Revolutionary Road

With the transition into Part 3, the novel enters its third act. Here, the rising action will culminate in April’s death, and a melancholic denouement follows, tracing Frank’s history as a result of her demise. In Chapter 1 of Part 3, the time symbol returns to signify the characters’ need and desire to use it to control their situations. The greatest instance of this is contained in the scope of April’s conception and pregnancy. For both Frank and April, the need to ascertain the date of conception is pivotal to their discussion of whether to go to Europe or not. April cannot fathom a workable scenario that allows them to have a third child: it is not financially feasible. Frank also fears financial insolvency, but his fear and his rising fortune at work have already set his mind against April. An abortion would also undermine his sense of Masculinity Against the Backdrop of 1950s Conformist Society; in a society that emphasizes the nuclear family, terminating a pregnancy would be illegal, socially unacceptable, and an indication that Frank could not provide for an additional child. Regarding their existing children, John Givings’s comment on Page 230 points to a characteristic inherent in both Frank and April: “Hey, by the way, where do you people keep your kids.” Ostensibly, Frank and April send the children to the Campbells to keep themselves free for John’s visits, but the children feature very little in the novel. As Frank and April’s marriage steadily disintegrates, it becomes clear that neither of them ever wanted children. Jennifer and Michael’s absence is a subtle hint toward this, and it is once again John—the jester figure—who points this out.

In Chapter 1, Frank has come to the decision that he does not want to go to Paris, but he is still afraid to admit it openly to April. This fear causes him to do something far worse than admitting his reluctance: He begins to undermine April’s plan by questioning her sanity. He attacks her where she is most vulnerable: her lack of a stable family life during her childhood. By pointing this out, he insinuates that she may have failed to develop a certain amount of emotional stability. By doing so, not only is he undermining her self-confidence, but he has also placed her in the same camp as John Givings. As previously mentioned, John is considered irrational because he is openly antagonistic of the system, and one must be irrational to find fault with 1950s conformist culture. Frank goes to tremendous lengths to undermine April’s psychological health, revealing not only the extent he will go to win an argument but how Frank sees himself as intellectually superior to April and everyone else. He performs ad hoc psychoanalysis of April, misappropriating the Freudian notion of penis envy as a reason why some women don’t want to have a uterus, and thus, don’t want children. Moreover, he easily imagines an analyst agreeing with his diagnosis. Frank’s desire to undermine April and keep her from remotivating herself causes him to stay home from work. This is significant because in Part 2, Chapter 5, when Frank wishes he did not have to go to work the next day, he goes nevertheless. He went to work then to escape the degenerating situation at home. This time, however, he remains at home not to try and save his marriage, to spend time with April and keep the Paris dream alive, but to make sure that April continues to question her emotional stability and to destroy all hopes of Paris.

In Chapter 2, Frank continues his drive to abrogate all chances that they might be going by informing everyone of a change in plans. At this point, Frank is not content with the idea of putting off the Parisian plan; he wants to destroy all thoughts in that direction. He is committed to staying in Connecticut and with Knox. By the end of the chapter, Frank has fully won the argument, but he doesn’t feel like a winner because of the underhanded way he accomplished his goals. While his marriage deteriorates, Frank seeks another boost to his confidence and masculinity. On Page 245, the time elements recur when Frank realizes how much time has gone by since his last meeting with Bart. This slippage of time represents not only the amount of disruption in Frank’s life but also Frank steadily losing control of the situation with April. This loss of control and the need for self-confidence is why he restarts the affair with Maureen.

The red herring that first appeared in Part 2, Chapter 6 reappears here: Bart’s loose promise of promotion. Frank is disappointed in Bart’s reaction to the news that he is not going to Paris after all. For the reader, this raises a red flag again, and they wonder whether Bart’s promise is legitimate. It would seem that Frank is placing all his eggs in one basket. However, as already mentioned, this is not the case, and Bart is good for his word. In literature, a red herring is a clue that misleads the reader, which in this case adds to the mounting suspense and approaching climax. Yates sets up the expectation that Frank’s dream will die in the same way his father’s did, but the true tragedy is April’s death, the ultimate negation of the ideals of American Suburbia and the American Dream.

Chapter 3 is a major turning point in the novel. At this point, April loses her self-identity, and the small chance of returning to the way things were before April and Frank decided to move to Paris is annulled completely. Frank and April attempt an act of nostalgia by returning to Vito’s Log Cabin, a place of happier memories. The rather lengthy description of Steve Kovick’s history and character highlights the amount of illusion creeping into their lives. The narrator points out Kovick’s musical delusions, believing himself to be far more talented than he is. It is another example of blissful ignorance of reality, in a similar vein to Howard Givings’s hearing aid but with passivity and self-deception. The notion of self-deception is important because Frank is slowly drifting in this direction. The only thing he seems to be aware of is April’s discontent, but he refuses to face the reasons behind it. He is content to focus on himself and his desires, ignoring the danger April is in. Shep, too, must deal with matters of self-deception. His longtime crush on April transforms him into a jejune boy, constantly asking himself whether she loves him This illusion makes Shep readily available for when April to engages in her illusion, in which she attempts to experience a moment she felt she missed as a teenager. Dancing the jitterbug and having sex with Shep in the back of his car is less an attempt to recover lost moments and more an act of willful self-destruction.

Chapter 4 further condemns Frank’s egotistical behavior. The disrespect he shows the women in this chapter establishes him as a womanizer. He is rude to Norma because she guesses the nature of his relationship with Maureen and even sees right through his façade. Even the supposed guilt he feels at breaking up with Maureen is not guilt at all; it is a need for confirmation that he has done nothing wrong. Frank anguishes over the fact that Maureen won’t forgive him because it implies he needs to atone for his actions, and Frank does not want to have to apologize. Of course, after coming to terms with Maureen’s lack of forgiveness, Frank is confronted with an April in crisis. That she never loved him is an important revelation and not one that comes as any great surprise. However, the fact that April realizes she is not only trapped in a conformist subculture of America but in a loveless marriage compounds her sense of desperation.

Chapter 5 brings a troubled Frank and April before the most antagonistic judge of character in the book: John Givings. The situation is prime for him to drive the final wedge between Frank and April. John’s assessment of Frank’s reasoning is not only spot on, but it provides the honest realization of their situation: the Paris cancelation is not her fault, but Frank’s and Frank’s alone. Of course, the realization is of little comfort because it is followed up with a condemnation of their unborn child. The idea that April’s child is going to be born unloved and ostensibly blamed for her parents’ unhappiness is the final aspect that seals April’s fate.