Preview

Ambition In My Antonia, Tiny Soderball

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
440 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ambition In My Antonia, Tiny Soderball
With progress comes success, and with success comes ambition, a force that has been around for a while. Through both good and bad (or evil) ambition our world was born and it’s through ambition that we live our life today. But is it physically and mentally healthy? Yes and No. Ambition can either make or break your day for it can bring utter happiness or utter destruction. It has no size and depending on the person’s aspirations or ego it can bring utter happiness or utter destruction. Impatience is also a result of ambition. But like I said before ambition is not all that bad, on the contrary it can guide one to success, which is another step to acquiring the American Dream. Ambition goes hand in hand with progress, self-reliance, and individualism, some of the tenets for an American Dream. In Willa Cather’s My Antonia, Tiny Soderball showed the most in any of the other characters as being a very ambitious person. She was a Swedish immigrant who was determined to go after any aspirations that she had. Jim Burden regarded her as “Tiny Soderball was to lead the most adventurous life and to achieve the most solid worldly success” (pg 192) and that was because she was so ambitious. In the beginning, sh …show more content…

Probably nowhere, because if it weren’t for ambition and the notion to conquer and gain power mankind would have no desires or aspirations to do better or get more. Ambition is the force that pushes everyone to carry out his or her every-day life routines. It can be great or small but it still is ambition. It can be good to you or destroy you and that depends on the risks and size of your desires. In Willa Cather’s My Antonia, Tiny Soderball a Swedish immigrant who was once a “Hired Girl” gained success through ambition, determination and persistence. Tiny earning success also enabled her to reach her America Dream. And when it all comes down to it, we all are trying to reach our American Dream and ambition is a step to acquiring

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    My Antonia Chapter Summaries

    • 5020 Words
    • 21 Pages

    The novel opens with an unnamed narrator recounting a train trip through Iowa the previous summer with an old friend named Jim Burden, with whom the narrator grew up in a small Nebraska town. The narrator recalls talking with Jim about childhood on the prairie, and then notes that while they both live in New York, they don’t see each other much, since Jim is frequently away on business and since the narrator doesn’t really like Jim’s wife. The narrator resumes talking about the train trip with Jim through Iowa, adding that their discussion kept returning to a girl named Ántonia, with whom the narrator had lost touch but with whom Jim had renewed his friendship. The narrator recounts that Jim mentioned writing down his…

    • 5020 Words
    • 21 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    In basic human nature, people thrive and succeed off of their ambition. Simply put, ambition is the drive within individuals to work hard for a desired achievement. Although there are many types of ambition, work-related endeavors can corrupt the minds of anyone. When work becomes more important than experiencing the physical joys in life, people often become isolated and obsess over their ambition. Similarly, in the short story “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pockets,” Tom’s obsessive ambition that has taken over suddenly threatens his life. His willingness to do anything to wane his ever present ambition results in overwhelming regret and fear of his choices. In the short story “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pockets,” Jack Finney uses Tom to portray that when man allows ambition and obsession to take over, regret and fear of one’s decision becomes prevalent, and results in a transformation to…

    • 2219 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This dialogue from Chapter XIX occurs as Jim and Antonia sit on the roof of the chicken house, watching the electrical storm. The two have grown apart somewhat following Mr. Shimerda’s suicide, as Jim has begun to attend school and Antonia has been forced to spend…

    • 1235 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the American life, the American Dream has been prevalent to motivate Americans to perform and work towards a goal. The American Dream has put an emphasis on hard work and achieving the best results. By way of illustration, many Americans may dream for material wealth, financial stability, world peace or racial equality. However, discrimination and prejudice has been responsible for thwarting American Dreams and has often discouraged people from continuing to pursue their goals. Because inequalities and discrimination often prevent people from achieving their dreams, the literary works The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, and The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus redefine the American Dream as a goal for the equality of all people despite their economic class, ethnicity or social status.…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Dream use to be the limitless ability to attain goals with family values and it now transforms into attaining luxuries, wealth, and fame. In the past, people often pursued goals such as living a simple life on the satisfactory amount of land and possessions. During Henry David Thoreau’s time, “the wisest have ever lived a more simple and meager life than the poor” (1). Thoreau’s words marked a time in the lives of the past where living a simple life with one’s family was considered wise, and thus good. Moreover, satisfaction accompanied simple living. Due time, this perception of a satisfactory living has since changed. In the present, people pursue lives that can allow oneself to immerse in luxuries, wealth, and fame. According…

    • 186 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Author: Willa Sibert Cather, Nebraska's most noted author was born in Virginia. At the age of ten she moved with her family to Webster County, Nebraska. Many of Cather's acquaintances and Red Cloud area scenes can be recognized in her writings.…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although such status is reflective of the universal idea of the American Dream, dreams merely remain imaginary inventions of man. Yes, Tom does appear to be on his high horse; however, the author shows the reader, through Nick’s narration, that Tom’s front is simply a façade. Tom’s dissatisfaction with what he has is apparent when Nick says: “ among various physical accomplishments… those men who reach such an acute excellence at twenty-one that everything afterwards savours of anticlimax” (Fitzgerald 10). In the quote above, the writer demonstrates the flaws of Tom’s assumed-to-be perfection due to his position and possessions. In relation to the argument of the validity of The American Dream, one must ask, can dreams coexist with discontent? Through Nick’s perception, the author reinforces the hopelessness acquired with chasing after a fantasy in a world where happily ever afters are mistaken for something they are not: wealth and social…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ambition In The Great Gatsby

    • 3297 Words
    • 14 Pages

    An individual’s ambition can be a crucial factor in aiding one to achieve their goals. However, one’s obsessive desire to achieve their goals can have a series of destructive effects potentially leading to their demise. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, is a novel that depicts the consequences that relate to one’s obstinate devotion to their goal. Characters in the novel strive to achieve their individual goals, however they become blinded by their ambition in the process. Jay Gatsby, the protagonist in The Great Gatsby is an ideal representation of an individual whose ambition lies in his love for a woman he had lost long ago, and how this ambition…

    • 3297 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    When the first settlers came to America many years ago, they found freedom and opportunity. With hard work and determination an average man or woman could be prosperous. This concept was not only revolutionary in theory, but has proven to be true for many successful individuals. This idea has come to be known as the ‘American Dream.’ Its foundation was based on good ethics; however, with the passing of time it has become distorted. The American Dream no longer stands for equal opportunity and hard work, it involves wealth, false happiness, materialistic possessions and high social status. Individuals who have achieved the materialistic ‘American Dream’ give the appearance of perfection. However, for many, their lives are not as ideal as what they seem. Issues such as sexual abuse, mental illness, alcoholism, adultery, greed and restlessness, affect the lives of even those who appear to live the ‘American Dream.’ In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night, the characters Daisy Buchanan and Nicole Diver give the appearance of a charmed existence, but it is in fact flawed.…

    • 1933 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing”- Ralph Waldo Emerson. Oftentimes, people set goals for themselves to accomplish. This goals creates great desire and ambition which fuels all actions. However, when the ambition in question becomes the individual’s sole focus, the outcomes can be negative, both for the individual, as well as for surrounding parties. The excessive ambition and desire of characters in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, led to their downfall. Character such as Julius Caesar, Marcus Brutus and Cassius Longinus obsessed over the end goal without care of how they got there and the consequences that follow.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Dream ultimately means many things to many people. In many ways it can be argued to have originated with the ideals and success of Benjamin Franklin. As one author notes, “Franklin believed that the only true way to wealth was through hard work. This noble idea became the soul of the” American Dream," the idea that all people are created equal and each person has the same opportunity to achieve success”(Benjamin Franklin). However, that ideal of the American Dream became more associated with wealth and material wealth than it did with hard work and noble goals. So, the American Dream means many things to many different people. With that in mind the following paper compares and contrasts the American Dream presented in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the story “The Necklace,” Mathilde is a lower class woman who has a fine house, kind husband, and enough to make one happy. However, she is not content with her life and continually wants more: “She had no clothes, no jewels, nothing. And these were the only things she loved; she felt that she was made for them. She longed so eagerly to charm, to be desired, to be wildly attractive and sought after” (Maupassant 1). The American Dream reminds people not to settle. When people like Mathilde are unhappy with a good life situation, they expect too much from the American Dream, taking the idea of not settling almost too far. It is impossible to be satisfied when the desire for more is always in your sights. For almost all Americans, this flaw has become a part of their identity, as it coincides with the American Dream. LeAlan and Lloyd notice this flaw as well, though they see it from a slightly different perspective. When LeAlan talks about the privileged suburban kids and struggling ghetto kids, relating to how their identities differ because of their upbringings, he says, “But then sometimes the suburban kid doesn’t have to work and gets everything he wants. That’s why you see a lot more suicides in the suburban area-because the kid doesn’t have to work for nothing and he just goes crazy” (Jones and Newman 43). This quote holds truth, people with different backgrounds and experiences may have opposing identities and views on the American Dream. Yet in disagreement, whether a suburban kid or a ghetto kid, as LeAlan calls them, has an easy or hard upbringing, they will all have to work in order to reach their goals. In the case of both texts, once these goals are reached, especially for those who did not need to work as hard to reach them, an unsatisfied part of their identity will ask for more.…

    • 1559 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Through the characters of the famous novel, Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck expresses his opinion on achieving the American Dream. The American Dream is commonly known as the ideal that anyone in America can achieve success through hard work and determination. For example, Andrew Carnegie, who moved to America young, began as a poor boy working in a factory. Through hard work and smart investments, he started a successful business, called the Carnegie Steel Company, and transformed the US steel production industry. However, he did not have disadvantages such as race, mental or physical disabilities, or the Great Depression to prevent him from reaching success. On the other hand, Steinbeck’s characters had at least one major factor holding…

    • 569 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Certain desires and hopes can be used for good purposes or can be detrimental to the individual. In the story “Macbeth” written by William Shakespeare their are two major characters that struggle with their emotions and several ambitions. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have the idea of becoming both King and Queen and are willing to do whatever possible to have this power. In their goal to becoming King and Queen they both are to blame for several irrational killings. But the person most to blame for both the death and destruction that occurs would have to be Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is most to blame because she feels the need for power, she is pressuring her husband into doing these deeds…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Dream Education

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The majority of Americans understand that success is not just handed out; nevertheless, truly striving to meet goals and putting in the necessary amount of work, makes nearly anything achievable. Even though the American Dream is looked at as society’s goal of what to achieve in life, researchers say that the actual idea started as far back as 1776. Eva Michels, an avid…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays