It's Kind Of A Funny Story Antagonist

     I am currently reading It's Kind Of A Funny Story, by Ned Vizzini, and it is a very serious, but funny book. In this book Craig Gilner wants to succeed in life, and he does this by applying and getting into one of the best high schools in Manhattan: Executive Pre-Professional High School. Craig is ambitious, and he believes that succeeding means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job. He even wants to be President! He is very pressured, but he is a smart, gifted boy. His goal in life is to be successful, but there a few things in his way, his depression, his competitiveness, and his low self-esteem.
     Craig has a serious case of depression, and it all started when he got into Executive Pre-Professional High School, one of the best high schools in Manhattan. The pressure of the school became unbearable. He even stopped eating and sleeping. He had so many "Tentacles". Tentacles are the things that are hard for him and hold him back, like his class called Intro to Wall Street. That class required him to pick up the New York Times and Wall Street Journal every day. Craig needed to cut some Tentacles off, but as he described "I couldn't; they were all too strong and they had me wrapped too tight," (Page 95). Also, all the other kids in the school were geniuses. They were all doing the extra credit for the current events stuff in Intro to Wall Street. He felt that he was so behind because he was so competitive and always pressuring himself to be the best.
     Another "Tentacle" that Craig has was that other kids in the school did every extracurriculars. There were people on student government, they played sports, they volunteered, and so on. Craig wondered why the other kids are doing better than him, and he only came with one answer; because they were better than him. This question and answer showed that Craig has low self-esteem. Craig thinks that he is at the bottom of his class, and that he won't get into a good college, which would then lead him to not have a good job. In reality, Craig is actually doing pretty good at school. Craig has a 93 average, but he thinks that is horrible. In reality, 93 isn't a bad grade. Craig feels that it looked good to his parents, but in the real world, he feels that 93 is a "crap" grade. He also feels that colleges know what having a 93 average means you do just well enough to stay in the 90's. You're average. There are a lot of you. You aren't going over the top; if you're not doing any extracurriculars you're done. 
     This book is a loss of innocence story, Craig is just trying to grow up. Craig is growing up from a younger kid to a more mature kid. Craig wants to be successful, and his low self-esteem, depression, and competitiveness gets in the way. His low self-esteem gets in the way, because with his low self-esteem he never has the motive to become successful and he would most likely quit. Being successful is his goal in life, and Craig's low self-esteem is getting in the way, not giving him the motive to be successful, and making him want to just quit. Craig's depression does the same. It gets in the way of his goal of being successful in life. It makes him feel that there is no purpose in life. It makes him feel like he can't be successful, and it makes him want to kill himself and get off of this world. Craig's competitiveness makes him feel that he is at the bottom of his class and that he is not successful. All three of these forces and feelings combined is the antagonist in this book, and prevents Craig from reaching his goal; to be successful.  
     In conclusion, I really like this book and think that it accurately portrays the goals of teenagers, what can get in their way, and how to overcome the challenges.