At the heart of most stories is conflict; the protagonist against the antagonist. This conflict is what works to drive the plot and contributes to a story's climax and resolutions. A story's conflicts are not always obvious, and most of the time there are multiple conflicts within a single story. This case is no different for Brothers and Keepers by John Edgar Wideman. Wideman's work is a memoir that focuses on a comparison between him and his brother as he works to understand how each of them ended up where they did in life. In this work by Wideman there are numerous conflicts, protagonists and antagonists. One of the main conflicts that occurs in the novel is between Robby (the protagonist) and Institutions (the antagonist). (Abbott 55). The institution as an antagonist represents many different places/ideas for Robby. However, the first and perhaps most obvious conflict is between Robby and the law as an institution. Robby faces an immediate conflict with the law after initially being arrested and put in prison. Two years passed between Robby's arrest and his conviction. This in itself is a conflict and shows the institutions acting as the hero's main adversary. “Although his constitutional rights to a speedy trial and speedy sentencing were clearly violated, neither these wrongs, nor any others…were brought to the attention of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court…” (Wideman 19). The conflict continues because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court took three years to reject his appeal, and by then Robby was already in Western State Penitentiary serving a life sentence. This section of the book is seen as a conflict because it was a barrier that Robby fought against. This conflict is never… acknowledged as the antagonist. This is not to say that Robby is our hero and the institutions are the anti-hero, what it does mean is that the institution is the constant oppressor that Robby must continually fight against just to receive the rights that he should be afforded as a citizen . Robby faces and is still facing a daily battle against the institution to maintain his humanity, dignity, and alertness to continue living and fighting. Works Cited Abbot, Porter H. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. New York: Cambridge UP, 2009.Print.Wideman, John Edgar. Brothers and Guardians. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984.Print.Wideman, John E. “From Brothers and Keepers to Two Cities: Social and Cultural Consciousness, Art and Imagination: An Interview with John Edgar Wideman.” Interview by Jacqueline Berben-Masi. Callaloo 1999: 568-84. WSULIBS. Net.