Because, you see, you need to have an antagonist to have conflict and you need conflict to have drama and you need drama to have story and you need story to keep people interested. Right? I mean, those are the rules. I didn't make them up. That's just how things are. Right?

I have seen this so much lately. Either this or the "the character MUST be changed by the end of the story/book" (which, of course, presupposes some sort of a conflict, whether internal or external, which has caused the character to change).

Yanno what? Life doesn't always have conflict, catalysts, or change. And sometimes, it's nice when fiction actually reflects that. At least, that's my thoughts about it.