Depending on the actions, certain consequences are needed when certain situations arises. In When I was the Greatest, the main character, Ali, had to make a difficult decision that resulted in consequences so great that he had to change in order to adapt. However, it wasn’t just Ali that made these types of decisions. Both Noodles and John, Ali’s dad, did the same thing. For Noodles, it wasn’t a decision he had to make in a split second, but rather, over a long period of time. In When I was the Greatest, Jason Reynolds develops the idea that the antagonist is not physically the characters themselves but rather their thoughts and decisions based on the circumstances without considering the consequences of their actions

When placed in a position that requires quick decision making, our mind goes with what it thinks is best, without thinking everything through, causing situations to be created that negatively impact our lives. One huge example of this is when Ali jumped in to save Needles from getting beat by the other bodies at the party. However, this did result in the hunt for Ali to begin. “They were talking about how some kid caught them slipping up when they were jumping some other dude, and lumped them up pretty much. And how they needed to find him” (Reynolds, 189). This puts Ali in a sticky situation because he has to be careful about where he’s going in order to avoid the gang that’s after him. He made a bold trade without knowing that life would go in this direction. Thankfully, this would be able to be solved when John went to trade his car with all of his valuables inside of it.

When situations come up, a harmless decision won’t seem to affect life as much as you thought it will. That being said, John went to go confront the duo that were hunting for Ali, and said he came to negotiate. He only did this to save Ali’s life, but he traded his car and his only way of making money in order to do this. What he didn’t think about was how he was gonna make a living now. “Can you believe he’s even gonna try  working in the stockroom at the store she works at? He’s definitely not too hype about nine-to-fiving...but at least they’re giving it a shot.” (Reynolds, 231, 232). He has to adapt to a new lifestyle and give up hustling in order to move back in with the family.

However, not all actions take place within an hour or two to have such great consequences. Noodles, picking on Needles, is an example of this long term, build up of actions. Noodles picked on Needles, and his reason was because it was all Needles’ fault that they didn’t have a dad and that their family is falling apart. All this was because Needles had a syndrome, which resulted in his dad to disappear from the family entirely. “‘Everything was cool, but as soon as the syndrome started, he was out. He ain’t want to kid with no syndrome. He figured Needles was crazy, so eventually I might be too, and we would make him look bad.’” (Reynolds 157).  After the party, Needles hated Noodles so much that he wouldn’t even acknowledge his presence. He would turn onto his side, which hurt him enormously, but he didn’t want to look at Noodles.

Jason Reynolds implies that the antagonist of When I was the greatest was not a literal person, but rather their way of thinking and how they perceive the world. Ali, John, and Noodles put little thought in their actions whether it be long term or short term. The antagonist is our way of thinking but the way we handle and adapt to the situation created by our decisions is when you’ve truly beaten the antagonist.