🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <92322.122322KVJLC@ASUACAD.BITNET>, Jon L. Campbell <KVJLC@ASUACAD.BITNET> writes:
|[speculation about the roles and characters of the antagonist and
|protagonist in my novel, REMOTE CONTROL, along with some discussion of
|the nature of serial killers in the real world.]

It is always gratifying to have someone express interest in my novel,
and I'm sure there is also rich grounds here for a hypothetical
discussion of how novels may be written with different kinds of
protagonists and antagonists, but frankly it would be an utterly
pointless exercise for anyone to attempt to discuss my novel when they
haven't even seen the thing, much less read it.

The protagonist-versus-antagonist model doesn't fit REMOTE CONTROL very
well, anyway.  Given sufficiently powerful analytical tools I have no
doubt you could force it into that mold, but you would squeeze most of
the juice out of it in the process.

If there is sufficient interest here in discussing the actual details
of REMOTE CONTROL I will gladly provide typeset, bound copies to the
interested parties for the cost of duplication and mailing.  (This price
will naturally vary according to how many people want one.)  Otherwise
let's acknowledge that this discussion is completely hypothetical.

That said, let me answer some of Jon's questions *about novels in 
general*.

It is not necessary to have a protagonist who is the reflection of good.
Many novels call the very idea that a person can be characterized as
good into question.  The protagonist can be a jerk sometimes, and
certainly should not be above reproach--a protagonist who is above
reproach sounds to me like a good formula for a completely boring story.
Look, for example, at Arthurian legend, any classical or Shakespearian
tragedy, or more recently Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books,
for clearly reproachable protagonists.

The second question, "Can the antagonist be anything other than the
conflict in the story?" fails to make a lot of sense to me.  I am
reminded of an aquaintance who used to ask "Did you take the bus this
morning or do you bring your lunch?" as a ploy to disorient the unwary.
What if the story doesn't have an antagonist?  Is the antagonist then
something else, or can we admit that there simply isn't one?  I am
certain that you can have a story without an antagonist.  Examples that
leap to mind are "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and THE ACCIDENTAL
TOURIST.

-- 
--Fred, or another blind 8th-century BC  |  sasafw@dobo.unx.sas.com
        Hellenic poet of the same name.  |