Frank Character Analysis in Monkey Beach

Frank is the class bully when Tab, Erica, and Lisa are young. His older brother is Bib. He hangs out with his cousins Pooch, Cheese, Ronny, and Karaoke (Adelaine Jones). As he hits puberty, he begins to like Lisa, but he starts dating Julie after Lisa declines his invitation for a date. He later drops out of high school, and after a little bit of trouble with the law, he settles down with a good job.

Frank Character Timeline in Monkey Beach

The timeline below shows where the character Frank appears in Monkey Beach. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...can play with someone besides Jimmy. But Erica takes off running when the class bully, Frank, rides up on his bike accompanied by two of his friends. Frank and his cronies... (full context)

Mom and Mick take Lisa to the Emergency Room, where Frank waits for treatment with his mother. Frank’s mother and Mom argue across the room, each... (full context)

...school starts again. She has a terrible fall; Tab moves to Vancouver and the terrible Frank appears in her class one day, having been kicked out of his old school for... (full context)

The next day, Frank kills a frog and leaves it in Lisa’s desk to scare her. It doesn’t; it... (full context)

...her names like “boy,” “animal,” and “Miss Piggy.” Lisa retaliates by using the unflattering name Frank and his cronies once gave Erica: “Pissy Missy.” As the cousins begin to fight, Erica’s... (full context)

...at lunch. She spends the rest of the day in detention. That afternoon after school, Frank, Pooch, and Cheese follow her off the bus, expressing appreciation for her fighting spirit and... (full context)

...the girls always declared boys “icky and stupid.” But Lisa relishes being a part of Frank’s crew. She starts smoking with the guys and joining their dodgeball team in P.E. class.... (full context)

Lisa remembers that Jimmy held Frank and his buddies in awe, but not her. He felt free to lecture her about... (full context)

In a flashback, Lisa remembers inviting Frank and his cronies to her 11th birthday party instead of Erica and the old gang.... (full context)

...Lisa notices that he stares at women in the same way that Lisa sometimes catches Frank staring at her. She still loves hanging out with the guys. One night after an... (full context)

...smoke pot. Lisa tells Tab how much she’s missed her and about hanging around with Frank, Pooch, and Cheese; Tab warns Lisa that Cheese is a panty-stealing pervert. (full context)

...Lisa thanks the universe. She started smoking seriously when she hung out with Pooch when Frank and Cheese were at wild parties. She remembers that Pooch and his brothers lived with... (full context)

...she sits down on the front steps and bursts into panicked tears in front of Frank, Pooch, and Cheese. She giddily tells them that Jimmy is going to die and describes... (full context)

While Frank and the gang have Jimmy interred up at the pump house, Frank’s cousins Karaoke (Adelaine... (full context)

...shifts to Lisa’s memory of the Valentine’s Day when she got an unsigned card in Frank’s handwriting. She hopes it’s just a prank. Lisa has begun shaving already, but she hasn’t... (full context)

...barely passed her classes that year. Meanwhile, Jimmy continues to thrive in his swimming career. Frank asks Lisa to go with him to middle school graduation, but she gets nervous and... (full context)

...Cheese’s house. He asks her out, trying to tempt her with the prospect of making Frank jealous, but she says no. She storms home and holes up in her room, isolating... (full context)

...talk with Trudy, Lisa picks up Pooch and Cheese; later they all tag along with Frank to a house party. Pooch’s older brother immediately tosses Pooch out, maintaining that, at 14,... (full context)

...Lisa is in the bathroom one morning a few days later, Mom calls her downstairs. Frank has stopped by. Lisa and Frank sit on the bottom step and smoke. Frank wants... (full context)

...hospital for tests, she runs into Pooch. His grandmother is ill. He tells her that Frank beat up Cheese and that both are avoiding the subject of Lisa. Pooch asks what... (full context)

...them. On the second day of school after the summer Cheese raped Lisa, she sees Frank in the lunchroom with a group of older boys, none of whom will acknowledge her.... (full context)

...realizes how grungy and seedy the place is. She sips a plain orange juice when Frank suddenly walks in, pushing past his uncle Josh without acknowledgment. Josh claims that his nephew... (full context)

Trudy ends the conversation and pulls Josh to the dance floor. Frank comes up while Lisa stands in the long line for the bathroom. She doesn’t know... (full context)

...next morning, clutching her meager plastic bag of possessions, Lisa climbs into the car with Frank. Karaoke dozes in the backseat. After a few hours of driving, Frank stops at a... (full context)

...pointy teeth of a sasquatch. Lisa pulls over and jumps out of the car, rousing Frank. For a moment, Lisa considers telling him about her b’gwus sighting, but she hedges and... (full context)

The narrative shifts to Lisa’s memory of Pooch’s funeral, where she sits between Frank and Karaoke. They stay in the back of the crowd at the cemetery. Afterward, they... (full context)

...hard work can provide a welcome distraction from other things. She even tries to convince Frank to go back and finish with her. Lisa finds English easy but Algebra frustratingly hard.... (full context)

One day, when Lisa goes to the mall for cigarettes, she runs into Frank, who invites her to Karaoke’s 16th birthday party at Bib’s house. She asks Jimmy to... (full context)

...memory of the past summer, after Karaoke left. One night during the Olympics, Lisa finds Frank escorting a dead-drunk Jimmy out of a party. Lisa knows she can’t take him home... (full context)