Essay Assignment
Echo: Quest for the Ideal
Everyone has something in life they wish to become, a goal that they want more than anything. However, if your goal is perfection, the results can be devastating. These two selections, Candle in the Wind by Elton John and Vincent by Don Mclean exhibit this theme perfectly. Candle in the Wind showcases the life of Marylyn Monroe, a life in which most people would deem as “perfect” yet it also showcases the devastating tragedy of her life and death and how there is no such thing as true perfection. This theme carries in the second selection, Vincent, which is about the famous artist, Vincent Van Gough and the life he lived and the form of suffering he felt. Vincent Van Gough was an artist …show more content…
She had everything. Looks, fame, men and adoring fans who would do anything for her. She was the type of person who “had the grace to hold herself while those around her crawled.” People would fall to their knees to be with her, to be near her. Therefor, looking in from an outside window you would think that her life would simple be the utmost definition of perfection. And that’s exactly what Norma Jean, the person who was Marylyn before there was a Marylyn, thought her life would be once she became this character, this superstar persona. In her pursuit of fame, her pursuit of perfection, she began to lose sight of who she actually was as a person, she began to change, to alter her self image into whatever she had to become to be this perfect, famous person. In the words of Elton John, “They whispered into your brain, they set you on the treadmill and they made you change your name.” She allowed these people, this life to take over her and let herself become this person she was not all for her goal, her goal of the perfect life she wanted for herself. But, the thing is, there is no such thing as a perfect life. Once Norma Jean was long gone and dead and in her place was Marylyn Monroe, the reality of her so called perfect life began to set in and it wasn't a happy one. “Hollywood created a superstar, and pain was the price you paid.” She achieved what she wanted to achieve, she became a global superstar, someone everyone knew and everyone wanted to know about, but along with this came suffering, suffering she never knew she would achieve. No one told her about the consequences of the life she was seeking and how in the end, the consequence of her goal for perfection, for the life she wanted was ultimately the end of her life. In order for her to achieve her ultimate goal of fame, she would have to give up everything else, her identity her personality, even the type of family
Echo: Quest for the Ideal
Everyone has something in life they wish to become, a goal that they want more than anything. However, if your goal is perfection, the results can be devastating. These two selections, Candle in the Wind by Elton John and Vincent by Don Mclean exhibit this theme perfectly. Candle in the Wind showcases the life of Marylyn Monroe, a life in which most people would deem as “perfect” yet it also showcases the devastating tragedy of her life and death and how there is no such thing as true perfection. This theme carries in the second selection, Vincent, which is about the famous artist, Vincent Van Gough and the life he lived and the form of suffering he felt. Vincent Van Gough was an artist …show more content…
She had everything. Looks, fame, men and adoring fans who would do anything for her. She was the type of person who “had the grace to hold herself while those around her crawled.” People would fall to their knees to be with her, to be near her. Therefor, looking in from an outside window you would think that her life would simple be the utmost definition of perfection. And that’s exactly what Norma Jean, the person who was Marylyn before there was a Marylyn, thought her life would be once she became this character, this superstar persona. In her pursuit of fame, her pursuit of perfection, she began to lose sight of who she actually was as a person, she began to change, to alter her self image into whatever she had to become to be this perfect, famous person. In the words of Elton John, “They whispered into your brain, they set you on the treadmill and they made you change your name.” She allowed these people, this life to take over her and let herself become this person she was not all for her goal, her goal of the perfect life she wanted for herself. But, the thing is, there is no such thing as a perfect life. Once Norma Jean was long gone and dead and in her place was Marylyn Monroe, the reality of her so called perfect life began to set in and it wasn't a happy one. “Hollywood created a superstar, and pain was the price you paid.” She achieved what she wanted to achieve, she became a global superstar, someone everyone knew and everyone wanted to know about, but along with this came suffering, suffering she never knew she would achieve. No one told her about the consequences of the life she was seeking and how in the end, the consequence of her goal for perfection, for the life she wanted was ultimately the end of her life. In order for her to achieve her ultimate goal of fame, she would have to give up everything else, her identity her personality, even the type of family