Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Mr. Sharpe

Who bans Octavian from reading stories? Who kills Cassiopeia's spirit? Who drags Octavian back into slavery after Octavian escapes? And who gives a super long-winded speech about how slavery is economically necessary? Yep—that would be Mr. Sharpe, a grade-A jerk through and through.

Mr. Gitney

Mr. Gitney's not a terrible guy exactly. He does have a conscience, and we're guessing that he's being honest when he tells Octavian that he really doesn't believe in slavery. But not believing in slavery doesn't mean he's strong enough to stand up for his beliefs and actually free Octavian and Cassiopeia when he could have.

And that's the problem: Mr. Gitney stands in the way of Octavian's progress, even though he doesn't have to. He does so because his first priority is the survival of the College, not Octavian and Cassiopeia (whom he claims he loves). This means he's willing to sell out Octavian and Cassiopeia so that the College can keep going—which totally stinks, and definitely makes him an antagonist.