In this journal I will be focusing on Lester Burnham and I will discuss his philosophical views, as well as his morality, and the values he holds. Essentially this essay will be a complete analysis to Lester’s character in American Beauty.

On the outside the Burnham family looks like your typical American family with a white picket fence, but in reality they are the complete opposite. Lester’s wife Carolyn hates him and is cheating on him. His daughter Jane regards him with contempt, while his boss wants him to quit his job as he finds Lester completely worthless. Lester realizes that when one doesn’t have much to lose, one might as well risk everything. Provoked by a pitiful life Lester decides to make a few changes in his life to sort of spice things up or at least get his spirits up. Throughout the movie we see that the freer Lester gets the happier he becomes, which really trouble his wife a tremendous amount. Fantasies begin to form in Lester’s conscience after he starts to develop a lustful feeling towards his daughters friend Angela who is portrayed as a gorgeous person but she’s obviously too young for Lester. But Lester comes to learn that the ultimate freedom comes at the ultimate price. At the beginning of the movie we see Lester act very patient and nonchalant about a lot of things. He is seen as an underperformer at the office and that’s why the want to get rid off him. Lester is also sexually frustrated and it is evident and he tries to deal with this in a peaceful manner. But when things start to spiral out of control this is when Lester becomes rebellious and instead of solving and helping fix all the issues all he does is just walk around doing his own thing. At one point Lester decides to throw a plate against the wall and even tells his wife that she never gets to tell him what to do again. This is when Lester gets rid of his passive mode and actually speaks up to his dominant and egotistical wife.