Book Bout - Fictional Explorers

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Explorations and explorers are of all kinds and places. An explorer can be a person who goes off to the wilds of the world(s) and treks across possibly dangerous landscapes, perhaps encountering various and perhaps strange life forms. Or they can be a person who visits a more familiar territory but the visit ends up being an exploration of utterly strange and different ways of being. (Think Gary Bakewell in London Below...)

Which fictional explorer do you admire the most? Would you go on an adventure with them? Why do you admire this person?

Post below and tell us! You earn 5 team points and 10 beans for your answer posted by August 23rd. As usual, be sure to have at least 80 words in your post.

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

I quite like Allan Quatermain, the protagonist of a number of H. Rider Haggard's novels, but most notably King Solomon's Mines. Quatermain is an English big game hunter and general adventurer.

Quatermain has a lot of faults, considering the environment and the times he was created in, but what I admire about him is that he is later aware of the impact he had on Africa, its species and peoples, and tries to rectify it. What I like most about him though is that Quatermain was the inspiration of one of my favorite adventurers of all time, Indiana Jones.

Would I go on an adventure with him? Most definitely. He is not quite as adventurous as Lara Croft, which would be a bit too much even for me, but he is not the one to sit idly by as others do all the work.

[Carrie Warts]

My fav fictional explorer is Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins side kick. (The Lord of the Rings)
I like him better than Frodo because I feel like he had more determination and common sense than Frodo - not taking any credit out of Frodo, I mean he carries the ring for so long it was obvious that it was gonna make him more vulnerable - and was also a very reliable and great friend who stood by his side thru thick and thin with the same goal in his heart and head "Destroy the ring and get back to the Shire with Frodo" (hence the determination).
I would definitely go on an adventure with him, he has all the traits I feel I have as a friend and that I also look for in one. Plus he is a great story teller, that always comes in handy.

[Emerald Wolvenhowl]

Part of me admires Victor Frankenstein for the way in which he is an explorer of science. He drives himself to gain as much knowledge as he can from modern and ancient science and doesn't give up until he has reached his goals. While I admire some of his characeristics, it is only to a certain extent. A part of me doesn't admire him because while he is determined to find the answers to his questions and developes his interest in Alchemy, he does not have any boundaries and does not know when to draw the line. He becomes so obsessed in finding answers that he goes completley against nature by forging his own creation but then acts irresponsibly for he does not take care of it or nuture it. Instead, he becomes afraid of what he has made and turns his determination towards destroying it.

As much as I admire him for some of his thirst and quest for scientific knowlege, I would not want to explore with him because he comes across as being unaware that knowldge is powerful and sometimes dangerous and that unawareness is a danger in itself. Also, just because he is scientifically minded does not mean that he should be void of humanity. He mistreats his creation rather badly and that is very unkind and there is no need for it.