The ambitiousnesss, which a society creates, arouse an important role in the lives of the mint in that society. In particular, the American Dream, for the fictitious computer addresss of twain(prenominal) John Steinbecks prose assembly Of Mice and Men and Sam Mendes fritter American Beauty, is presented as a powerful concept through with(predicate) its appealing nature, which arrive aters blessedness and a better animateness. However, for the characters to live this inspiration they must make sacrifices. at bottom the two texts, the American Dream, governed by the societys context, values, and ideals, presents the societys depiction of pleasure. Steinbecks Of Mice and Men was written in the 1930s, set in California, America -focusing on the hu man racey lives of itinerant, manual, male-workers who were impact by the huge Depression. The overlook of security and perceptual constancy in this life resulted in great loneliness and hardship for the men, as they were unaccompanied dependent on the whims of employers and the availability of work. In these measure of adversity, the workers created reveries for themselves to vex their unpleasant life and give them hope for the future. The inspiration for the majority of the workers revealed a longing for a better life, unimaginative of the American Dream; one of independence, equality, wealth, the prospect of owning their own prop, unblemished happiness and the freedom to follow their desires such(prenominal) as to study the perdition with goin to work. In contrast, the society of Mendes film, American Beauty, reflects the midst sectionalization white suburban America during the 19990s. Their dream conveys the sprightliness that happiness is carry throughd with superficial values; including paragon, materialistic possession, a productive take c ar, knockout, a white picket fence suburban home, and the perfect family. The artificial sweetheart aspect of this dream is signified by the films title American Beauty; a direct! reference to a particular(prenominal) father of roses, which is outwardly perfect through its cultivation for flawlessness. Conversely, standardised or so house-grown roses, it has no scent, and in that respectfore the definition of dish antenna and god becomes replaced with foolishness. To go through these dreams the characters, in their respective society, sacrifices different aspects of their life, this in bend dexter affects themselves and the people around them. In American Beauty, the character of Angela represents the television-sitcom set of an American teenager; a typical blonde-haired, beautiful, male-attention-seeking, popular girl. Angela puts on a superficial sexual exterior to mask her fear insecurity and fear of being ordinary, by trying to exist as an adult in an adult human race of discourse despite the reality of her youth. In doing so, she has sacrificed her integrity to arrive account and the image of perfection, created by the American Dream. How Angela approaches the value of beauty is talllighted through the reflect motif, which symbolises her vain nature. This concept of a false beauty is echoed in model of the American Beauty rose as an exterior labor to Angelas beauty. Similarly, the character of Curleys wife in Of Mice and Men benefits from her physical appearance to meet attention; however, she does not do this to exemplify the societys image of perfection or beauty (like Angela) but to obtain company. condescension her characters representation as a tramp and the temptation of egg-producing(prenominal) sexuality in a male-dominated world, Curleys wife is not merely a villainous or unsympathetic character. She sacrifices her own dreams of a glamourous life in Hollywood as an actress to have the stability in life, which a marriage to a soused man dourers. However, she makes a poor choice of husband and is remaining feeling lonely, unhappy with her marriage and with a broken dream. The unhappiness, w hich derives from the distress of the dream, is sim! ilarly appargonnt for those life the dream. From the very beginning, Lester, the protagonist of American Beauty, is shown to be funding the American Dream; he is wealthy, owns a beautiful suburban house, maintains a eminentflying job, and is married with a daughter. Lester had to sacrifice his youthful ideals (his identity, respect, esteem and a meaningful relationship with his family) to achieve the suburban American Dream, which he discovers to be false. Instead of being happy and fulfilled in life, Lester is unable to communicate with either wife or daughter, which both see him as this gigantic loser, who is apathetic, sedated, a condition to be laughed at and despised. Mendes portrays this inferior characteristic of Lester through high angled shots focused down on him, suggesting that he is a character to be looked down on. The misery in living an unwanted dream is visually symbolised by his constant entrapment arse various objects -such as the shower cubicle, the windo w of his own home, and the corrective and confining structure of his work place. The combination of his realisation of the deceitfulness of the dream and his sudden infatuation with his daughters friend, Angela, contributes to his liberation by throwing off his hypocritical facades -including his dehumanising corporate job, and any pretence that he c atomic number 18s roughly anything but his own appetites. This triggers his throwback to adolescence as he tries to recapture the remembered joy of his youth.
This new life, in which Lester relives his adolescent dream, is juxtaposed to his preceding depressing li fe in the two opposing dinner jibes. The first dinn! er facial expression captures Lester as submissive character whereas in the second scene it appears that Lester has become more than unconditional and superior. Although the concept of being more powerful is an alluring one, Lester realises again that this too is a false dream as he begins to live a c arfree, responsibility-lacking life of a young man. The negativism results from living the American Dream are also seen in Steinbecks characterisation of Curley in Of Mice and Men. Curleys achievement of wealth, power, land (all the different aspects which articulates the American Dream in this text) is overshadowed by his impetuous nature, abuse of power, selfishness and lack of respect from all the other characters. Curley wears high heeled boots and spurs to prove he [is] not a labouring man. This reveals that he takes expediency of materialistic possession (which are represent by the boots) and force out (represented by the spurs) to distinguish himself as tribal chief an d of high status. Liked by no one, not tied(p) his wife, Curley demonstrates how the dream affects a character negatively. In the two societies of American Beauty and Of Mice and Men, it becomes arrive at to both the characters and the audience that the American Dream is a disillusionment, as it does not earmark either happiness or a better life. For the ticker class Americans, Mendes focuses on the falsity and superficiality of the American Dream. The film highlights how people want to give the illusion that they are living the dream -but behind closed doors, the reality is that the characters are far from rightful(a) happiness; the breakdown of family life is witnessed, there is a seduce availability of illicit drugs, violence is exposed, and characters are sacrificing personal love life until living has been forgotten. Steinbeck, on the other hand, emphasises the futility of the American Dream for the bed covering workers, such as Lennie and George. For these characters , there is no certainty or protection in either thei! r life or dream. Steinbeck conveys this by prefigurative how so many elements (including Lennies retardation, Curleys character, etc) conspires to destroy their dream. The sacrifices made to achieve this dream is said to be a tragic one. BIBLIOGRAPHY:Of Mice and hands -a newfangled by John SteinbeckAmerican Beauty - a film tell by Mendes If you want to get a full essay, pasture it on our website:
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