Antagonists in the story?

Use this forum to discuss the December 2019 Book of the month, "E-M-P Honeymoon", by Dorothy May Mercer
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Michelle_Cerone
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Re: Antagonists in the story?

Post by Michelle_Cerone »

Here is what confused me about the antagonist--Dear Leader was clearly a satire of Kim Jong Un but the hero of the book was Kim Jung Lo. It was strange that the names were so close. Otherwise, I thought he was a great antagonist. I wonder if the real Kim Jong Un is as extreme as he is portrayed in both the book and the media but I think his character was done well.
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Post by tanner87cbs »

Stephanie Elizabeth wrote: 01 Dec 2019, 18:58
AntonelaMaria wrote: 01 Dec 2019, 11:23 I think the author did an incredible job with the antagonists of this story, especially Su Jin. I really liked her. I understood her motivation and reasons for doing what she did. Sure we can call her "bad" but she did what she knew and what she was thought all her life. I
I agree; Su Jin was a cleverly crafted antagonist. I quickly became immersed in her character and her reasoning behind her plans.
I agree that Su Jin was in a major part of the story and a well-portraied antagonist. I think her exit from the story was pre-mature and a bit lacking.
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Post by Nimisha_91 »

I thought Sue jin's character was very good. I like how they show why she is doing this, more because of duty than anything else. I like antagonists who are forced to become that way due to circumstances.
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Post by jahagen »

Rhee was my favorite antagonist in the beginning. She had a position of power, knew what she was doing, and was quite clever. As the story went on though most of the antagonists sort of became a little unrealistic, with basically very little idea of how to do what they were doing and making questionable decisions.
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Post by silvafaerie »

I would have liked the story to go into more detail about Su jin. I think that a stand alone about her would be great. She was such an interesting character. I also liked the rogue scientist. I would like to see what became of him.
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Post by Jyockel08 »

AntonelaMaria wrote: 01 Dec 2019, 11:23 I think the author did an incredible job with the antagonists of this story, especially Su Jin. I really liked her. I understood her motivation and reasons for doing what she did. Sure we can call her "bad" but she did what she knew and what she was thought all her life. I
Totally agree! She was well portrayed in this aspect and it made sense that she did what she was made to do.
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Post by SirLaddie »

The antagonists weren't very memorable. I guess Rhee Su-jin was the only one that really made a lasting impression. I know we aren't supposed to like the antagonist but real people have characteristics that are likable as well as dislikable. Rhee Su-Jin was just annoying.
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Post by Tars »

Infinite I wrote: 03 Dec 2019, 13:36 I really liked Su-Jin as an antagonist. Such a wonderfully written character. There was a meaning to everything she did.
I agree with majority and only want to add that it becomes rarity to have motivation behind actions of characters been written this good. It doesn't left anything to speculation and I applaud author for it.
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Post by CherylTegan7 »

A good antagonist is relatable, thinks they have good reasons for their actions. This was well done. And having the protagonists use the opposite to do what they need is always an interesting contrast.
"Maybe life is just an endless series of rooms with puzzles, and then eventually one of them kills you." Dirk Gently (series 1)
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Post by a-b-c- »

I think that Colonel Rhee-Suyin (Sue Lynn) knew she was doing something that was wrong .And because she was an antagonist she went to work for Mr.leader.I don't think she cared about her work or who she worked for as long as she got paid. I think she thought she could get away without being questioned about her actions. She did not question anyone about the job she was being asked to do. I think as an antagonist she would have wanted to ask questions or looked into Mr. Leaders and Mr. lee background to see what they truly cared about or what they doing. By doing this she might have found out that the people that work for them died without being paid.
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Post by Jocelyn Eastman »

I thought Dear Leader’s character was pretty terrible. If you go to that much effort to research the real life implications of emps, why not make the dictatorial leaders of other countries realistic? I imagine the author was going for comedy. I just didn’t find it funny.
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Post by Mason Garrod »

I liked Su-jin, but she suddenly became very incompetent out of nowhere, then we stopped receiving her perspective for the entire second half of the novel so her story just fizzled out. Dear Leader was definitely very stereotypical and based in racism, I would say. If he was intended to be comedic satire, the tone of the rest of the novel should probably have been made less serious to match with that
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Post by Michelle Menezes »

I thought the antagonists were not competent enough. DL didn't even have his geography right and he was planning an attack. He came across as intimidating in the beginning and ended up looking like a coward. Lee also started well and towards the end I couldn't understand what was up with him. The terrorist group also started well and then were caught easily. I would have thought people with such a huge responsibility would have done their homework well about the country they were pretending to be residents of.
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Post by Maris Charles M »

The author did an amazing job with the antagonist. Su Jin was a well written character with a clear motivation.
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Post by Aashu Chaudhary »

I liked the agonist role. The fear they used to control their people and fulfill their aims seems genuine and authentic. I loved how the commander was able to create a huge amount of fear inside the heart of his people. Also, the level of intelligence used by agonists to carry out their plan was remarkable. The way commander has separated each section of the facility to conceal the true plan was very stunning.
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