Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Nature

Okay, so nature is totally Dillard's friend—she chooses to spend a year hanging out with it, after all—but since it's also her only company, it's positioned as her antagonist as well. It is what baffles her, what propels her forward, what she grapples with. So while it doesn't ever hurt her, per say, or deliberately try to trip her up, it is the thing she contends with, and for this reason, it plays an antagonistic role in the book.