Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Stephen Rojack

As far as likeable lead characters go, Rojack isn't much of a protagonist. As far as antiheros go, though, Rojack's a pretty textbook example. While we might not sympathize with anything that Rojack does over the course of An American Dream, we're stuck with him throughout the story, and because of this, we can't help but care about what happens to him. Since he's telling the story, he gets to call the shots—and as we see, refusing to go along with his wishes usually doesn't go well. So we'll just shut up and read.