Prevalent Themes in Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream

Darren Aronofsy's film adaptation of Requiem for a Dream deals with the destructive nature of addiction. It is easy to identify a theme here, some may even be tempted to say the theme. But other themes worthy of deeper investigation and discussion are present in the film as well, including the unattainability of the American dream and (if viewed in light of Aronofsky's entire body of work) obsession as catalyst for insanity.

Choose one of the film's theme to analyze. Articulate that theme as something more than the broad ideas listed above. Remember that a theme is something more than a moral or maxim for living; it is a complex argument about some idea that a literary work expresses subtly through its many nuances of character, plot, symbolism, etc. Examine how the film conveys that theme through its use of literary and cinematic conventions and how that theme is handled in comparison or contrast to other works of film and/or literature.