Blinded by a Green Light: A Theoretical Approach to Ambition in Fiction

FACULTAD de FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS DEPARTAMENTO de FILOLOGÍA INGLESA Grado en Estudios Ingleses TRABAJO DE FIN DE GRADO Blinded by a Green Light: A Theoretical Approach to Ambition in Fiction Alicia Nieto Juárez Tutor: Enrique Cámara Arenas 2020/2021 Abstract Ambition is an ambiguous concept that can represent a problem when it comes to analysing characters. In order to establish a theory through which ambition can be categorized and classified, I have carried out research within different areas. Those areas are Philosophy, Psychology, and Semantics which outline the dimensions, components, and dynamics that ambition generates in various contexts. The perspectives and approaches from the different fields offer conceptual tools and insights to describe ambition as a category of analysis. Then, I have developed a theory to examine its features and elements as well as the distinction between positive and negative ambition and how external factors are determining in the portrayal of the characters analysed. After the application of these parameters, we illustrate with a case study how a character popularly considered to be ambitious does not meet the criteria of absolute ambition. Keywords: ambition in fiction, character analysis, characters’ sphere, positive ambition, negative ambition Resumen La ambición es un concepto ambiguo que puede representar un problema a la hora de analizar personajes. Para establecer una teoría a través de la cual se pueda categorizar y clasificar la ambición, he investigado diferentes áreas. Estas áreas son Filosofía, Psicología y Semántica que describen las dimensiones, componentes y dinámicas que se producen como consecuencia de la ambición en diversos contextos. Las perspectivas y los enfoques de los diferentes campos ofrecen herramientas conceptuales y perspectivas para describir la ambición como categoría de análisis. A continuación, he desarrollado una teoría para examinar sus características y elementos, así como la distinción entre ambición positiva y negativa y cómo los factores externos son determinantes en la representación de los personajes analizados. Tras la aplicación de estos parámetros, podemos ver en el caso práctico cómo un personaje popularmente considerado como ambicioso, no cumple los criterios de ambición absoluta. Palabras clave: ambición en ficción, análisis de personajes, ámbito del personaje, ambición positiva, ambición negativa Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 2. Multidisciplinary Research .................................................................................... 2 2.1. Philosophy ......................................................................................................... 2 2.2. Psychology ......................................................................................................... 5 2.3. Semantics ........................................................................................................... 8 3. A Theory of Ambition ........................................................................................... 12 3.1. On the Circularity of Ambition ........................................................................ 12 3.2. Ambition as Expansion .................................................................................... 13 3.3. Ambition: Ambit versus Ambitus .................................................................... 13 3.4. Ego vs. Alter .................................................................................................... 14 3.5. Polarity of Ambition ........................................................................................ 15 3.6. The Blindness of Ambition .............................................................................. 15 3.7. Ambition and Fair Play .................................................................................... 16 3.8. The Purposes of Ambition ............................................................................... 17 3.9. The Durability of Ambition ............................................................................. 17 3.10. Consequences of Ambition .......................................................................... 18 4. Case Study .............................................................................................................. 18 4.1. Jay Gatsby’s Circle of Ambition ..................................................................... 19 4.2. The Expansion of Gatsby ................................................................................. 19 4.3. Gatsby’s Lack of Ambitus ............................................................................... 20 4.4. The Determination of His Ego ......................................................................... 20 4.5. Gatsby’s Positive Ambition ............................................................................. 20 4.6. Blinded by Ambition ....................................................................................... 20 4.7. Gatsby’s Unfair Play ........................................................................................ 21 4.8. The Purposes of His Ambition ......................................................................... 21 4.9. The Great Durability of His Ambition ............................................................. 22 4.10. Consequences of Gatsby’s Ambition ........................................................... 22 5. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 23 6. Reference List ........................................................................................................ 24 1 1. Introduction In 1935, T.S. Eliot, depicting ambition and its influence on individuals, wrote: “Ambition fortifies the will of man to become ruler over other men: it operates with deception, cajolery, and violence, it is the action of impurity upon impurity” (48). Most people, I believe, would agree with this description, considering it truthful. However, ambition is a double-edged sword that, depending on how it is used, can be a man's best weapon or its destruction; thus, sometimes it appears as a virtue, and others as a vice. This duality justifies its representation in Ancient Rome: “Ambition as a winged woman, dressed in a green garment and accompanied by a lion. The wings symbolize: the extent of one’s designs and the promptness with which the ambitious person desires to execute them or to express the hardships and humiliations suffered in order to achieve those purposes. The colour green describes growth and success. Besides, the animal represents fierceness and the potential violence necessary to carry out the necessary actions” (Diccionario universal de mitología o de la fábula 1835, 91). This image incorporates the traits and characteristics of ambitious behaviour. Then, ambition can be defined as an intrinsic force in human beings that can be active or remain latent. It can be understood as a simple and unproblematic notion that oscillates between its positive conception, ambition as a useful tool, or its negative one, ambition as a flaw. The fact that ambition is not generally subject to established rules or standards but to one's own judgement is why I see the need for a thorough exploration of the concept. Ambition can be discussed as a 'compositional' entity, i.e., it can be described as a combination of elements. It follows the same dynamics as a clock, with internal mechanisms and a series of processes that relate to each other. To understand and explore this concept and its implications in more depth, I am going to examine ambition as a category of analysis through different perspectives such as Philosophy, Psychology, and Semantics. After considering the different perspectives of the above-mentioned fields, I have elaborated the theory of ambition in which its components, dynamics, and processes are uncovered; making it possible to develop a comprehensive method for the analysis of ambition in fictional characters. Lastly, the application of the stated theory in the case study of Gatsby from The Great Gatsby because he is popular and commonly considered an ambitious character. 2 2. Multidisciplinary Research This research aims to address ambition in different areas such as Philosophy, Psychology, and Semantics in order to examine the different theories and proposals regarding this concept. The Philosophy section introduces the perspectives from which ambition is approached and how it can be understood through great thinkers throughout history. The purpose is not to follow the thought of a particular philosophical school or movement, but to give a more general overview of the opposing or similar ideas of wellknown philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hume, and Nietzsche. Then, the Psychology section focuses on how ambition is understood from a more technical and scientific point of view, e.g., the different approaches to analyse ambition from fields such as Educational, Developmental, Social, and Cognitive Psychology. Lastly, there is a section on Semantics that aims to search for useful information and features regarding ambition in some of the most highly rated dictionaries such as Collins English Dictionary, The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary of English, and Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. This section also provides a study of ambition nuances and the frequency use of its main collocations as a means to better comprehend the meaning and connotations of ambition. 2.1. Philosophy This section puts stress on how ambition has been explored within the field of philosophy; as a means of providing an analysis of the dilemma, it presents different authors with approaches that are contrary and others with similar perspectives. This dilemma comes from the two possible results of ambition, whether it is positive or negative, in different contexts such as social, political, and moral. Philosophy is concerned not only with human nature but also with human behaviour; moral philosophy serves as a guide to distinguish between right and wrong actions from an ethical point of view. Plato proposed in The Republic a definition of the soul in terms of objects of desire without implying a negative perception. This division is structured in three parts: a rational one that desires truth and knowledge, a spirited part craving honour, and an appetitive part that longs after the satisfaction of bodily impulses. Moreover, each part has a distinctive object of desire which influences and prevails over the others depending on its intensity; for example, the spiritual part is responsible for 9 the action of political candidates to get votes. In origin, the purpose of this activity of going around was to gain votes and popularity; thus, the word eventually came to mean “the desire for honour or power”. Afterwards, the term came into French and English in the late Middle Ages as ambition and it meant “an admirable desire for advancement or improvement”. Later on, that meaning turned to be “the ambition or desire to obtain something” and acquired certain negative connotations in early English since it was associated with arrogance and vanity. The term ambition derived from the verb “ambire” which is also the origin of the Spanish words “ámbito” (sphere) and “ambiente” (environment). According to the Online Etymological Dictionary, the Spanish word “ámbito” is a cultism that comes from “ambitus” which implies a circular movement. The verb has a meaning of movement as an embrace. That is why “ambire” refers to the perimeter of something; the real or figurative space in which someone exerts its influence, like an expansive wave. From this same verb, it is also derived the word “ambiente”, meaning what surrounds us or what embraces us on all sides). Nowadays, the definition of ambition is the "desire to achieve a particular goal: aspiration" as well as "an ardent desire for rank, fame, or power", according to The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The commonalities that definitions from the Cambridge, Collins, and Oxford dictionary entries share are the determination to achieve or accomplish something and the striving after success, power, and wealth. Apart from those similarities, the Oxford Dictionary adds the nuance of an “ambition of being or becoming someone”. This introduces a new perspective of the term situating ambition in a place where it is not only the drive to obtain something, but it also represents a condition or status that someone can pursue; it implies the transformation of the individual’s identity. This idea deals with the alteration of the individual’s own essence and nature as well as the search for self-creation which can be linked with the craving for promotion and the expansion of the ego. Along with the definitions, these dictionaries also provide several synonyms and antonyms concerning ambition. Beginning with those words with similar meanings, we have aspiration, pretension, and passion. Nevertheless, there are significant differences in the undertones of meaning that these notions share with ambition. For instance, there is a connotation in aspiration suggesting the idea of hope because the goal to be achieved 10 is beyond one’s scope; as we can see in Oxford’s example: “What changes are needed to meet women's aspirations for employment?” Next, pretension advocates for the desire for recognition and success but it implies a lack of the required skills to actually succeed; as exemplified by the Cambridge Dictionary: “The Chronicle has pretensions to being a serious newspaper”. Then, passion is a “strong feeling” that makes a special emphasis on “powerful emotions” which are usually related to affection and/or sexual desire as stated in the Collins and Cambridge dictionaries. Regarding antonyms, we find words such as apathy, passivity, and inactivity which, interestingly, imply the lack of action and/or intention that the term holds. In his study, Rohmah (2015) analysed 2,749 written contexts for the word “ambition”. The data revealed that its meaning has a tendency to be negative, but there are cases in which it is positive or neutral. The researcher concluded that this tendency is probably produced by the connotations the term holds from its early usage; as a consequence, the current meaning of ambition is still negative. This negative perception is also seen in the frequency results for certain phrases related to ambition. After an Internet search, the number of results for ambition can be compared with the ones of certain phrases. We find that “ambitious but honest” represents the 33% results against the 51% of “ambitious and honest”. This could imply the idea that most speakers do not see any incompatibility between being ambitious and being honest. However, this need to specify that despite being ambitious, someone can be honest implies that there is a popular idea in which ambitious people are dishonest by nature. This impression is also seen in phrases like “ambitious and gentle” with a percentage of 21% compared to the 34% for “ambitious and evil”; thus, negative connotations may have developed from the fact that the actions taken by ambitious people give a negative image of them. Lastly, "ambition and success" representing 90% of the results over 28% of "ambition and failure”; this positive outcome may be due to a predominant association of ambition related to the idea that it leads to achievement, rather than considering other possible consequences. The aforementioned dictionaries also include collocations that offer more detailed insight into the possible uses of ambition. These collocations can be useful to determine the main semantic nuances of ambition, commonly noted as values of binary variables. Hundsnurscher and Splett (1982) proposed several main classes of semantic 11 categorisation such as Behaviour-related, Social-related, and Privative (7). Based on these classes, I have described the primary nuances of ambition as [± expansion], [±absolute], and [± positive]. The expansiveness of ambition deals with impressive and demanding behaviour in terms of scope. It aims to extend one’s control by augmenting the circle of influence. This nuance, [+expansive], is present in collocations such as “naked, bold, and great ambition”, which share the same main features, and also describe the willingness to take risks portraying attributes like [+courageousness]. The feature of the expansion is closely related to the nuance [+absolute], which indicates a strong intensity to succeed. This feature describes an ambition decisive, blunt, and with no limits. It appears in collocations such as “ultimate ambition” and, depending on the context, “driving and burning ambition”. The last main nuance addresses the possible implications of ambition; whether it is positive or negative. For example, “lofty ambition” is a virtuous, honourable, and admirable ambition; thus, its nuances are [+positive] and [+expansion]. The complementary antonym of that collocation would be “selfish ambition” that has the same features but they remain negative. Other possible features for ambition can be more easily understood by describing them through their collocations. For instance, we find the hypernym “career ambition” and its hyponyms: “literary, political, social, and sporting ambition”. Their features can be depicted as [+expansion], [+positive], and [+status] because they are linked to the idea of the desire for promotion. We can also find gradable antonyms such as “lifelong, longstanding, and short-term ambition” whose nuances can be labelled as [+expansion], [+positive], and [+enduring], or [−enduring] in the case of “short-term ambition”. Other collocations are “unfulfilled ambition” and “frustrated ambition” which represent the most negative meanings with attributes like [−expansion], [−positive], [−absolute], and [−status]. As Hurdford, Heasley and Smith (2007) explained, it is possible to describe “the common conceptual elements” of these collocations (214). By separating them into groups of attributes, it is possible to identify their differences and similarities. These nuances may vary depending on the context, but from this first approach, we can 12 determine that in almost all spheres ambition has an expansive connotation. We find the feature of absoluteness only in cases where ambition has a powerful and strong meaning. And there is also a duality since it can be negative, but in some cases, it is positive, as in “lofty ambition”. Ambition itself can be ambiguous, versatile, and undetermined since it describes the pursuit of personal progress or promotion or both; it can be used to express either noble or improper desires. In addition to the different main purposes and the dual perspective of this concept, we can trace ambition as a circle of expansion that can be beneficial or toxic and that can last a lifetime or only a short period of time through its etymology, definitions, and collocations. We have also seen that this term generally has negative connotations because it has been used in negative contextual and social situations. 3. A Theory of Ambition Ambition, from its origins, refers to everything that the individual wishes to have control over. Indeed, this is because ambition itself involves an intense desire for improvement; the term not only applies to the craving for personal development and progression but also suggests an excess of desire. This section aims to develop a series of sub-sections to unpack ambition. In this way, its elements and characteristics can be easily appreciated and then, they can be used in the analysis of characters. 3.1. On the Circularity of Ambition Based on the etymology of the term, ambition can be displayed as a circle. This would involve the creation of an imaginary sphere that has the self, or ego, at its centre. This circle delimits two areas. There is the outer space, where things that are not the self are situated, and there is the inner space, where everything that is there is linked to the self. The fact that ambitious people would be located at the centre implies egocentrism in their way of thinking and their actions. This egocentrism is a projection of oneself; characters are aware of and recognise their identity through the ego. Anyone who crosses the ego’s domain has to acknowledge its dominance and they have to pay a tribute of respect, adoration or recognition. There is no respect for other people's nature or environments surrounding ambitious people; these two elements are the ones that the ego wants to confront as a means of changing everything strange or external to it. The 13 ambitious characters appear to be stimulated by a tendency to expand this circle, either moderately or limitlessly. This circularity that tends to the expansion is seen, for instance, in Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff uses wealth and power in his personal mission to enlarge his sphere by owning and shattering all that he was denied. His brutal ambition is insatiable; he enjoys exerting control over others and even using family members to gain more power. Throughout the novel, he behaves like an absolute tyrant who subjugates and mistreats all those who try to stand in his way. The expansive dynamic is reflected in the fact that he does not seem to have an end goal; he continues to widen his circle even as he fulfils certain targets. The only limit to his absolute ambition is his death. 3.2. Ambition as Expansion Ambition can be understood as a particular way of relating to one's circle of influence. Any kind of person establishes a relationship with their own circle, and the same happens with characters within their fictional world. In the case of the one who is ambitious this circle acquires greater importance. For the ambitious character, the circle is more relevant than any other feature or event because there is an internal need to keep expanding it. The task of expanding the circle becomes the most distinctive feature of the character as well as the possible means used to expand it. There are several ways of achieving this expansion; for example, by extracting some profit from everything at hand. Moreover, expansion can have different objectives; it can be an expansion to achieve authority, power and/or dominance. To be considered truly ambitious, the character must live in a constant effort to expand the circle and encompass more and more. In extreme cases, the ambitious one seeks absolute and unlimited victory and subjugation; that is to say the conquest not only surrounding areas, but the world, the universe, and even the divine. 3.3. Ambition: Ambit versus Ambitus Every character has, therefore, a circle that is composed of those who support, love, and cooperate with them. This circle can be considered one’s ambit. However, the ambitious one does not respect, encourage or collaborate with those in the sphere. The respect and support shown are not free and natural but forced or bought. For the ambitious character, there is no possibility to share or to act altruistically because there 14 is an interest and the intention to force the other to surrender what is desired; the same happens with cooperation which becomes subordination. We could be talking about a corrupt and fraudulent ambit; one that may seem generous, but actually hides its true and obscure intentions. This type of ambit describes a more notorious and powerful type of ambition. From the description of the Latin term “ambitus”, we can consider this term is the true circle of ambition. This term designates a political corruption crime related to the candidate's attempt to openly or secretly influence the results of the elections through bribery (Oxford Classical Dictionary 2015). Therefore, the ambitus can be used to denote the type of sphere held by those who have an expansive and absolute ambition. In The Picture of Dorian Gray, not only the ambition of the soul is emphasised but also its corruption. The excesses produced by Dorian’s ambition turns his hedonist ambit into a perverted ambitus. Wilde intends to disclose certain philosophical examination of the degeneracy and disintegration of the ambit. The author even includes in the novel: "Here was a visible symbol of the degradation of sin. Here was an everpresent sign of the ruin men brought upon their souls" (1994, 107). 3.4. Ego vs. Alter Ambitious characters wish to transform everything they do not recognise as self through manipulation, aggression, subjugation, and distortion. They have a limitless eagerness that involves the repetition of these actions whenever necessary until everything outside has been transformed from its essence and subjugated to egoic self. The subjugation also entails the annihilation of the other. The alter must be dispossessed of its essence, alienated, emptied of everything that is not the self of the ambitious. the ambitious fears or hates, or both, everything that is not self. Ego devours alter, captures and digests it; there is an aspiration to turn it into more ego or completely dominate it. The ambitious initiates a process of depriving the other, of emptying it. The purpose is to pervert the alter; to try to reverse its essence, so that it turns the individual into another according to one’s pleasure, or to eliminate it outright. A clear example of this is the allegory of Nazism in the world of Harry Potter. The character of Lord Voldemort and his supporters seek the absolute dehumanisation of those considered inferior. The resemblances are obvious from the moment it is 15 explained the aim of the Dark Lord: the supremacy of the pure-blood wizards against the mud-bloods and half-breeds, who were subject to persecution, torture, and extermination. 3.5. Polarity of Ambition There is a distinction between positive and negative ambition. Positive ambition can be understood as permissive; it is the one whose aim is to enhance motivation. It is based on the idea of being better without trespassing the limits of moral values. Thus, this type implies that there is respect towards the elements that the ambitious character considers alter. This respect towards the nature of external elements makes possible the adaptation to circumstances, rather than the transformation of them into one’s own interests. This kind of ambition can be seen as a source of life and opportunity for those who wish to approach it; the decision to enter into this character’s sphere rests upon those who approach it freely and openly. This ambition is used as an instrument to go through obstacles and hardships and there is also willingness to become a better person and to progress. Besides, it is implicit some toleration and patience; in this case, these traits work like the counterpoint for ambition, balancing it. The balance has to do with the idea of crossing moral boundaries. Ambition can be voracious and its consequences may be destructive or harmful; hence, moderation is necessary because it establishes certain benevolence. Although there may be circumstances where sacrifices have to be made, this positive ambition provides the perfect situation for the ambitious character to be an altruist and to help people while pursuing goals. On the other hand, negative ambition can be considered destructive and potentially dangerous. It has a tendency to dominate or destroy everything that stands in its way or that is not part of its circle. The main problem with the passions aroused by this type of ambition is the necessity of having a cool mind; one that allows the character to perform the desired actions without being devoured by the craving that ambition produces. The main issue of this kind of ambition is that when it is excessive, it becomes blinding. 3.6. The Blindness of Ambition In the words of Montesquieu, “A man is not unhappy because he has ambition, but because he is devoured by it” (2012, 10). Blind ambition is the yearning without 16 lucidity and its path changes depending on the situation. The blindness can even trigger irrational actions or behaviours that are driven by an excessive and obsessive need to achieve a goal. Once the ego is fixated on an aim, it forces and encourages the individual until the accomplishment of the objective. This is due to the fact that the ambitious ego sees only what it wants to possess, the rest remains invisible; it only perceives what is important to the self. In this case, the ambitious ego subjugates everything it sees, both elements and individuals. Nevertheless, there can be subjects that are not harmed, assaulted, or subordinated within the ego's sphere; if they have nothing to offer or do not interest the ego, they are not noticed. The fact that there may be subjects or elements within a person's domain, that are not dominated or oppressed, is not indicative of the amount of ambition that the ego holds. It depends on the ego's conception of reality, and this in turn depends on the ego's inner desires. The blindness of the ambitious person is a recurring motif in fiction. For instance, it is usually represented when the ego takes control of the character’s mind and commits all sorts of crimes out of ambition. Then, the state of unbridled passion dissipates and the character takes charge of the situation again. It is the moment of revelation when the character discovers the atrocities committed against innocent people or even loved ones because of ambition. It is the case of Macbeth, propelled by a desire of becoming king of Scotland that leads him and his wife to perform all kinds of crimes blinded by their ambition. 3.7. Ambition and Fair Play As the expression goes: you can achieve whatever you want, as long as you are willing to pay the price. Then, there are two possibilities. First, the ambitious character is playing fair because there is a will to win and to achieve the ego’s desires with dignity and honour. Secondly, the price to pay exceeds the possibilities of the character and the result is crossing the boundaries of moral principles. This individual is so ambitious that the end fully justifies the means, which are unimportant because the end is the ego on its own. Since ambition seems to involve a sense of purpose and it seeks collective approval, we could think the fair play has to do with an aspiration that is subordinate to social ethics and morality. The actual ambition would be the one that does not respond to any moral principle. When faced with the risk of not seeing its objectives realised, ambition moves compulsively and with sufficient determination to not care about the collateral damage that its actions may cause. 17 3.8. The Purposes of Ambition These purposes that compose ambition can be mainly categorised into three main dimensions: power, success, and wealth. If the ambitious character’s ultimate goal is a combination of these three elements, we can speak of absolute ambition; on the other hand, if the character only desires or pursues one of these elements, we speak of a diluted and more relaxed ambition. First, the category of power comprises different dimensions and characteristics. For example, it can be divided into power exercised over others; power as a result of the possession of objects or people's wills, loyalty and respect; or the competitiveness born out from the desire to have more power than others. This competitiveness in turn can be divided into a positive one, which motivates the individual to be productive and it is useful. The negative competitiveness aims to achieve or win at all costs. Secondly, success consists of a satisfactory outcome accompanied by a feeling of fulfilment or happiness. As we have seen, success has a strong cultural component. The surrounding culture, society, and environment establish the parameters of success. Therefore, success is determined by different cultural values; it can be understood as a personal or social one. For example, achieving success in business or success in love. There is another type in which there is implicit the desire for power; the success of holding a political office. The authority to supervise others, who are considered subordinate, is an element that feeds ambition. Thus, success and power come together when it comes to holding a position of control. The last category is wealth, which is not only the desire for material goods but also lasting prosperity. In general, the result of this ambition ends up being avarice and greed when the desire for gaining wealth becomes selfish, excessive, and unstoppable 3.9. The Durability of Ambition Regarding its durability, ambition can be divided into two types. If the desire is unlimited and the ambition is both blinding and absolute, the determination is most likely to last a lifetime. Lifelong ambition can be understood as the dedication of characters’ life to a single and obsessive purpose that directs and fuels their actions. However, if ambition has limits and the character has only small desires and purposes, we are dealing with short-term ambition. This type can be composed of desires that can be divided into 18 different objectives which can be fulfilled in the relatively short term. In this case, ambition lasts until the goal is reached; thus, ambition changes and its features are adjusted to a new goal after accomplishment. An example of a character with short-term ambitions is Nick Carraway, the narrator from The Great Gatsby. Although Nick’s desires change throughout the novel, when he arrives at West Egg his primary ambitions are to escape the boredom and to find a job with a better wage. He can set goals and long for a better life, but he is realistic enough to know when he has to leave behind his aspirations. After Gatsby’s death, he decides to withdraw from society, disgusted by all the hypocrisy and false hope. His loyalty and empathy lead him to abandon his ambition as he realizes the misery behind that nation full of glam, money, and excess. 3.10. Consequences of Ambition Ambition may or may not have satisfactory results; when the outcome is unsatisfactory, frustration or a feeling of defeat emerges. It has to do with the perspective of negative ambition, which implies the obsession to accomplish goals. This ambition usually causes losing touch with reality. Furthermore, the obsession often leads to the justification of any means and the transgression of moral values’ limits. When this kind of ambition occurs, the possibilities of experimenting frustration increase when characters’ expectations are dashed because of their lack of control over circumstances. Frustration can be divided into two types: external and internal. External frustration deals with those desires or purposes that cannot be fulfilled because they involve conditions beyond the character's control. Conversely, internal frustration takes place when inner desires are not fulfilled because the “person´s belief clashes with new evidence perceived by the person” (Petric 2019, 2). 4. Case Study The Great Gatsby, set during The Roaring Twenties, is the story of a tragic hero. Jay Gatsby is defined as “quick and extravagantly ambitious” (Fitzgerald 2008, 107). He has been often described as ambitious as well as “mysterious, snobbish, and untruthful” (Bramaditya 2017, 30). According to Ornstein, the novel is great not only for its perspective on the American Dream but also because “Gatsby’s dream, naïve and 25 Hogan Personality Inventory. 2009. Hogan Assessment. Accessed April 30, 2021. https://www.hoganassessments.com/assessment/hogan-personality-inventory/ Hume, D. 1910. 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