Radcliffe Emerson - Character

Character

Emerson is presented as a dynamic man of action, but one with great tenderness toward his family and friends. He is known to be short-tempered and irascible, but his family and friends hardly ever take notice, knowing he means no harm. However, he has shown genuine anger and a willingness to use violence often enough to make him feared by all the petty criminals and crooked antiques dealers in Egypt.

Emerson remains charmingly oblivious to his few character flaws; he sees himself as the only rational, even-tempered person in the family; he has a boyish enthusiasm for automobiles and motorcycles, though he is mechanically inept, and the recklessness of his driving terrifies his family; he always seizes any opportunity to go about in disguise, especially with a false beard, though it is impossible for anyone to be fooled by them.

He is intolerant of bureaucracy and an advocate of careful methods of excavation and research. His methods are presented as a great contrast to those of well-known non-fictional archaeological adventurers, who can sometimes be found as minor characters in the books. More established and careful archaeologists, including William Flinders Petrie and Howard Carter, the discoverer and primary excavator of the tomb of Tutankhamun, are presented more positively.

The Emerson family adventures, to date, are set in both Great Britain and Egypt during the British Imperial period, beginning in approximately 1890 and extending through the 1920s.