Ambition Without Hope

By William Ardrey

During the great depression of the 1930s life in America was turned upside down. The book describes partly what happened to once solid productive citizens, How they coped and learned to adapt. Some of the main causes of the economy are described in this story..

Ambition without hope" refers to the state of having strong aspirations or desires but without any expectation of success or fulfillment. It can describe a situation where someone has high goals or dreams but does not believe that they are achievable, or lacks the belief or motivation to pursue them. In essence, it is a situation where someone is driven by ambition but lacks the hope or confidence to see it through to fruition. This can lead to a feeling of frustration or discouragement and can potentially impact one's overall well-being and satisfaction in life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: William Ardrey
• Release date: Apr 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223387022

William Ardrey

William Ardrey is a dashing figure, 6 feet tall. His dark brown hair is complemented by a well-styled mustache. Women love his handsome looks, infectious smile, and wit. He has a vibrant, magnetic personality that inspires loyalty and devotion from men and women alike.  He has a strong sense of Justice and will readily fight for a just cause. He loves to smile and live life with the tenacity of a beautiful bulldog. With a strong natural affinity for making friends, he is very popular wherever he goes. And when he reluctantly leaves an area most people sigh and softly breathe the words, “God I hope he comes back soon”. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Book preview

Chapter 1. Meet me at the Hole.

Monday Hill was a small farming town found in north-central Oklahoma. It had slowly grown to be a prosperous place before the winds blew it away. It was the hometown of Ben Wilder, born there in the dawning year 1900. Joseph would grow up to become a forthright man with the muscular build of a working Farmer. His curly black hair and Blue Eyes helped make him handsome. But the Good looks did not count for much when everyone was choking on dry dusty air. Dust pneumonia would be overwhelming and stifling destroying any beauty that wondered near it.

The Wilder family had emigrated from Europe in the middle 1800 era. Always moving west and occasionally making a stand.  Bens father had set up a hardware and farm implement dealership only a few years before Joseph was born. With much hard work the business had steadily grown, and life was good. Joseph Wilder Senior had married an educated woman with business training which was a great asset to their Hardware business. Their son Ben Joseph Wilder being an only child received plenty of attention and instruction. Some of those instructions were religious training. Motherhood of that era knew that at least some of the morals of religion would stick with their children. And the solid principals of humanity could be expected to make a dent on their souls. The Mothers did want a deep impression, but sometimes had to settle for a mere scratch.

For a while Ben thought that going to Sunday school was just barely ok, he certainly did not like it. He only went because Mrs. Wilder strongly insisted on his attendance. Most Sunday mornings and Evenings things became lively.

The Southern Gospel Shouter Reverend Silas Bernard often had whiskey on his breath, but nobody seemed to mind. The Shouter preached full volume and the window panes responded with a rattling echo. Anything less might have let the whisky fumes reach the Flocks conscious attention. The good Pastor felt it was imperative to inform the people of his church about the bad news of a Hell. The reverend always managed to remind the Flock that,

We are all going straight to hell because we all have sinned. 

Of course, the Reverend did gladly offer the one and only solution to the burning fires of hell.

Repent, Repent, Repent he would say.

The combination of Summer heat and humidity in that part of the country were stifling; it was especially steamy with a lot of people packed in the small church building. That climate kept some people in a lulled semi-trance. The wet heated air seemed to flow toward a person in never-ceasing waves very little relief to ease the misery. 

Usually with his shouting the reverend took them the rest of the way into a trance. And they would float in and out of reality as wave after wave of steam heated air tortured them.

Yes, every Sunday the Gospel Shouter kept the church attendants fully mesmerized. It was an easy thing for the Flock to imagine and want to be somewhere else. That place called Heaven was thought to be a great relief.

Most of the Reverends Flock thought that repenting was most likely a good idea. Because being an average human there is ample sinning to go around. Sensibly most of the sinners just alluded to having sinned and did not get too graphic. Confession is good for the Soul but bad on a person’s reputation.

The kids were also expected to hear ole Gospel Shouter talk about sinning and how damning it is.  Ben and the others being just children did not fully understand, what it was they were doing wrong. However, they did learn to feel awful bad about being a human being. Some of them wanted to escape to anywhere if ole Screamer was not there. It took a while for Ben to decide but at the age of twelve he informed his Mother of his misery and solution.

I am not going back to that church never again. I can’t stand any more of that screaming and repenting.

Ben also explained he already had enough of the horror and misery of going into the burning fires of hell every Sunday. His Father let him make that choice if he didn’t want to go that was Ok.

Mr. Wilder Senior did believe in the freedom of religion idea. He also believed having a freedom, away from, the religion.

Some Preachers were a joy to be around; but many screamers seemed to have gone insane.

Mr. Wilder correctly realized some things just weren’t right no matter how loud they were screamed. The book he had read said; Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.

Now partly because of his Sunday training Ben-Joseph developed an interest in learning what sin was. He figured there must be something good about sin nothing is all bad. After he had spent years repenting for things he did not do he also figured he had some sinning due him. That idea stayed with him for a while.

After School sometimes