Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Grew Up… on Long Island in a privileged, upper middle class Jewish family. An awkward but brilliant computer geek, he was always more comfortable in front of a screen than around people.
Living… in 2003, where he lives in an undergraduate dormitory at the prestigious Harvard University. He’s friendly although not particularly close to his two roommates, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, although his only strong friendship his old friend, Eduardo Saverin.
Profession… co-founder of TheFacebook.com, a new social networking site for college students that starts out at Harvard and ultimately spreads all the way to Stanford. Eduardo serves as both his co-founder and CFO, and works across the country to try and secure additional investment for their fledgling company.
Interests… coding, hoodies, Facebook. Before Facebook, Mark didn’t have any idea of how to apply his intelligence. He spent his time goofing off with his roommates, and using his considerable mental faculties to pull off cyber-pranks. But that all changed with Facebook. The second Mark creates the website that could define a generation, work and play are combined, and he becomes obsessed with success.
Relationship Status… single. Mark would like to be in a relationship, but his acid tongue has a habit of driving any potential girlfriends away. Now that he’s focused on the Facebook, he spends less time dwelling on his lack of success with the opposite sex – but it still crosses his name on occasion. He frequently checks the Facebook page of his ex-girlfriend, Erica Albright.
Challenge… dealing with the success of Facebook. The company proves to be a raging success – a situation that forces Mark to make some tough decisions. As he rises towards the ranks of the world’s billionaires he finds himself alienating friends and making new enemies. He’s beset by lawsuits from the Winklevoss twins, (who claim he stole their idea) and his friend and cofounder, Eduardo Saverin (who claims to have been unjustly cut out of the company.) Mark’s achieving everything he’s ever wanted, and has finally proved to the world how brilliant he is – but happiness continues to elude him.
Personality… selfish, caustic, and defensive. Mark is never without a quick, biting comeback on the tip of his tongue, just waiting for a perceived slight to present itself. Mark cannot stand to be thought of as dumb or lesser by anyone, and tolerates geniuses and fools with almost equal measures of scorn. His ability to form personal relationships is further hindered by the fact that he is mercilessly logical, willing to cut out anyone that might threaten his success. Still, he’s not totally devoid of conscience, and in private moments seems uncertain about the path his life has taken.