2001: A Space Odyssey

by

Arthur C. Clarke

Frank Poole Character Analysis

Frank Poole is the second in command of Discovery One. Like his crewmate, David Bowman, Poole was chosen for his cool head and wide range of skills; also like Bowman, Poole is unaware of the true nature of his mission. Each day aboard Discovery One, he adheres to a strict daily routine designed to keep him sharp and fit. Though unmarried, Poole still struggles with the isolation of deep space travel. Apart from this loneliness, however, Poole cuts a rather stoic, at times even boring figure, a quality he shares with Bowman.

Frank Poole Quotes in 2001: A Space Odyssey

The 2001: A Space Odyssey quotes below are all either spoken by Frank Poole or refer to Frank Poole . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Collaboration vs. Individualism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

The toolmakers had been remade by their tools.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 35
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

Poole and Bowman had often humorously referred to themselves as caretakers or janitors aboard a ship that could really run itself. They would have been astonished, and more than a little indignant, to discover how much truth that jest contained.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 119
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Sometimes, during lonely hours on the control deck, Bowman would listen to this radiation. He would turn up the gain until the room filled with a crackling, hissing roar; out of this background, at irregular intervals, emerged brief whistles and peeps like the cries of demented birds. It was an eerie sound, for it had nothing to do with Man; it was as lonely and as meaningless as the murmur of waves on the beach, or the distant crash of thunder beyond the horizon.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Frank Poole
Page Number: 136
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

Like every man of his age, Poole took it for granted that he could talk instantly to anyone on Earth, whenever he pleased. Now that this was no longer true, the psychological impact was profound. He had moved into a new dimension of remoteness, and almost all emotional links had been stretched beyond the yield point.

Related Characters: Frank Poole
Page Number: 150
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

Nowadays, one could always tell when Hal was about to make an unscheduled announcement. Routine, automatic reports, or replies to questions that had been put to him, had no preliminaries; but when he was initiating his own outputs there would be a brief electronic throat-clearing. It was an idiosyncrasy that he acquired during the last few weeks; later, it if became annoying, they might do something about it.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 171
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

Deliberate error was unthinkable. Even the concealment of truth filled him with a sense of imperfection, of wrongness—of what, in a human being, would have been called guilt. For like his makers, Hal had been created innocent; but, all too soon, a snake had entered his electronic Eden. For the last hundred million miles, he had been brooding over the secret he could not share with Poole and Bowman. He had been living a lie; and the time was fast approaching when his colleagues must learn that he had helped to deceive them.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

It if it could happen to a man, then it could happen to Hal; and with that knowledge the bitterness and the sense of betrayal he felt toward the computer began to fade.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis:
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Frank Poole Quotes in 2001: A Space Odyssey

The 2001: A Space Odyssey quotes below are all either spoken by Frank Poole or refer to Frank Poole . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Collaboration vs. Individualism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

The toolmakers had been remade by their tools.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 35
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

Poole and Bowman had often humorously referred to themselves as caretakers or janitors aboard a ship that could really run itself. They would have been astonished, and more than a little indignant, to discover how much truth that jest contained.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 119
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Sometimes, during lonely hours on the control deck, Bowman would listen to this radiation. He would turn up the gain until the room filled with a crackling, hissing roar; out of this background, at irregular intervals, emerged brief whistles and peeps like the cries of demented birds. It was an eerie sound, for it had nothing to do with Man; it was as lonely and as meaningless as the murmur of waves on the beach, or the distant crash of thunder beyond the horizon.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Frank Poole
Page Number: 136
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

Like every man of his age, Poole took it for granted that he could talk instantly to anyone on Earth, whenever he pleased. Now that this was no longer true, the psychological impact was profound. He had moved into a new dimension of remoteness, and almost all emotional links had been stretched beyond the yield point.

Related Characters: Frank Poole
Page Number: 150
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

Nowadays, one could always tell when Hal was about to make an unscheduled announcement. Routine, automatic reports, or replies to questions that had been put to him, had no preliminaries; but when he was initiating his own outputs there would be a brief electronic throat-clearing. It was an idiosyncrasy that he acquired during the last few weeks; later, it if became annoying, they might do something about it.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 171
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 27 Quotes

Deliberate error was unthinkable. Even the concealment of truth filled him with a sense of imperfection, of wrongness—of what, in a human being, would have been called guilt. For like his makers, Hal had been created innocent; but, all too soon, a snake had entered his electronic Eden. For the last hundred million miles, he had been brooding over the secret he could not share with Poole and Bowman. He had been living a lie; and the time was fast approaching when his colleagues must learn that he had helped to deceive them.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 31 Quotes

It if it could happen to a man, then it could happen to Hal; and with that knowledge the bitterness and the sense of betrayal he felt toward the computer began to fade.

Related Characters: David Bowman (The Star-Child) , Hal , Frank Poole
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis: