the epithetic, he feels sad. This evident on page 237 when he says, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, he shouted. He cried then, feeling the raw edges of a new hurt deep within him. So, on to his effect on others. So, in this portion, he shows a bit of emotional empathy, which is evident from a quote on page 233, where he says, you shoulda told me though. You shoulda told me the whole story a long time ago. He said, I didn't know that I coulda. I ain't never had no hurt like that, but I think I get it now. So, it shows that he realizes the vulnerability Eldon is exposing himself to in this situation. Just to provide context, this quote is from when Eldon was opening himself up, making himself vulnerable, and sharing experiences from his past. So, for his action, he obviously smokes, he doesn't drink, he projects confidence, which is clear through the interaction with the bear, when he made himself big and scared off the bear to help save him and his father's life. He helps his father even when he's angry at him, which is evident through a quote I used earlier on page 25, when he says, I can get you back to the fire. It should be warmer for you there. So, again, just for context, this was said after Eldon shares some information that clearly angers him. For looks, he looks stereotypical First Nation, which is clear on page 9, right in the beginning, on a quote, The woman using the word Indian as a vulgar term shows that he looks Indian, as she identified him as a First Nations individual without him explicitly telling her. We can also tell that he looks strong and tall, which is clear on page 123, when he says, The work around the front gave him a rugged, tensile strength, and that showed in his walk and the slope in his shoulders. He's also confident in his body language, so when he walked through the town, people studied him for a stranger, and he kept his head high and walked perspicuously. The looks aspect hasn't really developed much throughout the novel, or at least the second half of the novel. The second half was more focused on the emotional identity, not physically, although I would describe him, if I had to use three character traits, as impulsive, physical, and hands-on, but also use the words three-dimensional and emotionally-led, because of the depth of his personality. And that is it for the character analysis of Franklin, using the Steele literary method. Thank you for joining us today, and we will catch you next time.