Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Archie Meeks

While Archie doesn't wear a black cape or act like a villain for most of the novel, he's our antagonist. After all, he splits town with Turtle's cash and her mom's dreams. Dude's slimy all over. It's not just that he's untrustworthy that makes him our antagonist (although that helps a little)—he's also working against Turtle in achieving her end goal of getting a home for just her and her mom to live in. He thwarts Turtle's plans in the most manipulative and cunning way possible, so he's definitely our (bad) guy.

The Great Depression

That's right: We're saying an socio-economic era is an antagonist in this book. And why shouldn't it be? After all, it's these tough economic times that force Turtle to move away from her mom in the first place, plus everyone is hurting because of the bad economy. While Archie gets in Turtle and her mom's way, the Great Depression gets in pretty much everyone's way. And since it's clear that without the Great Depression, no one would be hurting so badly in the novel, we're comfortable calling it an antagonist.