Ambition is a double-edged sword. We reward the fierce determination necessary to accomplish a daunting task, but we also distrust the greed and arrogance that can result from ambition. Ambition itself is neither a good nor a bad quality, but it is human. Over time, the word "ambition" has taken on a much more negative connotation, as in recent history greedy imperialists, corrupt elites and materialistic capitalists have used their ambition to feed their desire for honor, popularity and power at the expense of the State. well-being of others. Perhaps it is because of these human qualities – desiring love, honor, knowledge and power – and similarities with modern society that the theme of ambition is prevalent in literature. Personal stories like On Seeing England for the First Time, plays like Rushdie's Pygmalion and Ruby Slippers in East, West highlight the consequences of ambition gone wrong. Greed, which renders characters oblivious to human compassion and humility, leads to destructive actions and consequences on a personal and global level. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'?Get the original essayBritish colonial literature reflects the broad and pervasive impact of imperialist greed on British culture. Through ideals such as the “white man’s burden” and proud exclamations that “the sun never sets on the British Empire.” On the other hand, the literature of subjugated cultures, such as Jamaica Kincaid's On Seeing England for the First Time, attempts to show the narrow-minded public the horror of the imperialist machine as it seizes their economic resources, their lands and cultural property. identify. British superiority over the natives forced Kincaid to think that she “was incomplete, or without substance, and was not up to the task” (Kincaid 374) because she was not English. In doing so, it unknowingly played into imperialist ideology, designed to designate the colonized as “the others,” and thus ignore the reality of the colonized culture and people. The colonists viewed Antigua, Kincaid's hometown, only as economically profitable and as a way to acquire resources that were not available in Europe. Kincaid angrily describes the greed that blinded them to the hegemony and domination they instilled in his community. The British implemented restrictions that prevented indigenous economies from functioning autonomously; the natives produced the raw material for British manufacturing, but their competition with British trade was eliminated because the natives were forced to buy only British goods. Kincaid's daily box of cocoa, box of oats, shoes, socks and underwear, the family car and even his satin ribbons were made in England. His father adheres to Western styles of dress and behavior after being forced to "wear the wrong hat for hot climates for most of his long life" (Kincaid 366) to appear more English. The brown felt hat, which symbolizes the total domination of the British over the economy and culture of Antigua, is so associated with the father's character that it becomes the first thing he puts on and the last thing he takes off. This brainwashing reinforced in his personal life and in hiseducation, in which he is asked to draw a map of England in every exam, creates an outsider complex in which Kincaid is forced to idolize English culture but never participate in it: "England is a special country. the jewel, very good, and only special people could wear it” (Kincaid 365). Its identity and cultural values ​​are carelessly replaced by colonization. Everything in her life, including herself, is “made in England” (Kincaid 365), except “the sea, the sky, and the air we breathe” (Kincaid 366). Western greed for raw materials and ambition to industrialize their countries imposed culture and identity on the colonies, destroying the "reality" of the world.place and replacing it with an idea. Similarly, colonial ideology also appears to impact class relations, in which the lower classes are internal outsiders, colonized by the upper classes, who employ strategies of imperial and colonial control. By exploring the class, gender, and racial politics that influence societal conventions in Pygmalion, Shaw reveals the complexity of how ambition and power are intertwined with selfishness and material reward. Because he is upper class, wealthy, and male, Higgins displays the power inherent in class status, money, and gender, giving his ambition to "do of Eliza a duchess of this trailing-tailed guttersnipe” (Shaw 16) a greedy and cold. edge. It is a power that he cedes without conscience, which ends up placing Eliza in a position unfit for any role in their society. As he corrects her accent and grammar, dresses her in stunning dresses, and teaches her modern conversational behaviors, he becomes almost obsessed with creating the perfect human being: "how terribly interesting it is to take a human being human and transform it into a completely different being. to be human…It bridges the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul” (Shaw 43). Higgins' goal is no longer to win a bet, train Eliza, or even test his own skills and intelligence. He believes he can bring humanity together, one person at a time, and in his ambition to achieve social status and be a respectable man, Higgins ignores the power play he has created and abused to deprive Eliza of her independence and her identity. Eliza herself is not without ambition, as she contacts Higgins to follow up on his offer to improve her position in society. However, the Higgins training gives Eliza the power she needed to support herself, adapt, and find independence without Higgins' help. “I don't want gold or diamonds” (Shaw 19) Eliza declares, demonstrating how her ambition to maintain her dignity and build a better life gives her the strength to reject Higgins and firmly carve out a place for herself in the world. new corners of society that she can now explore. Eliza's father, on the other hand, whose desire to be indolent forces him to be quite the opposite, acts as a foil to Eliza. A man content with poverty and the life of a garbage collector, Alfred Doolittle only extorts enough money for a drinking session, refusing more when offered because he does not want to be tempted to save and thus locking oneself into middle-class responsibilities. Higgins sends a pleasant letter to a millionaire, who then gives Doolittle an allowance to give a lecture on the morality he abhors. Doolittle feels obligated to accept the pay, and his life is no longer poor, but neither is it as free and simple as it once was. Forced to become bourgeois, he.