# Self-Made Success and Entrepreneurship in Struggles and Triumphs

> Theme guide for Struggles and Triumphs by P. T. Barnum.

Barnum's narrative emphasizes that success comes through hard work, shrewdness, and calculated risk-taking rather than luck or inheritance, as he rises from a farmer-boy to a wealthy showman through relentless enterprise.

## Where it surfaces

- [Struggles and Triumphs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/struggles_and_triumphs_se/chapters/struggles-and-triumphs): The chapter emphasizes Barnum's belief in hard work and ingenuity as keys to achievement.
- [In Business for Myself](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/struggles_and_triumphs_se/chapters/iii-in-business-for-myself): Barnum details his first independent business venture with a small capital, emphasizing his ambition and speculative nature.
- [IX: The Road to Riches](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/struggles_and_triumphs_se/chapters/ix-the-road-to-riches): Barnum details how the American Museum was the ladder by which he rose to fortune, emphasizing his industrious efforts to please patrons and make money.
- [An Enterprising Englishman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/struggles_and_triumphs_se/chapters/xxxii-an-enterprising-englishman): Mr. Wilson rises from journeyman to mill owner by applying Barnum's principles, illustrating the self-made success narrative.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/struggles_and_triumphs_se/themes/self_made_success
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/struggles_and_triumphs_se/themes