Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Dad

Figuring out the antagonist for our book isn't a simple task. It's pretty subtle since no one is out to get Ellen, per se, and she isn't forced to have any real battles. However, she does clash with her dad, making him one of the antagonists of the story. Despite his insistence that having a "mind with it's own heartbeat" (2.16) is essential, Dad holds some old-fashioned (that's just a nice way of saying "bigoted") ideas about what it means to be gay.

Because of Dad's narrow-mindedness, Link is too afraid to pursue what his sexual identity may be, and Ellen is forced to come to terms with the fact that even smart, socially conscientious people can have ideas that are backward and wrong.