The Antagonist is the story of a man Gordon Rankin, and the journey of his life. Often Rank is faced with a variety of judgment from his peers, as he is a “Hulking”(Lynn Coady) man. For a while Rank tries to live up to the expectations that those around put on him, but over time realizes he is worth so much more then an angry man. After a few years Rank stumbles upon a book written by his former friend Adam Grix, a book which exposes all of Ranks fails. The Antagonist is a story of Rank writing a book of his life in response to his friend Adam’s story.
We all have friends who we only hang out with because they are their, not truly that they are your friends. It’s my belief that this is the case between Gordon and Adam. Would a friend share your darkest sins to the world? Gordon was considered a goon, a jock, and a bastard in the eyes of the public. And in Adams book this is exactly how he portrayed rank. “This bad guy. This innate criminal.” (Coady, 209)
To defend himself, Rank writes his own story.” Hey nice story you thieving bastard but guess what, I have the real story right here- so get comfortable chump!” (35) Rank proves to readers, that aside from his large build, and past episodes of temper, he truly is a sweet guy. Rank helped his dad when the local teenagers would loiter in his store, he would help woman when other men abused and harassed them sexually, and he would never hurt anybody unless he felt that was the only option.
As humans we judge, Lynn Coady uses Gordon Rankin to prove not everything is what it seems. By looking beyond the surface of “Rankenstine” (Lynn Coady) we discover a gentle giant. Further proving one should not judge a book by its cover or by listening to the words of another.
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