Character Analysis Ricky in American Beauty Essay Example

Character Analysis Ricky in American Beauty Essay Example Character Analysis Ricky in American Beauty Paper Character Analysis Ricky in American Beauty Paper Essay Topic: American Beauty Film Where is the beauty in a plastic bag, a deceased bird, a dead person? Strange questions you may think if you havent seen the film American Beauty but it is one persons obsession with beauty that creates a fascination and a particular attraction towards it that makes it all comprehensible. Ricky Fitz, the new next door neighbour to the troubled Burnham family, adds a new dimension to their mundane lives, in some cases simplifying their situation and in other cases, complicating it. Ricky is generally a very interesting character that really captures an audience and entices them to look at life from another angle. He has a poor, harmful family relationship that he looks to escape from through change, a characteristic of all the characters in the film. He shares a sensual and physical relationship with the girl next door, Jane, whilst he also has a strong relationship with her father, Lester, a some what complacent and immature character. It is Rickys vision of beauty though, that really makes him stand out and makes him so quizzical. Ricky is generally a very insightful person, curious and up front. He is very honest about his feelings and his past, illustrated many times, but particularly when Jane asked him why he was sent to a mental institution and he was able to answer calmly and confidently. He dresses in a very specific way which is ordered and neat, described by another character, Angela, as a bible salesman. This is understandable due to the regimented life he lived, ruled by an ex-army officer, his father. His house is very symmetrical and cold, a symbol of the lack of connection between family members. Everything in the house is in perfect order and very clean; the slightest thing out of place would have been recognised suggested by the situation when Rickys father was able to work out that Ricky had been in his room, violently reacting. His bedroom is very orderly, clothes neatly folded and shelves stacked very neatly. His room expresses no colour or warmth, it is just an imperfect and futile room. Emotionally, Ricky comes across as strong, saying, I dont get scared but was institutionalised for losing control and being pushed over the edge. Everything bad about Rickys character could be blamed on the morose state of his family relationship. It is worth contemplating that if Ricky didnt get out when he did he could have turned out like his mother, an abused, reclusive person. As a result she was always on edge and couldnt relax around her husband. Ricky was abused by his father, but obviously not to the extent of his mother. We know this by the two scenes when he was physically assaulted by his father, yet he just accepted it. The family is a picture of dysfunction, illustrated by the scene when they are all sitting on the couch and the mother is trying to face the other way and avoid confrontation, the father is sitting upright, trying to act as the boss and Ricky on the other end absorbing the awkward silence of the moment. Ricky is eighteen and yet his father still does not know how to act around him or hold a proper conversation with him. There is also no trust between father and son depicted by the scene when Ricky had supply a urine sample yet he deceived his father by giving him a false supply. It is like his father saw his role, solely to teach Ricky structure and discipline. When Ricky eventually leaves, although a touching moment, there is no real emotion shown, he was not sad to leave. Ricky found a rare and hidden beauty in Jane, the girl from the adjacent house. To the average person, Jane is portrayed as a confused, unattractive and depressed person. However Ricky sees a form of beauty that we cant, attracting the two toward each other. Jane is strangely comforted by the attention of being filmed by Ricky making her curious about what he found interest about her. She even believes that she is unattractive portrayed by her interested in plastic surgery. Ricky remains totally focussed on Jane. He sees that no other girl has this kind of beauty that she has represented by his filming when he avoids the stereotypical beauty in Angela and zooms in on Janes reflection in the mirror. The development of their relationship allows Jane to open up and become more honest to herself and others; she starts to develop some of the personal traits of Ricky. A good example of this is when she stands up to her father and tells him that she is embarrassed by the way he acts when Angela is staying over. Something that she wouldnt have done before she met Ricky. Despite growing in similarity, when they contemplated a life away from home, their differences become obvious as Jane still feels for her family despite not sharing a great relationship with them. Lester Burnham, a casual and unenthusiastic character, is almost brought to life and re-ignited by Ricky. Arguably it was the beauty of Angela that was responsible for the rebirth but his encounter with Ricky gave him confidence and mental strength to change depicted through the party scene when Ricky calmly and boldly quit his job, an issue that most of us would have a lot of trouble doing. Lester responded by say, You have just become my personal hero, so impressed by his actions. It was the turning point in Lesters stupid little life when he started to take responsibility for his actions and do something about his mundane life. He became more assured and gained a belief in himself that he had never had before. We can draw this conclusion due to his actions, such as buying a car he had always wanted, quit his job and started to work out. The two share a close relationship but not as close as Rickys dad thinks. It is this misunderstanding that brings about Lesters death. Therefore it is arguable to say that the relationship had a positive and negative effect for Lester. Ricky does not see beauty in a rose, perfection, or a slim blonde but in obscure, natural elements. He describes beauty as though God is looking at you. The most beautiful thing he has ever filmed was a plastic bag, describing the electricity in it and that this bag was just dancing with me. To us the bag is just swirling around in the air, but Ricky can see the beauty in the lovely transient movement of the bag. Earlier in the film Jane and Angela caught him filming a dead bird. To him this was another form of beauty as was Lesters dead body, with his head resting on the table, blood streaming from his head. It makes Ricky happy to think that Lester was now free and contented. It seems that the seductive beauty that Ricky sees is the only thing that is capable of making him drop his guard and show any sort of emotion. Teeming with tears, he explains, Sometimes there is so much beauty in the world that I feel I cant take it. It is just evidence that beauty has such a great impact on people, even the most mentally strong.

Sense and Nonsense

Sense and Nonsense Sense and Nonsense Sense and Nonsense By Maeve Maddox A reader who heard a doctor describe a patient as â€Å"fluent and sensicle† has asked if sensicle is a word. Sensicle (more often spelled sensical) is a word in the sense that couth is a word, or combobulate or ept. Humorists have long delighted in making comical back-formations of unpaired words like nonsensical, discombobulate, and inept. unpaired word: a word that appears to have a related word that does not in fact exist in contemporary usage. Such words may have a prefix or suffix that implies an antonym that replicates the word minus the supposed affix. Nowadays, when so many native English speakers are lightly educated in the mother tongue, what begins as a witticism may be taken seriously by readers or listeners who lack the information necessary to understand the joke. For example, the following statements are not intended to be funny: I think the real issue that most people take with Iraq was simply that it  wasnt sensicle.   Their recommendation to remove that foam piece  wasnt sensicle  to me.   [Sufferers of] Brocas aphasia cant produce  fluent,  sensical speech. In terms of tax dollars, the Court found that to continue to waste dollars during the appeal  wasnt sensical. The ban to serve sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces in restaurants proved [to be a] law that just  wasnt sensical  enough to pass. Nonsensical is a â€Å"real† word. It means, â€Å"making no sense, absurd.† The -ical ending also appears in the unwieldy but acceptable adjective for the term common sense: commonsensical. Used alone, sensical is nonstandard usage. The frequently seen use of sensical in a medical context may derive from statements like this in texts about aphasia: In 1874, Carl Wernicke reported patients with a different type of difficulty: fluent but often non-sensical speech. Hyphenating the word nonsensical contributes to the notion that sensical is detachable. The notion of â€Å"non-sensical† is that the speech of the afflicted person â€Å"makes no sense.† The noun for that kind of speech is nonsense. The adjective is nonsensical without a hyphen. Another possibility is: incoherent (adjective): without logical connection or natural sequence of ideas; inconsistent, rambling, disjointed. Here are suggested corrections for the above examples: I think the real issue that most people take with Iraq was simply that it  wasnt sensible.   Their recommendation to remove that foam piece  didn’t make sense to me.   [Sufferers of] Brocas aphasia cant produce  fluent,  coherent speech. In terms of tax dollars, the Court found that to continue to waste dollars during the appeal  wasnt reasonable. The ban to serve sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces in restaurants proved [to be a] law that just  wasnt practical enough to pass. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should Know3 Cases of Complicated HyphenationContinue and "Continue on"