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"My Biggest Ambition" has to do with a young Australian boy of thirteen who has a dream of being a comics artist. This dream is rubbished and belittled by everybody whom he knows. He needs to keep his desire a secret from his moms and dads as they provide little or no assistance for such frivolous activities. However, the young Lurie follows his aspiration and makes his first cartoon and sends it to a passing away publication. Seeing his work the editors of this publication considers asking young Lurie to work for them as a fulltime worker.
Here Morris Lurie highlights the prejudiced and judgmental mind-sets of grownups towards the abilities of the youth.
Lurie skillfully uses humor to highlight some crucial issues in the society. He twists the language and the words to get his point across to the readers in the most amusing style. Lurie uses methods such as irony, images, dialogue, normal teenage overstated language and different viewpoint to make his story most enjoyable.
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Proficient in: Dreams And Aspirations
4.7 (348)
“ Amazing as always, gave her a week to finish a big assignment and came through way ahead of time. ”
At the opening of the story, Nu hilariously explains his peers as" There they sat, the astronomer, the nuclear physicist, business magnate (on the stock market), two mathematicians, 3 farmers, countess chemists, a handful of physicians all aged thirteen and all with their heads in the clouds.
Dreamers! Idle speculators! A generation of helpless romantics!" Here, Lurie utilizes the exaggerated and overtly significant language of a common thirteen years of age who thinks he understands everything. Also this idea is extremely paradoxical as in many society's occupations such as doctors and chemists would be considered completely regular and creditable.
And the concept of becoming a comic book artist would be thought about pure fancy. Something which is not stable or decent.
Therefore it is paradoxical that Lurie believes of kids who intend of having a conventional and conservative profession as "idle dreams and hopeless romantics". Morris Lurie likewise makes wonderful usage of images in this narrative. "... checked out by the sorts that were always t sitting under trees and wearing glasses and squinting and turning pages with licked fingers?
An awful prospect!” His sarcastic description of people who read stories without any pictures forms an ideal visual imagery in the reader’s minds. Lurie also describes the comical clothes taking books out f the library and wears to the meeting and the struggle which lead to the final decision. The description of his ‘Good Suit’ which was slightly short for him at the ankles and the corn yellow, silk tie which with the proper Windsor knot would prevent anyone to look elsewhere. This provides a vivid visual. Lurie’s conversation with Ms. Gordon also provides wonderful auditoria imagery.
He also uses imagery when he illustrates how Nu humouredly imagined himself walking into his office through a garden of exotic plants with a pipe in his mouth. “… our eyes met and I would smile, or was that smile stretched across my face from the second I came in?” Gives another hilarious example of imagery which is spread throughout the story. The conversation and description of his father is a perfect example of the way Lurie shows the typical teenage exaggeration and uses amusing dialogue to highlight prominent problems in the society.
The discourse with Nu’s father where the father is only interested in the money shows how badly the father is influencing his son. As the father was materialistic and money minded the son feels defensive and begins to think about the money he will receive too. “Maybe I’ll decide not sell them. Which I will if the price isn’t right.” This is one of the perfect examples of how the author uses humor to emphasize on social trouble. The description of his clothes shows another instance where teenagers exaggerate and hyperbole.
He also foreshadows the fate of the young Nu’s comic book artiste dream when he writes about the reaction of the editor when he sees Lurie live or the first time. The awkward behavior and the disappointment at Nu’ age gave hints about how any more of Nu’s comic strip will be treated. As long they didn’t know the age of Lurie he was given the respect his work deserved. But as soon as they discovered Lurie to be thirteen he was dismissed with a capacity of a child. The author also shows how disappointed and humiliated Nu was being at being treated as inferior.
In this wonderful story issues such as parental negligence and the judgmental and narrow mindedness of a rigid society is shown. Problems all teenagers face such as lack of support and teenage angst which is usually not considered as an issue and are stereotyped and dealt with and an indifferent sigh “Teenager. They’ll grow out of it.” In this story Lurie shows how this attitude and narrow-mindedness can actually suppress natural talent and passion. Again, in “My Greatest Ambition” Morris Lurie uses great language and humor to create an entertaining but indirectly instructing story.
Teenage Dreams And Aspirations in My Greatest Ambition. (2016, May 21). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/teenage-dreams-and-aspirations-in-my-greatest-ambition-essay
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