Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

James Taggart

In a novel filled to the brim with antagonists, James stands out. He is the only antagonist who is a major character, and as such he sort represents the others, whom Galt calls the "looters." James is often the mouthpiece of the looters' destructive ideology and he personally causes a lot of problems for our main protagonists, Hank and Dagny. If we were handing out a runner-up antagonist award, it would go to Lillian Rearden, who often conspires with James to cause both Hank and Dagny grief.