Who Was The Antagonist In The Great Gatsby

Gatsby, the main character of the whole book, is the antagonist not only to Nick, but to himself as well. Along with hurting others such as Daisy, Nick’s cousin, Gatsby manages to change Nick, and himself, in both a mental and physical manner. Throughout the whole book, it was constantly about Gatsby and the rumors that were circling around him. With the traits that Gatsby presented such as, creating a hostile environment around the people he cares about, to careless spending of his money that remains a mystery as to how he made all of it. All of these characteristics can make Gatsby be perceived as the antagonist. However, it all goes back to when Nick first meets Gatsby at one of his weekend parties that he was invited to. Gatsby, being the risk taker that he is, relates to why he is the antagonist. He puts Nick in danger by going to New York and getting stopped by a policeman, as well as almost getting Nick into the shady business Gatsby was already part of. As for Gatsby himself, he wastes all the money he makes for one girl, Daisy, and he does so through lavish purchases and parties that he hosts every weekend. Even after Daisy and Gatsby end up meeting and hanging …show more content…
In New York, Gatsby had caused for Daisy to leave in an unstable emotional state. Gatsby had been triggered by Tom, Daisy’s husband, after Gatsby had declared that Daisy never loved him and that he loved Daisy. Tom triggered Gatsby by making his own accusations that Gatsby was a bootlegger and that he was never from a rich family. This all goes back to Gatsby making up his own backstory. Gatsby’s lies and untold corrupt life caused him to emotionally react violently which caused Daisy to get scared and run with Gatsby in the fast car. Daisy, the driver of the car, was emotionally unstable at that moment which caused her to speed up and eventually killing Myrtle. In the end, Gatsby would be accused of killing Myrtle which would only put himself at