Family is everything to Artemis Fowl—or rather, family legacy is. He's all about restoring his family to its former glory through wealth, and succeeds in doing so because his accomplices (the Butlers) are as loyal as family. Artemis and Butler seem to be the only characters with family in Artemis Fowl, so family is also a way of representing isolation and loneliness in this book, including in these two characters.
Family, for the most part, has an abstract quality in our story and is rarely applied in a concrete way—it motivates Artemis and drives the plot, but it's not like we ever see folks gathering around the dinner table together.
Questions About Family
- How much does Artemis's missing father really play in to his decision to replenish the family fortune?
- Is it possible to tell from the way the story goes whether Artemis'smother's wish was an afterthought, or whether it was part of the plan for a while?
- Holly protects Juliet with the same ferocity that Butler does—why?She's not her baby sister.
- Based on this book, what kind of legacy do you think Artemis,Jr. will leave behind?
Chew on This
The return of Artemis Fowl, Sr. would have a much stronger effect on Artemis than his mother's return to sanity does, because within the scope of family, the father to son legacy is what counts most to Artemis.
The constant, nagging reminder that Artemis is pushing aside family in pursuit of gold is likely what spurs so many visits to his mother's upstairs room.