American Beauty Is The Antithesis Of The Rose

While one of the most traditional interpretations of “A Rose for Emily” is the variety of meanings for the “rose” presented in the title and how the “rose” fits in with the story. Laura Getty states in her article many varied perspectives that many could ponder when identifying what the “rose” stands for. She states many possible theories that depict what the “rose” means, including theories of other writers that help support her own theory and also that adds another way that most might not consider at first. Most of the interpretations of the rose are all focused on the “internal elements” (Getty 231) rather than the actual rose itself. Getty theorizes about certain characters, buildings, anything that symbolizes a rose in the story as

American Beauty, a film that was written by Allan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in 1999 is a unique piece that demonstrates many sociological themes throughout the development of the plot. The characters strive to portray themselves as the All American Family. They live in a nice house, drive nice cars and seem perfectly normal to the general public, but the audience is allowed to view the deep set issues that plague the main characters; Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening), Jane Burnham (Thora Birch), and Jane's best friend Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). As the plot develops there are many obvious parallels relating the lives of the characters to Merton's Strain

Roses are given to people so often. Who among us does not attach some type of personal significance to the image of a rose? I would venture to say that no one has not given, been given, or wished to give or receive a rose. Roses are delivered from florists by the dozen during all holiday seasons, for anniversaries, for apologies, for courting. . . And it is in this obsessive usage that the meaning of the rose has been exploited. What delivers more

In the story, there is no mention of an actual rose, yet the story title is “A Rose for Emily.” Another symbol is the rose. In the article, “Symbolism,” the author states he or she believes that the title reflects what Faulkner thinks

I say this is because in the short story, Miss Strangeworth sends anonymous, bothersome letters to the towns people. At the end of the short story, in the line of 344 it states. Look out at what used to be your roses. From this sentence I can infer the word roses means people.

My favorite character from American Beauty is Ricky Fitts. The film shows that Ricky has a schizotypal behavior disorder. He was a socially odd character, had an unusual appearance, possessed uncompromising feelings, and a high degree of self-reliance. Moreover, Ricky had emotionally distant parents and a history of relentless childhood abuse; clearly showing how he substantially respects his father out of his fear of being hit, ending each sentence with “sir”. Additionally, he was infatuated with videotaping everything that he found interesting and beautiful; though he has an unclear conception and assessment of beauty, For example, filming a plastic bag while it dances through the wind; or a dead bird, and a dying woman, felt beautiful to him. Ricky is not in denial about anything and is the freest and honest character in the film. Ricky Fitts does not cast a false image, manages his destiny and makes his own conclusions; making him the "hero" of the movie, American Beauty.

Throughout the entire film, the rose, the American Beauty, had often been a symbol of Lester’s lust and desire for Angela. In his fantasies, the girl is shrouded in the roses, covering her body, betraying the fact that these are, in fact, his passionate musings rather than reality. When Lester is killed however, the viewer can spot a bunch of roses set on the countertop next to his body. The image is striking; because the flower had been so associated with sexuality and infatuation, it seems somewhat odd for it to reappear in death. However, let us not forget, the significance red represents in cinema danger.

Even though the rose is distinctly only in the title, it emerges as allegorical and symbolic throughout the story. Getty states, “The "Rose" of the title extends far beyond any one flower or literary allusion in its implications for the story's structure. The "Rose" represents secrecy: the confidential relationship between the author and his character, with all of the privileged information withheld” (Getty 230). The view of the warmth of love and fondness is to be thought when

American Beauty is a movie that sets in suburban America. The story is about Lester, whom is a middle-aged writer working in a magazine company. He was having a midlife crisis where he felt lonely and numbed by continuous unchanging routine of his everyday life. In the movie, his wife portrayed as a successful real estate agent, but she was also going through her own midlife crisis in both her career and personal life. Lester’s daughter, Jane Bumham had alienated her parents and was going through puberty. They have a new neighbor who is a U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Frank Fitts, and he has a son, Ricky Fitts, who is a drug dealer. Lester was going to get fired from his company that he had worked for fourteen

The desire Tita poured into the meal was almost caught by Gertrudis instead of being rightfully sent to Pedro. Roses are a way of showing your emotions to people without directly saying it. Whether it is directly giving it to them or cooking it, roses are a channel through which love is transferred back and

A rose is a symbolic flower of beauty. Roses are an expensive

Prompted by its ambiguity, when William Faulkner was asked to explain the symbolic nature of the rose, he responded by stating that it was “Just a ‘Rose for Emily’ – That’s all” (Towner & Carothers, p. 67). This implies that the rose is merely a gesture of kindness to a pitiable character and nothing more. For those not comfortable with Faulkner’s response, perhaps the only other clue lies in the final page where a secret room reveals “faded rose colored” curtains and “rose shaded lights” (Faulkner, p.674). It may be that Faulkner used the rose to tie the beginning of the story with its end. While the rose in the title may or may not be symbolic, what it actually represents appears to be left open to interpretation.

“American Beauty”, the 1999 film, is a motion picture that more or less shows a different side of the average suburban family. Although all of the characters have significant issues, I have chosen to take a closer look at Lester Burnham. Lester Burnham is a 42-year-old businessman who is married to the career-obsessed Carolyn and they have one daughter, a teenager named Jane. One of the first scenes of the movie explains how the family works: Carolyn is driving, just like she “drives” the family, Jane is sitting right next to her in the front seat, and Lester is slouched in the backseat, visually becoming more miserable by the second.

Throughout American history there have been many different family types. In these families types that society has created everyone has a specific role that they are pressured to play and most of the time feel like they will be judged if they don’t play their intended role. The only way for a society to change and evolve is for people to break the norms and step outside of the box. We must question what is truly right and wrong to create new ways of living. The Cycle of Socialization describes how a person can get stuck in the cultural norms and the the Cycle of Liberalization shows the process of someone breaking free from stereotypes and creating a new path for their life. The cycle of Socialization/ Liberation is displayed in all families. The family structure in the film American Beauty will be used as an example of the the above stated cycles.

images as constructions that we created around ourselves as a means of hiding our true selves. Mendes is able to implicate us in the construction and make us active viewers by exploiting our voyeuristic nature. In American Beauty Mendes uses the voyeuristic tendencies of the spectator to acknowledge the permeating constructed images. Mendes, through the use of narration, the mise en scene and cinematic techniques implicates the spectator in to using their voyeuristic tendencies to deconstruct