Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

The White Mob / Prejudice

Unlike most books, there isn't one bad person in this book who stands in the way of Calo's happiness and success—instead, there's rampant racism. Because of this, pretty much all of the white people we encounter in this book get lumped into the antagonist category. There are a few decent white folks—we're looking at you Frank and Blander, bless your hearts—but as a general rule, white folks in this book are stand ins for the racism that dominated the lives of people living in the U.S. in 1899. And if there were any doubt that racism and the white people representing it in this book were the major antagonist, they form a mob that drives Calo out of town and kills his whole family in the end. And that, Shmoopsters, is as antagonistic as antagonists come, pretty much.