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Who Is The Protagonist? 43103 Views
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Description:
Picking out the protagonist isn't always as easy as recognizing that the thing flying in the sky with a big "S" on its chest isn't actually a bird or a plane. Want tips for spotting a protagonist in the wild? If so, this video's for you.
Transcript
- 00:04
Who is the Protagonist? a la Shmoop. Books are populated with millions of different
- 00:09
characters, from kind-hearted recluses to monsters stitched together from dead body
- 00:14
parts.
- 00:16
Chances are, if you can imagine him or her, that character exists somewhere out there
- 00:20
in the literary-verse.
Full Transcript
- 00:22
Despite their diversity, most of these characters can be filtered into a variety of tried-and-true
- 00:27
roles.
- 00:28
The most popular role, by far, is the protagonist... although the antagonist might have something
- 00:33
to say about that…
- 00:35
So, how do you identify the protagonist of a novel?
- 00:40
Picking the protagonist out of a lineup isn’t as easy as identifying the heroic-looking
- 00:44
guy in shining armor with a singing sword.
- 00:47
Depending on the novel’s P-O-V, that guy could be the villain.
- 00:52
The protagonist is the guy… or gal… that you root for to triumph in the novel’s main
- 00:57
conflict.
- 00:57
They’re basically your favorite person on your favorite sports team…
- 01:01
Until they get traded to the rival team, then they become the antagonist.
- 01:06
Many times the protagonist’s name is in the title. Jane Eyre. Huck Finn. Gilgamesh.
- 01:12
The Time Traveler’s Wife… whatever her name is.
- 01:17
But not Moby Dick. Or the Mockingbird from To Kill a Mockingbird. Although we’re sure
- 01:22
if the mockingbird had a story, it would be riveting.
- 01:29
More often than not, if a book is told from the first-person perspective, the protagonist
- 01:33
is the narrator of the story.
- 01:36
Bella Swan… protagonist. Katniss Everdeen… protagonist.
- 01:40
However, just because Nick Carroway is the narrator of The Great Gatsby, it doesn’t
- 01:44
make him the protagonist. Whose name is on the cover of that book?
- 01:48
Now, just because a character is the protagonist doesn’t necessarily make them the hero of
- 01:53
the story, or even all that heroic. We’re looking at you, Bella…
- 01:59
A protagonist can also be an anti-hero. They’re not performing wild feats of derring-do, but
- 02:05
you’re still rooting for them.
- 02:06
Here are a few confessions: We kind of love to hate Scarlett O’Hara. Holden Caulfield
- 02:13
isn’t exactly a role model you’d bring home to dinner.
- 02:18
And we admit to adoring the most anti- of all anti-heroes… Satan in Paradise Lost.
- 02:24
So, when you’re trying to pick out the protagonist, remember these things…
- 02:27
The protagonist is most often the character you’re rooting for.
- 02:31
They’re usually the narrator or focal point of the story.
- 02:35
However, just because they’re the protagonist doesn’t mean they’re a saint.
- 02:39
Protagonists can have complex personalities and faults. Protagonists are people, too!
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