The Perception Of Life In Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road

“ ‘I still had this idea that there was a whole world of marvelous golden people somewhere… people who knew everything instinctively… sort of heroic super people, all of them beautiful and witty and calm and kind, and I always imagined that when I did find them I’d suddenly know that I belonged among them, that I was one of them...’ ” (258). Richard Yates authored Revolutionary Road, the story of Frank and April Wheeler. They live in the suburbs near New York City, Frank commuting every day to his job at Knox Business Machines while April looks after their two small children. Both of them feel completely dissatisfied with typical suburban life and wish to change their circumstances drastically. After the couple has made up from a prolonged fight, they decide to move to Paris, where April will take a job to support the family while Frank decides on a different career. Tragedy soon strikes, however, and the family never makes it to Europe.

These lines refer to her perception of life, particularly before she met her husband Frank. Her childhood was marked by the absence of both her parents, though they did visit her semi-frequently at her aunt’s house. She makes further remarks on how she felt lonely, sought to grow older, and found when she had she retained the feeling that life had passed her by. Such feelings could have arisen from her career path. Earlier in the book, she mentioned her desire to become an actress and that she attended school for that purpose. Instead, as was common in the fifties, she got married, settled down, and started to have children. However, it seems that she did not desire children, from her suggestion to abort both their first and third babies. The idea to go to Europe originated entirely with her, along with the concept that she would work while he sought his