Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Adulthood, Society, and… a Bull?

There's no shortage of antagonists here: the policemen, the teacher, the ringmaster, the burglars, and Mrs. Settergren all fill the role, and they all have one thing in common: they are adults. And as adults, they are trying to regulate the way Pippi, a child, lives her life… hence a lot of antagonism.

Of course, one antagonist that doesn't fall into the "adult" category is the bully, Bengt, who is categorized as a boy, not a man. But Bengt acts similarly to the adults Pippi meets in that he's trying to force the rules of his society (a.k.a. his gang of boys) on an individual (Willie, the boy they're beating up). And if there's one thing Pippi can't stand, it's a society trying to make an individual conform.

One last antagonist is the bull, who may or may not be an adult. In any case, he's "not at all fond of children" (6.49), which makes us think he probably is an adult, and he tries to attack one of Pippi's friends. Needless to say, he ends up like most of the adults who try to cross Pippi—in great need of a nap, which really is a wonderful way of flipping the adult/child relationship on its head. And the bull, too.