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Character of Lester Burnham in American Beauty

The old saying ôWhen we first practice to deceive, oh what a tangled web we weaveö applies to the lies and secrets of the main characters in Sam MendesÆ film American Beauty. In this film, a married man named Lester Burnham faces a mid-life crisis that stems from years of his lies to himself and others that his life makes him happy. He hates his advertising career and he and his wife exist in a loveless relationship that is characterized by lies, secrets, hostility and resentment. As Lester maintains, ôI am sick and tired of being treated like I donÆt existö (Mendes, 1999). In actuality, Lester recognizes his lies and secrets have brought him no happiness, but just as he finds himself he loses his life due to the mistaken notions of his neighbor, Frank Fitts. In other words, the lies and secrets maintained by Lester and his wife during their relationship have doomed Lester to death, even as he is on the verge of finding himself and a chance for happiness.

Lester Burnham and his wife Carolyn maintain a loveless marriage in which their resentment and hostility toward each other is fed by the lies and secrets they maintain. Their teenage daughter is alienated from them both. Lester views Carolyn as pretentious. Carolyn believes she is capable of being a major real-estate success, but she is willing to lie to her husband and keep secrets to get ahead in her career. She has an affair with a successful real-estate mogul, hoping that success will rub off on her. She maintains blinders against negative aspects of reality, maintaining a positive outlook on life and a harsh regimen that are based on material possessions and selfish emotions. She changes channels when a commercial about starving children is aired, to instead view emotions in a fabricated romance. Lester tells her the expensive sofa she cherishes is ôjust a couch,ö but she explains it is more than a couch for it is a ôfour thou

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Character of Lester Burnham in American Beauty. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:07, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1710914.html