The 1950s were a terrible, terrible time. Oh my God, why didn't my grandparents all kill themselves?
Revolutionary Road is the story of an idealist, and the man she married, who enjoys the comforts and predictability of the suburbs without wanting to outwardly appear that he does. It's one massive communications gaffe. If both characters were totally honest with each other, then...
more The 1950s were a terrible, terrible time. Oh my God, why didn't my grandparents all kill themselves?
Revolutionary Road is the story of an idealist, and the man she married, who enjoys the comforts and predictability of the suburbs without wanting to outwardly appear that he does. It's one massive communications gaffe. If both characters were totally honest with each other, then they would never have married, and there would have been no book. He is the picture of the perfect 1950s man, she wants nothing to do with that, so he pretends to be something else to hold onto the leggy slender blonde that the 1950s man should have.
If MadMen taught me anything, then marketing executives in Manhattan all get to have 3 martinis with lunch, have a quicky with a secretary at 5pm, and still make it home to the suburbs in time for a cocktail before dinner. Frank is no exception. April spends all day at home with the children, who are not small people, but rather pests which one may not be rid of. It's like a bad termite infestation. When she tries to express herself at a community play, she fails miserably - Frank takes this as the end of the expression, April tries to figure something else out. The Something Else is a grand scheme to run off to Europe together, let her work for a while, while Frank tries to find a source of happiness. Sadly for Frank... he may actually be as happy in the suburbs in 1955 as he could ever hope to be. See Martinis and Free Sex if you missed why it's good to be a guy at this time. He never really gets on board with the plan... but plays along.
And, this is the crux of the book. Are people playing at happiness, or are they really happy? Are they meeting someone else's expectations, or is that what they expect of themselves? Are they saying what they mean or what they should say? And if you find yourself trapped, do you kill that which is trapping you, or do you kill yourself? What is the trap, and why do you let yourself be trapped by it?
Good, thought provoking read that will make you glad that the 60's happened.
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