Fantasitc voyage is a scientif novel adapted from the 1966 movie originally written by Jerome Bixby and Otto Klement. This novel tells a story about the adventures of four men and a woman that are sent to a dying man’s body through a process of miniaturization, with the purpose of to get the man back to life by destroying the blood clot in his brain. There are many characters written in the book but the main are the 5 people who inside the man’s body. Personally, i will talk about the 2 character that interest me the most which is, Charles Grant and Dr. Duval.
Overall, in the story Charles Grant or Grant for short are told as leader of this entire mission. He is the agent in charge and the reliable person on board. In fact, the whole story is based on Grant perspective. Starting from the first chapter it is said that “The agent in charge. I know him. With him in charge, I feel as safe as it is possible to feel, which isn't much. Grant ran the whole thing; flicked Benes out of their hands like a seed out of a watermelon." This quotes proves that Charles Grant is the person in charge meaning he controls everything and everyone. Another character described Grant as “Tall. Played football at college. Good-looking. Terribly clean-cut. One look at him and any enemy would say: There. That's what one of their secret agents ought to look like, so of course, he can't be one. -And they dismiss him and find out too late that he is one.” This implies that not only Grant is a great leader and person in charge but he is also quite charming, he has the looks, the brain and the muscle. He is THAT good of an agent.
Throughout the story there are times where Grant flirted with the only woman on board which is ms. Cora Peterson. He flirted his way to her but she always reject him due to her love for her own boss, Dr. Duval. In the story there are also times where Grant was unsure about this whole mission but as a leader, military and agent he is not suppose to but because he is very good at his job, he dealt with things quickly. What interesting is, he always keeps an eye out for Dr. Duval, due to his suspicion on being a traitor to the team. This brings a twist to the novel. In addition, there is no bias member inside the team, but Grant can be called as the leader of the mission inside the novel.
The other character i want to bring to light is Dr. Duval. Personally, i see him as a smart character with horrible mentality. In the first chapter “If Duval were negatively charged and Carter positively charged and I could get them together and let them spark each other to death ... “ This describes Duval to have problems with Carter and that he is pretty “passionate” about it.
Don't get destructive, Don. You take Duval too seriously. A surgeon is an artist; a sculptor of living tissue. A great surgeon is a great 'artist and has the temperament of one.” Like Grant, Dr. Duval is an expert in his field well despite his horrible temper and comment about everything he’s good at what he does, making ms. Peterson head over heels. “Duval, at least, appreciated her efficiency and seemed unmoved by her attractiveness and for that she admired him the more.” I would describe Duval as someone who is passionate, speaks his mind but he is also fainthearted. There are times in this novel, where Duval is “screaming” to go back and not continue, he is doubting that they will make it out alive but he is just afraid to admit it. This can be proven from the quote below.
Grant said, "Are you suddenly afraid, Dr. Duval?”
Duval said softly, "One prays not only out of fear, but out of gratitude for the privilege of seeing the great wonders of God.”
How is the character development in this novel? I think this novel lacks character development. Because there is no conflict that happened that really changes the way the character behave except for Micheals (who turns out to be a traitor). Other than that I don’t really see much of a difference, there is progress but not much of a development. Isaac Asimov did really well expressing the characters from the dialog, you can really feel and understand the personality from what they say.
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