Thus far, I have read one hundred
and thirty pages of Lynn Coady’s, "The Antagonist". This novel is centered on
creating suspense and making inferences to solve one underlying question. The main
character, Gordon Rankin Junior, or more commonly referred to as, Rank narrates
the book through a series of emails in which he retells many significant, and
seemingly insignificant events of his childhood, teen years, college years,
and present time. “I've been reading over what I sent to you so far trying to
figure out why in God’s name I can’t just settle into a nice, neat,
chronological version of the story of my life. I keep going off on these
pointless tangents” (34). These emails are being written to a former college
friend, Adam, who had written a book about a confession Rank had made to him
several years ago, and one that no one else knows about. “I was going to tell
it, and I broke out in a sweat and started talking faster, willing it to come
but terrified and the next thing I knew I was telling it, telling you, and the fluorescent
light from the kitchen was glinting off your glasses in a way that drove me
crazy...” (32). As the reader, this has me questioning what the secret is. Gordon’s
stories all have underlying meanings that will obviously develop into a bigger
picture, but this far in the book his secret is still a puzzle although it is
constantly referenced throughout the novel, and possibly revealed passive aggressively
though it is not clear.
It
becomes evident early on why “the Antagonist” was chosen as the novel’s title.
Rank is witty, skeptical, and often very spiteful giving him an aura that could
be described as “rough around the edges.” His brutal honesty, embarrassing stories,
use of profanity, and drunken rants add comical effect but also appeal to
deeper emotions. These characteristics are mirrored by the physical description
of him. He describes himself as being extremely tall and masculine. This
creates a mental image of a large, forty something year old man whose tall structure
has made him intimidating since his teenage years. “I was the worst kind of
teenager- superficially speaking, that is- the kind that grownups like the look
of least. Big and thuggy. I could take them. I could take anyone, obviously”
(36). Because the novel is written in such a unique format, the description of
Rank’s physical and emotional traits feel so personal to the reader as he
provides so many details into past events, current events, and his moods as he
is composing his emails. This allows for a very profound image in the reader’s
mind.
Many
social issues are presented in this novel which is relevant to today’s society
and to the modern reader. Throughout the novel, Rank experiences several inner
struggles. The emotional abuse inflicted by his father is something he spends a
great deal of the novel discussing. As well, the loss of his mother in his late
teens seems to have great significance in determining his character. It is
evident that Rank has a lot of pent up emotions and has dealt with great
emotional struggle in his forty-something years.
