Character Analysis: Into The Wild By Jon Krakauer

Are you reaching your goals? Are you being the best version of yourself? Are you being ambitious? Being ambitious means having the desire and determination to achieve success. Though this seems as if it is a good character trait there is an ongoing debate about whether being ambitious is a good or bad quality to have. I think being ambitious is definitely a positive character trait. It helps you be a more driven person, better yourself, and most of all, allows you to have a purpose in your own life and the world around you.

For example, ambitious people are typically more driven than others who lack this trait. Ambitious people are more likely to reach the goals that they set for themselves. Someone who is ambitious is someone who has clear

One of the most significant parts of this is the idea that being an ambitious person allows you to grow your confidence. In the book Into the Wild, written by Jon Krakauer, Krakauer unpacks his relationship with his father. He comments on how his father instilled ambition in him from a young age and that ambition gifted him the ability to climb Devil's Thumb Mountain. He reveals how he almost didn’t make it to the top of the mountain, but he did because he set an ambitious goal for himself because he knew he could accomplish it, and this thinking allowed him to be more confident in himself (146-151). This goes to show how positive being ambitious can be in someone's life; you could literally climb a mountain! Another positive is that ambitious people are always looking for new solutions to problems they don’t just stop once they get it right; they expose themselves to new ways of combating the problem and always have the desire to be better. Jamie Ducharme asserts how important it is to have a growth mindset and to always learn from your mistakes and not focus on them but grow from them (“How to”). This allows for the person never to be done learning and growing. This can make the person an asset to their family, friends, and community. In brief, being ambitious allows you to be a better person for yourself,

The most prominent example of this could be seen in Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare. Cesar was a very ambitious leader, he set very high goals and standards for himself; he wanted to be a ruler. Throughout this process, though, he became very haughty and boastful of himself. He was no longer a good leader and only cared about himself and not his people. This act ultimately led to his downfall and death (1098-1082). While Cesar was ambitious and had a purpose, he was ambitious in the wrong way. To be ambitious, a person must care not only about their own personal goals but also must care about others and others' ideas and feelings which is something Cesar greatly lacked. This is not as simple as it seems but, Roon Curruci concludes “well-balanced, ambition leads to creativity and innovation, greater levels of performance, and deeper levels of joy and satisfaction at work, wherever “work” may be” (“How Ambitious”). The idea of “Go Big or Go Home” is also a very noteworthy objective for ambitious people. Stephanie Vazza clarifies that ambitious people do not set lackluster goals for themselves or for the people around them. They set big goals that they know they can accomplish with time, effort, and hard work (“Six Habits”). These goals they set for themselves allow