Rev road Flashcards
April
independent and passionate but chronically unhappy with her suburban life
“Wouldn’t you like to be loved by me?”
“I love you when you’re nice”
“I really don’t know who you are … I don’t know who I am, either”
Frank
Vain, smooth-talking man who is deeply concerned with feeling manly, interesting and likeable.
worries about coming across as weak
“The Revolutionary Hill Estates had not been designed to accommodate a tragedy” - happy appearance mocks Frank’s grief
‘he had won but he didn’t feel like a winner’
Millie
happy with her wife life but feels status anxiety around the Wheelers
Shep
deep crush on April
‘I never would’ve pictured you as being lonely’
Helen Givings
perfectionist, escapes unfulfilling aspects of life by throwing herself into work
disappointed in her son John
Howard Givings
relaxed, unstimulating life
“his hearing aid had been turned off all afternoon”
John Givings
non-conformist
subject to electrical shock therapy after holding parents hostage
understands Wheeler’s desires
“It takes a whole hell of a lot more [guts] to see the hopelessness”
The sedum plant
p45 vs p338
‘the least we could do is get it out of sight’ - metaphor for their marriage , Givings offering them a chance nut they ignore it
‘all dead and dried out’
Frank’s insecurity
‘without quite meeting his eyes’ -p64
‘state of such pitying boredom’ p68
promotion and Maureen - gave him worth
‘if you don’t try at anything, you can’t fail’
Appearance Vs Reality
cheating with Maureen-
p96 ‘sentences poured out of him’
‘he was at the top of his form’
vs
p68 ‘never seen such a state of pitying boredom’
vs
‘interesting person’
Giving’s family-
Howard’s hearing aid, turning it off to ignore his wife (last page)
‘maybe we’ll see a rainbow. Wouldn’t that be lovely’- overly optimistic
Shep’s desires-
‘Oh, Jesus God, to be there with April Wheeler’
vs p259-264
‘I never would’ve pictured you as being lonely’
‘I don’t know who I am either’
Marriage
- sedum plant
p45, p338
-conflict
p292
why the hell didn’t you get rid of it’
Family
p292, ‘hollow f shell of a woman’
‘why the hell didn’t you get rid of it’
‘I wish to God you’d done it’
The rubber syringe
used to induce a miscarriage
represents April taking back control but for Frank it’s a threat to his control
first p49 ‘you’ll leave me’ ‘threat or a promise’
part 1,3
part 2, 6
part 3, 7
context
1950
-conformity
-alienation
-isolation
The Wheelers’ generation grew up during The Great Depression, entered adulthood during the Second World War, and started families of their own during the 1950s, a time of unprecedented economic growth in America.
expanded opportunities and rapid technological innovation, but also widespread social conservatism.
After the economic and social upheaval of the 1930s and 1940s, American society glorified the pursuit of peaceful domesticity and had less tolerance for individuals who wanted to go their own way.
highly conformist
Paris
-the lives characters think they might have had in a different world
-often idealised as city of romance and art
part 1, 7
last chance at happiness, force/rush into it
Wheeler’s calendar
-the characters’ need to understand the passage of time and to control their lives
PART 3 CHP 1
opens with comfort in being busy almost as protection
p225, 2it was his knowledge of the calendar that stopped his mouth”
-lulled himself into a false sense of security and mastery
Hearing aid
- represents the characters’ failure to communicate with one another
“his hearing aid had been turned off all afternoon”
+ last page = deliberate
He chooses to ignore the person who’s talking to him
Isolation
hearing aid- deliberate
sedum- neglect (45 vs 338)
gender roles
paris move - others reactions = negative but in the end pregnancy stops them (stereotypical)
millie and mrs givings fit into role
april doesn’t
mental illness
John = single voice of unpleasant truth
April - frank views april as insane
part 1
April mows lawn chp3
Frank makes path chp3
Frank sleeps with Maureen chp6
part 2
discover Shep’s desires chp2
Givings find out wheelers leaving chp3
Wheelers meet John chp5
Aprils pregnant chp6
part 3
Calendar chp1
no europe, no abortion chp2
april sleeps with shep and identity crisis chp3
big argument, wished abortion chp6
april aborts chp7
april dies chp8
“You’re painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.”
reflects all characters in a way
-april and john are aware
-frank continuously attempts to escape reality as well as mrs givings
-shep, milly and howard are at one with it
