Analyzing Royal Tenenbaum's Flat Character

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E.M Forester describes a flat character as “The really flat character can be expressed in one sentence…” Royal Tenenbaum’s in one sentence is “he is very deceitful.” He begins the story as being a flat character his entire life, but when forced onto the streets, his manipulative nature turns against him; creating the beginning of his transformation. He is shown as a man who has always put himself before all others, including his family. Royal seems unable to grasp the idea that his irresponsible and selfish lifestyle has driven a wedge between him and his family that cannot be undone by a simple apology. The main goal of Royal however, is not to make amends to his family, but to have a roof over his head. The story begins with Royal being kicked out of his hotel room and having nowhere else to go, hatches a plan to gain entry into his old apartment by saying he has cancer. Royal’s main goal throughout the movie to deceive his family shows the flatness of Royal’s character, but transforms into a round character by the end when coming to the realization that these days spent with his family were the…show more content…
The fact that Royal, after twenty two years, decided to give his wife a divorce before marrying Henry shows how much he has grown and formed into a man who has developed the ability to think of others. Another example of this transformation is Royal’s self jeopardizing act of saving Ari and Uzi from Eli crashing the car into the house. Throughout the movie, Royal has always seemed to look out for number one, but this act put himself in danger to save his grandsons that never really knew him. Overtime, Royal has an epiphany that these last days living with his family were truly the most important and best days of his

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