Mr. Campbell is a very famous, very wealthy cartoonist. When in school, he had no friends, and retreated into his drawings instead. His cartoons became his life, his characters became his friends. However, as he improved with his cartooning and his strips were published, he attracted tremendous amounts of fame and attention and scrutiny. Mr. Campbell is a schizophrenic. He believes that his two-dimensional cartoon characters can peel themselves off the page and enter reality. They sit on Mr. Campbell’s shoulder and talk with him. They are his friends. Robert Grimley endured a similar situation. He had very few friends in school, as well, and Mr. Campbell’s comic strip became a source of stability for him. When Robert discovers that the two of them live in the same town, he knows that he must get to know him. Robert wants nothing more than to be friends with Mr. Campbell. Mr. Campbell just wants to be left alone.