Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Oskar Matzerath

Usually, a protagonist or central character is someone we're supposed to like or sympathize with. And we might even like Oskar's witty charm or sympathize with his difficult life in Nazi-occupied Danzig. But at the end of the day, it's really tough to decide how we feel about this guy on the whole. On the one hand, he might be a rapist and a murderer. On the other, he might be a poor, deluded little person with an elaborate fantasy life. Regardless, this is his story, so he's the protagonist.