Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

The Civil War

The antagonist is usually the character who's the "bad guy," but in this case, the "bad guy" is the war itself since it's cramping everyone's style. Delphine and Calinda are driven from their home by war; Mama is terrified Noah will go to war; Cass is haunted by visions of war; and Tilly finds out how much more Noah means to Mama than she does because of the war. Plus, Noah loses his arm to the war, while the war prompts Dr. Hutchings to put his small-town doctoring dreams on hold. Yep, no doubt, the war itself is the problem here.