Fred is the protagonist of The Explorer and the character with the most influence over how the plot unfolds. The story is written from a third-person limited perspective, drawing on Fred’s experiences and point of view to narrate events. Like the other children, Fred is aboard the small plane when it crashes in the Amazon, leaving them stranded. The moment that Fred regains consciousness, he goes in search of other people, feeling panicked inside but acting with courage and surprising rationality for his age. Fred immediately attempts to adopt a leadership position in the group, but he soon realizes that he is an equal member of a four-person team. Fred was on his way to live with a cousin in Peru after he became ill and his father determined that he no longer had the time to take care of him. Fred struggles with this feeling of abandonment and is deeply motivated by a desire to impress his father. This need within Fred changes upon meeting the explorer, who helps Fred see that he can find his own reasons to achieve greatness. At school, Fred is known as the sensible one, and he desperately wants to prove that he can take risks and be brave.