The Franchiser: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Franchiser: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the complex lives of the characters surrounding Ben Flesh, a franchise owner profoundly shaped by his past and aspirations. Ben, born in 1928, is left orphaned at a young age and later inherits a unique financial advantage from his godfather, Julius Finsberg. His pursuit of franchise operations is driven not by profit but by a deep-seated desire for connection and belonging, reflecting his struggle with identity and loneliness. The narrative reveals his relationships with numerous characters, including his godfather's wife Estelle and the Finsberg children, all of whom face tragic fates linked to their absurd namesakes from musical culture.
Other notable figures include Nate Lace, a pragmatic businessman, and Flight Lieutenant Tanner, whose severe illness starkly contrasts Ben’s existential challenges. Clara, a dance instructor, and "Doctor" Wolfe, who diagnoses Ben's multiple sclerosis, further highlight the intertwining of personal and professional crises within Ben's world. The story culminates in Ben's realization of the emptiness of his pursuits, mirroring the broader themes of societal homogenization and the elusive quest for belonging amidst personal and economic struggles. This rich tapestry of characters serves to illustrate the intricate dynamics of ambition, identity, and the human condition.
The Franchiser: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Stanley Elkin
First published: 1976
Genre: Novel
Locale: Various U.S. locations from the South to the West
Plot: Picaresque
Time: The 1940's to the 1970's
Ben Flesh, the franchiser (actually the franchisee), born in 1928. His parents die in 1944, and no one bothers to tell him. Two years later, he enrolls in the Wharton School of Business under the G.I. Bill. During his junior year, he inherits from his godfather the prime interest rate, the ability to use money at low cost. He subsequently uses it over the next three decades to buy various franchise operations in an effort not to make money but instead to homogenize the country, to cater to what he perceives is the American public's “esperanto of simple need,” including his own need for family, his need to belong. Alone, unattached, and oddly without identity, he tries to turn the entire country into his home, buying the names of others in order to become those others, only to realize that what he has is not a life, only an itinerary. While endlessly crisscrossing the country by car, he discovers that he has multiple sclerosis (MS) and that the nation is suffering from an analogous energy shortage. Eventually, he decides to sell or mortgage all of his franchises for the sake of his Travel Inn, the newest, biggest, and, it turns out, least successful of all of his businesses. As interest rates rise in the 1970's, his business interests suffer. The novel ends with Ben more cheerful than ever; his euphoria, however, is a symptom of his disease.
Julius Finsberg, Ben's godfather. Having cheated Ben's father out of his share of their theatrical costume business, the now-wealthy Julius tries to make amends by giving the godson he has never seen the prime interest rate.
Estelle Finsberg, the fecund dancer whom Julius marries late in his life. Her death in the 1970's makes Ben the nominal head of the Finsberg clan.
Patty, LaVerne, Maxene, Cole, Owen, Oscar, Ethel, Lorenz, Jerome, Noel, Gertrude, Kitty, Helen, Sigmund-Rudolf, Mary, Moss, Gus-Ira, and Lotte, the Finsberg children, eighteen in all, four sets of triplets and three of twins. Each is named for either a composer of or a singer in musicals, and each will die as the result of some grotesque and absurdly fatal malady, including bedwetting, cradle cap, lead-filled bones, baldness, and inability to menstruate or defecate. Ben becomes the lover of each of the Finsberg women and confidant of each of the men.
Nate Lace, a liquidator. He has recently purchased the Nittney-Lion Hotel in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, from the inventory of which he sells the television sets Ben needs for his Travel Inn. He takes literally the businessman's maxim that a handshake is as good as a contract.
Flight Lieutenant Tanner, an Englishman suffering from Lassa fever—an incurable, generally fatal disease—whom Ben meets in a Dakota hospital. Tanner's British manner of speaking irritates the linguistically less fastidious, more exuberant Ben, as much as Tanner's being strapped to a wheel-chair and perspiring blood disturbs him. Tanner is in turn critical of Ben's whining, advising this owner of a local ice cream franchise to “Be hard, Mr. Softee.” Ben later speaks of Tanner as his friend but forgets his promise not to make a sad story out of Tanner's death.
Clara, a dance instructor at Ben's Fred Astaire dance studio. In her late thirties, she is attractive but without prospects now that Ben has decided to close the franchise.
“Doctor” Wolfe, the owner of a K-O-A campsite whom Ben meets at a conference in Miami. Married to a victim of MS, Wolfe, though not a doctor, is the first to diagnose Ben's disease. Wolfe ends his diagnosis with a laugh.
Roger Foster, the owner of an airport limousine service. He likes to dress up as Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame to enhance his own life and those of others, including Ben, who is completely fooled by Foster's impersonation.
A young hitchhiker, who is wary of Ben's friendliness and trust and therefore turns down an offer to manage one of Ben's franchises. He learns too late Ben's lesson: that opportunity knocks only once and has nothing to do with merit, only with luck.
An old hitchhiker, who was just released from prison, where he spent the last twenty years. His speech, clothing, and luggage appear weirdly out of date. He is precisely the kind of loser in whom Ben likes to invest his trust. Claiming that “the ordinary is all we can handle,” he too rejects Ben's offer, offering instead his own piece of advice, that Ben “get a reality.”
A nice young man, who speaks in public service announcements. Ben also picks him up as a hitchhiker.