How is Bill excessive in Mao II?

There is something tragic about Bill and his desires, something noble about his desire to be known. There is a sense that his desire to be noted and notable has less to do with ego (although there are certainly strong whiffs of self-importance about him) and more to do with wanting to be recognized for not just acting to make a difference, but believing in humanity enough to WANT to make a difference. The tragedy, in its classical sense (i.e. a noble character brought to destruction by a fatal flaw) is that Bill has the capacity to become so single minded and obsessive that he undermines his own good intentions. In becoming obsessed with making his new book perfect and constantly revising it, he destroys its publication-defined potential for triggering the recognition he desires. More importantly, his determination to become known for taking a stand on the release of the imprisoned poet leads him to ignore the obvious symptoms of his physical lack of ability, and eventually to his death. In other words, there is something of the moth and the flame about him - in the same way as a moth is irresistibly drawn to destruction in a candle flame, Gray is drawn to his own destruction by the candle flame of renown.