The Protagonist Analysis

Protagonists are the vehicles through which we experience stories. Whether they act as narrators, allowing us to look directly through their eyes at the world around them, or are merely the focus of the narrator, who uses their own voice to give us variable levels of insight into the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings, without protagonists, readers would have no reason to open a book. The same is true within games. Traditionally, the player-controlled character serves as the protagonist of a game because we as players share that character’s perspective in one way or another. In the first person perspective, players look through their eyes, immersing themselves within the game-world as a character; in the third-person perspective, players look over their shoulder, retaining elements of the first-person perspective, but gaining additional context for game-play mechanics; and in the …show more content…
I will achieve this through analysis of Clementine as a child and adolescent protagonist using Roberta Seelinger Trites’ Disturbing the Universe, focusing on her general growth and development, and Kenneth Kidd’s “‘A’ is for Auschwitz: Psychoanalysis, Trauma Theory, and the ‘Children’s Literature of Atrocity,’” focusing on the effects of the inherently traumatic nature of the post-apocalyptic America that Clementine is maturing in. Additionally, given the fact that Clementine is the player character for only one full game, I will consider the impact of non-protagonist, in-world narrators as the lens through which readers and players experience protagonists and the impact that has on the narrative or game as a whole. Finally, I will include some investigation of game specific narrative perspective in order to facilitate a transition from book-focused theories into the world of video game