Antagonists
don’t have to be alive, or even a machine. Many good stories have been written where
the protagonist is challenged by a place. In Last of the Breed, Louis L'Amour pits his protagonist against the Siberia wasteland.
Although humans made appearances, Daniel Defoe primarily challenged Robinson Caruso
with a deserted island. There are many stories of a single person fighting
against the elements, but the antagonist as a place does not need to threaten
only individuals. The true antagonist in Clive Cussler’s Raise the Titanic is the depths of the frigid Atlantic. Sebastian Junger in The Perfect
Storm pits weather against the fishing crew of the Andrea Gail. Although nonfiction, in Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, Piers Paul Read tells the story of how a rugby team won a battle
against a mountain.
Place
can also take on a secondary antagonist role. To a great extent, Dorothy is
attempting to escape Kansas and Tara is Scarlett O'Hara’s nemesis.
When
the antagonist is a place, then the story is often one of gut-wrenching endurance.
The narrative almost always starts with a set-up that shows the protagonist as
completely unprepared for a test of stamina and courage. These are stressful
stories that examine human limits.
Most of the time, the protagonist wins, but sometimes not, as in The Perfect Storm.
Most of the time, the protagonist wins, but sometimes not, as in The Perfect Storm.