Who are the characters in From The Mixed Up Files Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler?
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is an award-winning children's book that was published in 1967. It features three main characters: Claudia Kincaid, Jamie Kincaid, and Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Claudia Kincaid is the main character. She is the one who decides to run away from...
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home and live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and she is also the one who figures out how to do so. Claudia is also fascinated by a statue that originally belonged to Mrs. Frankweiler, and that part of the story leads to the end of the book.
Jamie Kincaid is Claudia's little brother. He is financially capable because he saves all his money. This is why Claudia chooses him as her companion on this adventure.
Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a wealthy widow. She allowed the museum to purchase a statue that could have been by Michelangelo for under $500. She is also eccentric; when Claudia and Jamie show up at her doorstep, using the last of their money, she lets them look in her oddly-arranged files, and they figure out where the information about the statue is.
There is one ancillary character, Saxonberg, who is Mrs. Frankweiler's lawyer. The book is Mrs. Frankweiler's account to her lawyer for why she wants to leave the statue information to Claudia.
Who is The Main Character in "From The Mixed-Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler"?
The main character in The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is an 11-year-old girl named Claudia Kincaid. She feels that no one at home appreciates her special achievements and maturity. So, she decides to run away from home so they can realize how much they will miss her. Claudia isn’t one to accept discomfort, so she and one of her younger brothers run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
The action of the story revolves around the logistics of living in the museum and the mystery of finding out who created a statue called Angel. Claudia’s character develops as she learns to appreciate her brother and as she finds that what really matters isn’t whether others praise her but what she comes to know about herself.
How are the main characters' personalities similar in From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler?
In From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the two main characters are siblings: Claudia and Jamie. They are two of the four Kincaid children, and while the idea to run away is Claudia's, she selects Jamie as the chosen sibling to accompany her because of his similarities to her as well as the differences (his twenty-four dollars in savings doesn't hurt, either).
Claudia and James are both brave; we see this as they execute their escape plan—which involves eating the plans and packing instrument cases with clothes—and when they hide from the guards in the bathroom of the Met.
They are adventurous, which we can see not only in the fact that they are both willing to execute such a plan but in the things they do while free; they bathe in the fountain, they sleep in a bed in an exhibit, they really experience the art.
They are intelligent and curious; Claudia genuinely wishes to understand what she is living among, especially concerning the statue believed to be sculpted by Michelangelo. And when it is all over, they are both ready to go home, although we do get more insight into Claudia's reasoning, which is that she has gained the independence she desired.