When you go to write a book of fiction, you need a protagonist- the good guy, and the antagonist- the bad guy. This is what makes the story move, take shape and live.
Often when we are watching a TV a drama my husband says, “Just fire that person!” The antagonist is doing his or her job so well that you hate and despise their character. You want them gone. Sometimes they do get written out of the show, but they get replaced by a new antagonist.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the antagonist and protagonist lately. The antagonist makes things happen, decisions are made. Will the protagonist live up to their morals or make a mistake and have to try again?
I have a situation right now in my life that I have been working through. Trying to figure out what to do. The antagonist in my life drives me crazy and I wonder if I should keep going down this path and dealing with her. Or should I cut my losses and move on.
But then I remembered the part the antagonist plays. They make things happen and move. This person, my antagonist, has taught me a lot about myself that I didn’t see or know. She forces me to make decisions constantly to determine which side of a line I want to stand on.
While there are definitely times when one should walk away or cut the antagonist out of our personal script, I think they play an important role in our lives. They make us come down off the fence we have been straddling. They make us take action. What kind of action is up to us, but they force that story along in ways that if they weren’t the proverbial thorn in our sides, we wouldn’t be where we are today. We’d be muddling around somewhere back in the distance because no one pushed us to be who we are.
So here’s to all the antagonists!
May they be written out of the script quickly as we learn from the things they teach us and may we move on to less thornier ones!
