Frank Pulver Character Analysis

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“[Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion, Doc and Roberts clutch at the desk] ‘Roberts: Oh, my God! Doc: He wasn’t kidding’”!(400) They turn around to find Ensign Frank Pulver wearing a tattered uniform and a blackened face. This just one of Frank Pulver’s many childish and naive stunts in the play Mister Roberts by Joshua Logan. Throughout the play, Frank Pulver is indirectly characterized as being immature and foolish through his actions, humor, and dialogue. Frank Pulver’s actions throughout the play Mister Roberts leads the audience to believe that he is immature. One example that shows this is when he sets off an explosion in the laundry room. Pulver is planning on putting “a firecracker under the Old Man’s bunk”(400) but during …show more content…

One example of this is inappropriate humor is when Doc and Roberts discuss the stories of Pulver such as when he “ conquered a forty-five-year-old virgin by the simple tactic of being the first man in her life to ask her a direct question”(345) and when he “rendered pregnant three girls in Washington D.C., caught the eleven forty-five train, and an hour later performed the same service for a young lady in Baltimore”(345). These two stories shared over drinks are humorous, but also make Pulver seem like a sleazy and immature person. One other example of the humor is when Frank Pulver create a story that he is the Executive Officer, but finds out that he should stay true to himself. For example, when Roberts says he “stays true to alcohol and orange juice”(375) to joke with Pulver, they find out that “a lot of the girls at the hospital swear by orange juice and alcohol”(376). This is a humorous moment, but it shows that Pulver is not mature enough to stay true to himself and feels as though he needs to lie about who he is. Through humorous moments throughout the play, Logan is able to make people laugh, but also see Frank Pulver as extremely

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