So far in our Monday studies of The Princess Bride we’ve only looked at one element of the story: its classically structured villain. This past Friday we looked at the Prince Humperdinck’s right-hand-man, Count Rugen. However, today we’re going to look at some other subordinates in Humperdinck’s master plan – ‘goons’ working under him that don’t really fit the mold of the role they’re supposed to play.
Fezzik and Inigo Montoya, to be fair, were not hired by Humperdinck himself. Who knows if these lovable characters would’ve made it into the story if he’d hand-picked who he wanted killing Buttercup! Luckily for us, Humperdinck couldn’t choose the people to carry out his wishes himself, because he didn’t want even an idea out there that he was the one who wanted his fiance dead. So who knows how many people the orders went through before Vizzini was hired and told to hire a team and kill the princess. From what we can gather in Vizzini’s words to the pair of misfits, Vizzini was looking for cheap labor who wouldn’t argue about the morality of what they were doing, thus justifying the hiring of the “brainless” unemployed giant from Greenland and the “slobbering drunk” swordsman. Both, due either to studies or natural physical state, were the obvious choice from a fighting standpoint, and very easy for Vizzini to demean and take advantage of.
What Vizzini wasn’t counting on, however, was the friendship that formed between the two. This is what distinguishes Fezzik and Inigo from Count Rugen and Vizzini and the rest of the Prince’s goons: they’re not afraid to have a heart and put it on display, allowing the strongest bond of friendship seen in The Princess Bride to form between them. Whether we see it through the two of them lightheartedly rhyming on Vizzini’s ship, or Fezzik supporting Inigo on his quest to find the six-fingered man all the way to the end, no one can deny that their friendship was as real and true as Westley and Buttercup’s love.
Fezzik and Inigo’s big hearts extend to more than just friendship with each other, however. Along their way to find the six-fingered man who killed Inigo’s father, they encounter again the “man in black”, who had tried to rescue Buttercup from them when they were working for Vizzini. Having put two and two together, they realize that this man is he who loves the Prince’s fiance, and feeling compassion for him, they help him escape the clutches of Count Rugen and work to reunite Westley and Buttercup. Which was a fantastic choice for them to make, because in the end, it led them to Count Rugen himself, who is, of course, the six-fingered man.
We’ve been talking a lot about the villains and the heroes involved on the journey that The Princess Bride takes us on, but thus far, we have neglected to examine the pivotal character that all these escapades are being risked for. That will soon be remedied, however. Join us this coming Friday as we talk about the title character of this month’s story: Buttercup herself!