Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Modern Life in General

We're totally serious on this one. You can look as hard as you want, but you're not going to find a villain in this book who twirls his moustache and says "I'm going to get you, Amory Blaine! Mwahahaha!"

No, a clear villain would be too easy to fight against. What really hurts Amory Blaine is the general state of the modern world, and that's why there's such a deep tone of malaise throughout this book. If Amory had a clear foe to fight against he'd probably be more motivated. But the truth is that the problems of the world seem too big and complex for Amory to take on—which helps account for why he's always so confused about what to do with his life.