Today we analyzed "The Mysterious Geographical Adventures of Jasper Morello" (which is available on iTunes for for a mere $2).
Multiple Goals can = Multiple Antagonists
One of the first things we noticed was that the protagonist had multiple goals. At the beginning Jasper wants to overcome his previous failure as a navigator, which had resulted in a shipmate's death. However, we also noticed that later on Jasper's goal changes to getting back home to his wife, who had contracted the sickness.
Interestingly, we found that there was a different antagonist for each goal Jasper had. His first goal, to overcome his past mistakes, was antagonized by the captain of the vessel. But later, his goal of returning to his wife was antagonized by the Dr. who was constantly either injecting Jasper with a sleeping serum, or convincing the captain to continue the voyage rather than return home.
Shape Shifter
This makes the Dr. an interesting character. The captain is reliably antagonistic toward Jasper the entire trip. However, the Dr. begins the trip as Jasper' s friend. It is later that the Dr. becomes Jasper's antagonist.
This kind of character that changes functions during the story is called a shape shifter. In other words, he is a friend who turns into an enemy.
Of course, shape shifters can also change from being an enemy to a friend.
Drama or Comedy?
Though we had to dig a little bit, we finally decided that this story is a drama. A drama, you remember, requires a change on the part of the protagonist.
Jasper's goal is to get home to his wife. Things look up when they find the bug that providedsthe cure for the sickness. But Jasper has to sacrifice his own life to keep the bug alive unti the ship reaches home.
Jasper obviously wants to be alive when he reached home so he can cure his wife and spend his life with her. Therefore, his willingness to sacrifice his life for the sake of his wife and others is an indication of change.
