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Daniela Grgas
Starry
English 9 H, Period 2
03 April 2017
Ambition Speech
Is ambition good? Is ambition bad? Is ambition just another word that youll never use
again? Ambition can be detrimental; however, ambition can be used to help a person get what
they want. But what is that supposed to mean? Is it not right to strive for what you want? The
Ambition relies on a force, in other terms, ambition is similar to lighting a match. When
you strike the match, you realize what you want, and then a flame ignites. Sooner or later the fire
can burn you or give you light. Although this is such an odd comparison, it is utterly true,
because if you let ambition get the best of you, it bites you in the end. On the flip side, if your
Ambition is a central theme in both A Separate Peace by John Knowles and Macbeth by
Shakespeare. These pieces of literature show the struggle between the character, themselves, and
morals. For example, in A Separate Peace Gene envied his best friend, Finny, who had always
been athletically gifted while Gene was school smart. So Gene purposely jounced a limb he and
Finny were on so Finny would fracture his leg and be unable to play sports. Moreover in
Macbeth the main character, Macbeth, finds out he will become the King of Scotland along with
other prophecies from three witches. With that information, Macbeth didnt want anything to get
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in the way of his throne, and it led him to committing several murders and losing sense of moral.
Robert Samuelson from the Washington Post states, As ambition inflates, so does self-
absorption. Everything else in life deflates. The single-mindedness can smother self-restraint and
common sense (Samuelson 2) It is shown that ambition leads one to make poor choices
because their mind is clouded by the drive to succeed in one certain aspect of their life.
It may seem as if I am against ambition and what it has to offer since I am describing
such negative affects ambition, but ambition is credited to welcoming entrepreneurs such as
Henry Ford, Walt Disney, and Martin Luther King. Looking specifically at Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., many people stood in his way trying to stop his actions to end racial injustice. His
ambition helped him block out the people that stood in his way. His drive to thrive blocked out
the people who told him what he was trying to do is wrong. Thanks to his ambition he has been
awarded one of the greatest accomplishments Bringing America together. So, when ambition
provides a positive drive, things seem limitless because the influence to succeed is so strong.
After doing extensive research on the topic of ambition, I have heard multiple views on
its effects, both positive and negative. In my opinion, ambition is a catch-22. I am assuming the
majority of us in this room want to be successful when we are older, and eventually become
wealthy, it has been said that Getting an education is the best way to become rich because the
richness will come from the persons success (Northridge 2); however, if you take the ambition
to become wealthy and successful and use it to steal money or marry someone due to what they
have allows ambition to get the best of you. This theory also relates back to Macbeth. After Lady
Macbeth received a letter entailing Macbeths prophecies that he will become the King of
Scotland, she forced him to do wrongful deeds when he did not want to do them. Lady Macbeth
believes Macbeth is to kind to kill King Duncan in order to get the throne as she says, Yet do I
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fear thy nature. It is too full o the milk of human kindness. To catch the nearest way. Thou
wouldst be great; Art not without ambition (Shakespeare 1.5.20) as Lady Macbeth states To
catch the nearest ways she is referring to the fact Macbeth would rather gain power virtuously
rather than through murder. Relating back to being wealthy, Lady Macbeth urges him to kill King
Duncan and get the throne so then she can reap the benefits of ruling a kingdom along with
As shown in Macbeth Lady Macbeth only thought of herself, and this is applicable in A
Separate Peace as well. Gene was always jealous of Finnys ability to talk his way out of trouble
and to pick up any sport he tried, so Gene purposely hurt Finny and caused him to break his leg
so he wouldnt be compared to Finnys athletic excellence. There are two cases of ambition in
this scenario. Finny was very confident in himself, and people with high degrees of
conscientiousness, and who are extroverted, are more likely to have that drive to succeed
(Borzykowski 3), and he had ambition that led him to succeed in many sports. On the other hand,
Genes ambition was fueled by negativity and resentment of Finnys capabilities, so he lashed
All of these accounts of ambition were from books, so lets take a look into real-life
ambitions of high school students regarding college. Regardless of a familys income, it has
become more imperative than ever to attend college. Out of 601 surveyed students, only twenty-
seven percent said they felt very prepared for college (Ruiz 1)and seventy percent of the
students were set on attending college, and how does this relate to ambition? In order to be
successful in life after high school you need to have the drive and aspiration to be prepared to be
independent. As you leave home you have to channel ambition in positive ways to then obtain
wanted job positions, manage income, and in general take care of yourself. Using ambition to not
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ambitious leaders, but they want that drive to be for the good of the company (Borzykowski 3),
Id have to say the question of whether or not ambition is good or bad is too vague to
answer for you. In A Separate Peace and Macbeth ambition was used negatively for personal
desires. In contrast, ambition has led to the great success of Martin Luther King and several
business leaders. So, Ill leave the answering to you: Is ambition good or bad?
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Works Cited
Feb 2017.
Knowles, John. A Separate Peace. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, n.d. Print.
Ruiz, Rebecca R. A New Look at A High School Students Ambitions. The New York Times,
Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Leicester, United Kingdom: Sweet Cherry