Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Antagonists

Antagonists : Hurstwood; Late Nineteenth-Century Social Conditions

This one is a little tricky. Despite Hurstwood's many transgressions, he's not your typical bad guy. In fact, he ends up a pretty sympathetic (or at least pitiable) character by the end. However, he's also the character in most direct conflict with Carrie (our protagonist), the guy who gets in her way the most, which makes him prime antagonist material. Yes, things start out rosy for them, but before long it all goes south as Hurstwood lies, cheats, kidnaps, steals, and more, destroying his own life and messing up Carrie's in the process.

What's given a far worse rap than Hurstwood, though, are certain social conditions in late nineteenth-century America. Most of these are economic, like we see when the novel mentions the Panic of 1893, an event that generates the widespread unemployment that contributes to Hurstwood's inability to achieve his goals (just as a good antagonist does… bwahahaha). The decadence of the era is taken to task too, as we watch Carrie's materialistic aspirations fail to bring her any real happiness.