Common Theme in Two Novels

Friendship

At first glance, it appears that the novels Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flag have little in common. While Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception is a tale of a secret police agent of the underground fairy world, Holly Short, and her interactions with two humans, Artemis Fowl and his bodyguard Butler, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a turn-of -- the century tale of a friendship that develops between two women in the deep South, Idgie and Ruth, and how that friendship helps bring together two women, Mrs. Cleo Threadgood and Evelyn, in the 1980s. However, despite their differences, both novels are about the transformative power of friendship.

In both Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, the main characters become friends through adversity, after having some prior familiarity with each other. Ruth and Idgie were introduced when Ruth began dating Idgie's brother buddy. However, their friendship did not fully develop until after Buddy died in a tragic accident and Idgie went wild. Idgie's mother asked Ruth to come look after Idgie, and it was at this time that the women became fast friends. Ruth saved Idgie from self-destruction and Idgie introduced Ruth to the joy of living up to her own expectations. Artemis Fowl and Holly Short had been friends in previous Artemis Fowl novels, but Artemis' memory had been wiped clean and he was left with no knowledge of the fairy world. However, when the villain Opal Koboi reveals to Holly her plans to kill Artemis, Holly travels back up into the human world to save Artemis. Like Idgie and Ruth, Artemis and Holly are forced to build their friendship from scratch, as Artemis has no recollection of their prior relationship.

Not only do both pairs of friends meet through adversity, but they also have to work together to conquer villains. In Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, the villain is Ruth's husband Frank Bennett. After marrying Frank, Ruth discovers that he is a spousal abuser. The first time that Idgie goes to visit Ruth after she is married, she discovers a battered Ruth and offers to take her home. Ruth refuses, and Idgie leaves, knowing that her friend is in danger, but powerless to help her. Eventually, a pregnant Ruth sends Idgie a message, asking for her help in leaving Frank. Idgie takes her brother and some friends to Frank's home and they intimidate Frank into letting Ruth leave. However, Frank's involvement in Ruth's life does not end with her departure from his home. Frank wants to see his baby, Buddy Jr., and comes to Whistle Stop to try to find him. Frank attempts to kidnap Buddy Jr. And is killed by a friend of Ruth and Idgie, Sipsey, in the process. Sipsey is an African-American woman in the Jim Crow South, so when Idgie is indicted for the murder, she refuses to implicate Sipsey. This reveals that a good friendship is not limited to the two people in it, but spreads outside of the friendship. Ruth has always been considered a good church-going girl, convinces the preacher to lie under oath (although he swears on a copy of Moby Dick rather than the Bible) and provide Idgie with an alibi for the night of the murder.

Like both Ruth and Idgie, Holly is forced to break the letter of the law in Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception. After Opal set it up to appear that Holly had murdered her commander, she was required to go back into the underground and face internal affairs. Furthermore, Holly had previously been specifically forbidden from having further contact with Artemis. Even though it meant that Holly was risking her future in the LEP Recon unit, she ignored those rules and went aboveground to save Artemis. Furthermore, to help save Artemis and Holly after they are both captured by Opal, Artemis' friend and bodyguard Butler and an escaped criminal, a dwarf named Mulch Diggums, steal a police vehicle. Like the characters in Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, the characters in Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception, may not abide by the letter of the law, but they do everything in their power to help when their friends are in need.