Frank Illidge is the hired assistant to Lord Edward Tantamount, aiding in Edward's scientific pursuits. He is small with an "upturned" nose, freckly face, brown eyes, and orange eyebrows. He is aware he is not attractive. He is a communist with a very high awareness regarding the different levels of social class. He wants everybody to treat others as a neighbor because this leads to human empathy and connection. But he despises the rich because they have a sense of insensitiveness towards others since they can already afford everything they want. Frank's philosophy is ultimately that everyone should be treated equal and people should learn to connect and interact with others to prevent a superior and inferior class. He states, "There is something peculiarly base and ignoble and diseased about the rich. Money breeds a kind of gangrened insensitiveness" (pg.53)