Although, in Will and Andrea's opinion, the other is an antagonist, the truth is that this story flips a virtue on its head giving characters who are purposely deceitful and greedy. Their desire for money makes them trick stupid rich people in their school in a schemes and cons that would get them kicked out if they were caught. Because the novel rejects the typical moralism of honesty and integrity, a full-blown portrait is shown that depicts a feature of human power.
The split of protagonists on their integrity and honesty is a common literary trope that goes all the way back to ancient folklore, like in the Iliad and Odyssey when Odysseus uses intentional deceit to attain victory. That is punishable behavior by the gods in those books, but in this book, the gods are much more subtle. The true authority of this book is the difficulty of success. Because everyone is familiar with deception because of their own nature, these people are chronically forced to overwhelm the minds of their opponents.
Together, the male and female foil become highly competitive about their respective strategies for conning stupid rich people, and they end up driving each other to full bloom. They work harder than ever before for a prideful reward: the winner will get something and take something valuable away from the other. In a way, the book backs into a moral lesson after all, showing that deceit is very difficult and exactly work and that perhaps one's time is better spent continuing one's personal development, symbolized in Will's attraction to Gatsby. It is difficult for him to be both attractive and conniving.
