In the book “Grenade” by Alan Gratz focuses on two main Characters. Ray, an experienced marine in the U.S. military and Hideki is a boy from Okinawa who’s studying to become a soldier for the Japanese military. In some ways Ray and Hideki are both protagonists and Antagonists. In the point of view of Ray he sees that all the Japanese on the Island are the enemy and that includes Hideki. For Hideki he sees the Americans as a threat. Ray feels obligated to join the Military although he’s afraid to die on the battlefield. He comes from a farming background and has an abusive father. Hideki on the other hand gets bullied by an older kid. His fore father died as a coward and his soul manifests Hideki which dooms him as a coward.He wants to prove everyone wrong at school that he is actually courageous. Throughout the story ray tries to fit in with his more experienced marines in his platoon. He feels he’s not as good as them but the people in his platoon and he lacks a nickname but his friends try to help him out. On the other hand Hideki is trying to prove that he’s actually courageous. He slowly begins to become more daring and bold by sticking up for himself and trying to kill american troops. He’s also much more sympathetic compared to the rest of his classmates. He tries to help other people out even though nobody has really helped him out. Ray learns the only way to overcome your fears you need to challenge them head on. The people in his Platoon push him to be a successful marine and when he does things correctly he gets a boost in confidence. The same thing with Hideki the more outgoing he becomes the confident he’ll be.