Ambition; The March of Folly

             Jesus preaches that "Man does not live by bread alone." From Maslow's five tiered hierarchy of needs to the Freudian notion of unconscious motivation, man is naturally driven by many varying desires. Physiological needs are only the most basic, and represent only one step on the pyramid. Security, love, ego and finally self-actualization are all other significant human motivations. External influences also add another factor in determining man's motivation. Zora Neale Hurston wrote of the strong protagonist Janie Crawford and her quest for self-actualization and fulfillment. Mordecai Richler wrote of an incorrigibly ambitious, conniving, and sly protagonist Duddy Kravitz and his dreams of wealth and recognition. These two characters, although very different in their motives, are held back to different degrees by external influences that warp their wants and in the process impede their happiness. Bowing to external pressures and using others expectations to fuel one's motivation often come at an inordinately high cost. Generational differences encumber the success and satisfaction of the protagonists by altering their motivations and dreams in Zora Neale Hurston's novel of self discovery Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Mordecai Richler's account of growing up in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.
             Janie leaves her grandmother and now that she is alone, she starts to appreciate and recognize her own feelings. Janie comes to the realization that she has deep resentment harboured within her towards Nanny. Once alone in the real world she is able to realize and detest the values that her grandmother had ingrained within her since childhood. "Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out. So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don't tote it. He hand it to his womenfolk...

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Ambition; The March of Folly. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 08:52, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/83397.html