Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Conor O'Malley

From the very first paragraph of the book, we're with Conor. We know he's terrified, and from the description of his dream, we're terrified, too. When the monster comes to his window, we can't help but imagine how it would feel if a monster came to ours. And when he learns the hard lessons about life from both the monster's stories and his day-to-day existence, we either remember when we learned those lessons ourselves or dread the day we have to. Also, Conor's not only fighting the pit monster, he's fighting against himself. There's a battle in his mind and heart between what he knows to be true and what he wants to believe.