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Rina Dixon

Davenport

English 9 Honors

23 March 2017

Does Positive Ambition Exist?

Hi everyone, some people say that ambition can be positive or negative, but is positive

ambition truly ambition? Or is it something else entirely? I think that ambition can only be

negative, and that this so-called positive ambition isnt ambition at all, its hard work.

In Shakespeares play Macbeth, Macbeth is a prime example of negative ambition. After

the witches plant the seed of ambition to be King in his head, he was completely overtaken by it.

He started to kill people. He started to be overconfident. He started to not care for love. He

started down the path to his downfall. It was no surprise when Macbeth died, he got what was

coming to him. People say that Macduff had positive ambition, but was his way truly the positive

way? Revenge towards Macbeth isnt exactly a positive emotion. Ambition is just an endless

cycle of vengeance and death with no true ending. There is no reason that people want power

except their own ambition, and you eventually lose it. So why do people still try to get it and

control other people? It is a question that may never be answered, but people sure do love to do

it.

Now Id like to do a quick poll. Who here has heard of Thomas Jefferson? Ok, what

about Alexander Hamilton? What about Aaron Burr? Aaron Burr was the 2nd Vice President of

the US, but he is most known for shooting and killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Burr was

filled with ambition, especially against Hamilton. Before the duel, Hamilton beat Burr in
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everything. Being a general, being a better lawyer, being in the senate, and many other things.

But when Burr ran for President against Thomas Jefferson in 1800, Hamilton endorsed Jefferson,

even though they hated each other. Hamilton was scared that the power would get to Burrs head,

and that he would corrupt the government. Burr lost and was infuriated, so he challenged

Hamilton to a duel. They arrived at Weehawken, in New Jersey, at 6:30 in the morning, walked

their ten paces, and shot at each other. Hamilton aimed his pistol at the sky, which symbolizes

peace, but Burr still shot him.

In duels at the time, it wasnt just suddenly ok to kill the other person, and Burr was

pressed with murder charges, and eventually arrested. His ambition led to Hamiltons death and

his own life being ruined. Once again, ambition led to another persons downfall. HAmilton had

positive ambition in his politics, but it didnt exactly work out for him. Hamiltons positive

ambition led to his death, and Burrs positive ambition led to what was left of his life crashing

before him into broken little pieces. And there was no putting those pieces back together after

that.

Another great example of this is a Finny from A Separate Peace. Finny uses his positive

ambition when he plays sports, but his ambition only brought him very short term happiness and

success. After he broke his leg, his ambition still came back to get him, and Genes ambition to.

Finny died only because of him and Genes ambition. This is only further proof that positive

ambition isnt positive at all, and that all ambition leads to an unsatisfying outcome.

I play lacrosse, and I wouldnt say that I show ambition as much as other driving factors.

I have to fight for my spot on the field, but I dont do it in an ambitious way. I do it by hard

work. Hard work and practice that comes back with a positive outcome, time on the field, I dont
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sabotage the other players just to get playing time. I wouldnt consider this positive ambition, it's

more of just work that pays me back over time as I get better. If positive ambition was anything

it would be something close to this, but I dont think that hard work and positive ambition should

be synonymous.

Overall, ambition isnt something that ends up well for people. Macbeth, Finny, and Burr

are all examples of this. Positive ambition isnt a form of ambition at all, but a type of

determination that comes with hard work. Ambition can only be bad, so be careful what you do

when you want something because it could come back to get you in the end.
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Works Cited

Gale, Alex. My Year Lin-Manuel Miranda. Billboard, vol. 127, no. 38, 19 Dec. 2015, p. 57
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asm&AN=111796823

Halliday, Rowland W. and Andrew Matthews. "An Infamous Duel." Cobblestone, vol. 37, no. 8,
Oct. 2016, p. 26.
EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=118416353.

Knowles, John. A Separate Peace. Place of Publication Not Identified: Simon & Schuster, 2016.
Print.

Perskie, Jim. Ambition? Who needs it? The Washington Post, Oct 16 2015. Print.

Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. The Language of Literature. McDougal Littell,
Evanston, IL, 2002. Pp 328-419.

Sneiker, Marc. Lin Manuel Miranda. Entertainment Weekly, no. 1444/1445, 16 Dec. 2016, p.
18. EBSCOhost, seach.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=120090712

Stewart, David O. "TREASON!." American Heritage, vol. 62, no. 1, Winter/Spring2012, p. 56.
EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=75120375.