BOOK ANALYSIS THE COLLECTOR
1a. Title: The Collector
1b. Author: John Fowles
1c. First date of publication: 1963
2a. When does the story take place? How can you tell? The story takes place around
1950/1960. Frederick is born in 1935, which means that he is in his mid-20s during the story.
Another clue is the fact that both his father and uncle died in 1937 and 1950, respectively.
“My father was killed driving. I was two. That was in 1937” (page 11). “Uncle Dick died when
I was fifteen. That was in 1950” (page 11). This concludes that Frederick was in his mid-20s
when he fell in love with Miranda and decided to abduct her. “I did the pools from the week I
was twenty-one.” (Page 12). You can tell by this that he was older than twenty in the story.
2b. Where does the story take place? How can you tell? Most of the story takes place in
Sussex, a town in the south of England. This passage from the book gives reveals it, “I bought
a map of Sussex” (page 19). Sussex is the place where he keeps Miranda captive, in the old
cottage he bought. Frederick was looking in the Sunday papers and his eyes just seemed to
catch an advert with houses on sale far away from the madding crowd “I wasn’t looking for
them, this just seemed to catch my eye as I was turning the page.” (Page 19).
2c. What social circumstances does the story present? Frederick lived a luxurious life, this is
because he won the pools and received a cash check.” The cheque was for £73,091 and
some odd shillings and pence.” (Page 12). He used the money to sent his aunt and niece to
Australia. He also used that money to buy the house in Sussex where he kept Miranda.
Miranda lived a normal life. She wasn’t broke, but not as wealthy as Frederick.
3a. Who are the main characters? Describe them on both the outside and
the inside.
Miranda Grey: Miranda Grey is a 20-year-old student at The Slade School of Art in
London. She is intelligent and attractive. She has pale blond hair that is almost up to
her waist and has big, clear grey eyes. Miranda is nosy and wants to find out
everything. She is Buddhist, which means she can’t stand the fact that Frederick is an
entomologist. “Do you know I’m a Buddhist? I hate anything that takes life.” (Page
44). Also, Miranda has a ton of mood swings. “She was just like a woman.
Unpredictable. Smiling one minute and spiteful the next.” (Page 56).
Frederick Clegg: Frederick is a 25-year-old man who is an entomologist. “Do you
know I’ve read it twice and I’m five years younger than you are.” (Page 148). He
collects butterflies. His father died when he was two years old and his mother left
him at a young age so he grew up with his uncle Dick, his aunt Annie and his little
cousin Mabel. Frederick is looking for his true purpose in life. He falls in love with a
girl named Miranda and his love for her became an obsession. So badly that he made
up a plan to abduct her. Even though he kidnapped her, he treats her with respect
and makes sure she has everything she needs. Frederick is a skinny guy and about six
feet long. He has dull black hair and isn’t very handsome. His underlip is bitten in, his
chin is too big, his wrists are too big and his Adam’s apple is too big.
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, 3b. How do we get to know him/her/them? At the beginning of the story, it is instantly
clear that Frederick noticed Miranda when she went out with her sister. Often with few
young men, which sparked jealousy in Frederick. “She and her younger sister used to go out
a lot, often with young men, which of course I didn’t like.” (Page 9). Her house was opposite
the Town Hall Annexe. Whenever he had a moment, he looked out the window searching for
her. Every time he saw her he would write it down in his diary with X and when he found out
her name was Miranda he used the letter M instead. This way you get to know right away
that he is keeping a close eye on a girl that he finds attractive. Since she has not noticed him
at all, you can say that she does not like him. He does everything to get more information
about her since the only thing he knew was that her father was a doctor and her mother an
alcoholic. In the first chapter it is clear what he does to know her better and so are we
brought into his adventure. The more we read, the more we know about Miranda.
3c. What is the relationship between the main character(s) and
his/her/their surroundings and other characters?
Miranda Grey is the girl whom had been kept hostage by Frederick Clegg. She hates
him and even gave him a nickname, called Caliban. “I have to give him a name. I’m
going to call him Caliban.” (Page 130).
Aunt Annie was the elder sister of Frederick’s father and the woman who took care
of Frederick when his mother left him. She and his little cousin Mabel used to despise
his obsession with collecting butterflies. He did not hate them but on the other side,
he didn’t want to be with them either. Frederick describes them as small people who
never left their home and expected that Frederick will do everything with them.
“Aunt Annie had set her heart on going on a sea-cruise to Australia to see her son Bob
and Uncle Steve her other younger brother and his family, and she wanted me to go
too, but like I said I didn’t want to be any more with aunt Annie and Mabel.” (Page
15).
Uncle Dick was Fredericks only supporter in his butterfly collection and was the one
who admired it. While he was collecting butterflies uncle Dick was fishing. He was like
a father to him. “(..) he was as good as a father to me.” (Page 12). When Frederick
won the pool, his uncle and Miranda where the first ones whom he thought of. He
has spent one of the best moments of his life with his uncle before he died.
G.P is a 40-year-old man that Miranda writes about in her diary. She sees him as a
source of inspiration because of his comprehensive knowledge of art. Miranda also
has a little crush on him. “ I know exactly the sort person I want to marry, someone
with a mind like G.P.’s, only much nearer my own age, and with the looks I like. (Page
142). “The first and last thing I look at every day is his picture.” (Page 238).
4a. From whose point of view is the story told? Choose from: the omniscient author’s
point of view, the I-perspective or 3rd person perspective. The whole story is written from
an I-perspective. The first and the third chapter of the story are from the perspective of
Frederick. “I can’t say what it was, the very first time I saw her, I knew she was the only one.”
(Page 10, Frederick speaking). In the second chapter, we can read the story from the eyes of
Miranda in the form of a diary. “I’m so far from everything. From normality. From light. From
what I want to be.” (Page 131, Miranda speaking).
4b. What are the effects of this point of view?
Miranda and Frederick both have different view on the situation. By having both
perspectives it becomes clear how each character experiences the situation which give more
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