This is a quick summary and analysis of Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.
This is a story about a boy named Artemis Fowl the second, a smart young man with plenty
of money and resources who likes to commit crimes.
After getting The Book of the People - a mystical fairy book - Artemis plans to get gold from
the leprechauns.
He kidnaps one of the fairies, Holly Short, a captain that works for the Lower Elements
Police, or LEP, an organization that polices mythical beings like trolls, goblins, and
fairies.
Holly tries to escape, but because Artemis has read the fairy lore, he is familiar with
all of her tricks.
With the assistance of his family helpers, Butler and Juliet, Artemis begins negotiating
with the LEP: gold for Holly.
The LEP sends in their tactical team, but they are defeated by Butler. They decide to
time-freeze the area, threatening to destroy all living things in Artemis' house with a
bio-bomb. The LEP then hire a convict named Mulch, a dwarf with a natural ability to dig,
to scout the house. He later fakes his death and escapes.
As the pressure of the situation escalates, the LEP approves a new commander whose plan
is to send in a troll to destroy everything. The troll is sent in and he creates havoc,
even killing Butler. However, after Holly attempts to fight the troll, she accidentally
revives Butler and he defeats the troll in a suit of armor.
The LEP decide to pay the ransom, knowing that they can detonate the bomb once Holly
is safe. Artemis is given the gold and surprisingly releases Holly. And although no one has ever
escaped the time-freeze and bio-bomb combination before, Artemis finds a way to escape using
sleeping pills.
In the end, Artemis escapes.
As always a lot can be said about this story, but what draws my interest and attention is
the idea of Artemis as an anti-hero.
For the entire story, Artemis is driven to get the gold no matter how many people get
hurt. This is typically not the attitude of the protagonist of the story, but he's not
the antagonist either.
Throughout the story, readers can admire his drive and ambition to take on a race of supernatural
beings with only his human ingenuity. That's admirable, although, again, his intent is
questionable.
And so this brings authorial perspective as something that is important to this story.
If this story were told only from the perspective of the leprechauns, Artemis is clearly the
villain. However, because the story jumps from the leprechauns' perspective and Artemis'
perspective, readers can understand where Artemis is coming, which de-villainizes his
actions.
What did you think of the story? Let me know in the comments below.
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