Archetypes In The Antagonist

The novel “The Antagonist” is about a guy named Gordon Rankin who goes by Rank. His college friend, Adam, wrote a book chronicling his life. However he wrote this book without Rank’s permission which angers Rank immensely. The book explores what Rank does afterwards. Throughout this novel many archetypes are present. These archetypes are pivotal to the novel and its messages. It suggests that people are easily characterized. In fact, no matter how unique someone seems they can almost always be put into a category.

While he was a teenager Rank worked at his father’s ice cream store called The Icy Dream. While working there Rank would occasionally encounter unruly customers who he then escorted outside of the store. However there was one customer

Rank is tall and strong as a teenager unlike Gord who is a smaller guy. Gord has him join the hockey team because he enjoys it when Rank uses his size to dominate on the ice. He also has him act as enforcer at his store. He also had him fight Mick Croft. Rank hurt him so bad that Mick got permanent brain damage. Also he would constantly about things like his sex life.He would be very critical of every girl who Rank dated. A quotation that displays the kind of person is, “Gord would lop it off with some quiet remark along the lines of useless idiot”(Coady, 49). This is something that Gord would always say to Rank. All of this shows that Gord fits the archetype of overbearing father. He does this by pushing Rank constantly and being extremely proud when he does something right. He also believes that Rank is always right even when Rank himself disagrees with him. This perfectly shows that people can be categorized no matter how unique they might seem to

He told him his life story. HIs struggles with his father Gord and how he felt after his mother’s death. Rank felt comfortable telling Adam these things because he would listen to Rank and rarely say anything. He would hide behind his glasses hiding any emotions he might have for what Rank was saying. Adam would occasionally say something but typically he would just listen to what Rank had to say. However years after they had left college Adam releases a novel about Rank’s life without any credit to or permission from him. This shows that Adam is a prime example of the archetypal traitor. He gained Rank’s trust as well as his life story and then years later wrote about to make a profit. He completely and utterly betrayed their friendship from college which is why he is a traitor and a good example that people can be