Character Sketch

I'm going to write a character sketch of Frederick Clegg, the protagonist of the book.

Frederick is a young lonely man with no social skills who works as a clerk in a city hall. His father died when he was little and his mother ran away, so he ended up living with his aunt. His only hobby is collecting butterflies. He was lucky enough to win a large prize in the football pools, so he decided to quit his job. 

Apart from collecting butterflies Frederick has another interest, it's Miranda Grey, the girl who used to live in his town until she got a scholarship and moved to London. After quitting his job he moved to London too. In London he stalked Miranda and later got this idea of «how to become friends with her". So he bought an isolated house in the countryside and started the preparations. He has no sexual interest in Miranda; in fact, this is the farthest thing on his mind. He thinks that sex is an animalistic things and he’s just not like that. He even says,

“If more people were like me, in my opinion, the world would be better.”

Clegg decides to add her to his "collection" of pretty, petrified objects, in the hope that if he keeps her captive long enough, she will fall in love with him.  The thing is , Frederick only thinks that he loves Miranda, but he is a true collector in his mind, not a man in love. He's just fascinated by this big human butterfly and often forgets that she's a woman. 

For Frederick, butterflies don’t have feelings, they’re just meant to be beautiful and to please him  but Miranda has feelings and he did not see this coming, which shows how he really lacks every social skill there is. He is angry with her when she talks back (usually with sarcasm), but loves to watch her when she’s sleeping and silent.

He is a sympathetic character because he is just so lost and convinced that the only way he can have something in his life is to collect or buy it. He is very silent and brooding, doesn’t say much, but when he does, he keeps you hooked. He doesn’t really distinguish between right and wrong which shows in the fact that he kidnapped a person. After kidnapping he said,

“I can only say that evening I was very happy ... and it was more like I had done something very daring, like climbing Everest or doing something in enemy territory. My feelings were very happy because my intentions were of the best. It was what she never understood.”

Clearly, he doesn’t think he committed a crime. On top of it all, he considers Miranda to be his guest, not his victim.

I must say well done John Fowles. Frederick Clegg is the best written creep in literature.