Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates - Book Report/Review Example

Contextual Analysis The essay is contextual analysis of a famous novel ‘Revolutionary Road’ written by Richard Yates. Contextual analysis is an art of analyzing the texts keeping in view the context of the surroundings and environment in which that text had been written. It also implies critically examining the text in terms of the qualities and traits that characterize a text as it is. Although it may seem complicated to conduct a contextual analysis of a text yet it does not require much complex skills to undertake the task. It simply can be done by studying the circumstances in which that particular text was written. The novel written in 1961 is the representative of the contexts of times in which it was written. It symbolizes the weakening of the institution of marriage as depicted in the characters of April and Frank Wheeler as well as the shattered aspirations and dreams in relation to American Dream (Yates, 2008). The essay will focus on various aspects of primary text; Revolutionary road and explain them with references from secondary sources. First of all, the language of the text will be analyzed by comparing the writing style used in this novel to other secondary sources. Here few quotes have been taken from the novel to give an idea of the writing style, choice of vocabulary and word appropriateness used in this novel: ‘Youre just some guy who made me laugh at a party once.’ (April Wheeler) ‘How do I know you didnt try to flush our entire fucking family down the toilet?’ (Frank Wheeler) The examples given above show the kind of language used by writer in this novel. The words used here display the language that common people use in their daily life. The choice of words is appropriate in the context and setting of the usual fight between husband and wife as manifested by Frank Wheeler and April Wheeler, the leading characters of the novel. It is said about Richard Yates’ literary style that he does not used flowery language and overwhelming phraseology in his literary text. Likewise, here Yates has also made use of simple and easy to understand words with informal touch. However, comparing the language of this novel with the language of a short story ‘Jealous Husband Returns in the Form of Parrot’ written by Robert Olen Butler (1995), one finds the language of the text that is written in first person voice quite effective considering the nature of story that depicts the deep emotions of a husband for her wife in the form of a parrot. The novel is the good example of narrative tone employed in a short story in an effective manner as shown in the opening sentence of the story below: ‘I never can quite say as much as I know. I look at other parrots and I wonder if its the same for them, if somebody is trapped in each of them paying some kind of price for living their life in a certain way.’ (Extract from original text) In addition to the language of the text used in Revolutionary Road, the targeted audience of the novel has also been analyzed here. The sort of language used in the text show that the author intended to target middle-class as audience for the novel by highlighting the issues an average middle-class couple has to resolve. It can be inferred from the type of characters introduced by author in the novel. Frank Wheeler works in an office at modest post and lives with his wife in a suburb. They have financial problems to overcome which they decide to shift to some place. The intended audience is also the kind of people that cannot find favorable circumstances in their life to fulfill most of their desires in life. However, the audience that is not seemingly intended by the author is the people who have enough wealth to satisfy all of their wishes and do not feel frustrated toward their fate (Yates, 2008). The following text from the novel depicts the modest condition of characters that are unable to get their wishes fulfilled with the surroundings they do not find comfortable living in. ‘Its unrealistic for a man with a fine mind to go on working year after year at a job he cant stand. Coming home to a place he cant stand, to a wife whos equally unable to stand the same things. And you know what the worst part of it is? Our whole existence here is based on this great premise that were special. They were superior to the whole thing. But were not. Were just like everyone else! We bought into the same, ridiculous delusion. That we have to resign from life and settle down the moment we have children. And weve been punishing each other for it.’ (Extract from text) The text given above can be compared with text from a short story ‘Jealous Husband that Returns in the Form of Parrot’, (Butler, 1995) telling the difference between the target audience between the two literary texts. The latter is supposed to be targeted toward husbands specifically and men in general. However, the audience can also include females also by explaining a hidden aspect of men to women through this text. ‘Shes single now, of course. Her husband, the man that I was, is dead to her. She does not understand all that is behind my "hello." I know many words, for a parrot. I am a yellow-nape Amazon, a handsome bird, I think, green with a splash of yellow at the back of my neck. I talk pretty well, but none of my words are adequate. I cant make her understand.’ The intention of the author behind writing the novel ‘Revolutionary road’ can be known by analyzing the text and reading between the lines what the author had been trying to say. The choice of words as seen in the extracts from original text above show that he tried to create the impact of forceful emotions through informal language one comes across in daily life. The words could have been formal but that could not have conveyed the meaning well that the author had intended to convey to readers and targeted audience. Another effect of particular type of language can be seen in a text ‘The Story of an Hour’ by Kate Chopin (2000). The language is simple and carefully selected words are included here to match the message the author had intended to convey. The short story is about a woman who received the news of her husband’s death, reconciled herself with the fact but could not bear when she came to know of the inaccuracy of the news of her husband’s death who was in fact alive. ‘Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death.’ Keeping in view the context in which the given novel was written, it is important to draw on that influences that led author to write such a piece of writing. The novel was written in 1950’s and perfectly explains the values and context of that time in his novel. The context of novel is of suburban America of the 1950’s period and the feelings of people toward it as they were trying to get rid of suburbs. Moreover, the novel also attempts to explain a universal fact encompassing the loneliness of humans in this world. Richard Yates once quoted that he wanted to convey this fact to his readers that the tragedy of human beings laid in their loneliness. This theme of loneliness is well-explained in the novel by the utter loneliness that characters felt in relation to the events encircling their life. The tragic end of novel exhibited by the death of April Wheeler signifies the height of loneliness a man feels as shown in the form of Frank Wheeler who got lonely at the sudden demise of his wife. In contrast, ‘The Story of an Hour’ captures the moments of emotions of grief and sudden happiness vehemently hinting on the message the author tried to convey in the context of the story. Taking a deep look into the text of the novel, one gets to now the sort of action the author wanted his readers to take after going through this novel. The novel looks at the dark side of the life by ironically shedding light on the shattered aspirations of people pursuing American Dream. It makes one aware of the hollowness of desires that never gets fulfilled every time and the person never tired of having too much desires in his heart. The novel makes its reader reflect on the tragedy of human life by accepting it. The author did not however, intend to call upon readers to make direct action rather compelled them to ponder over the realities of life. The novel is a good example of realistic thoughts and feelings expressed through the characters that appeared to be living among us. The setting of the novel is not depicting some luxurious style of life but is related to common people living life in a humble background. ‘Knowing what youve got, knowing what you need, knowing what you can do without - Thats inventory control.’ (Extract from text) On the other hand, the short story ‘Green Figs and Cherries’ written by Hedy Habra (2003), from which an extract is given below shows the institution of marriage from the eyes of the characters who wanted to marry each other. The textual analysis of this story explains the intentions of authoress of calling her readers upon thinking over some issue. ‘My aunts used to say, “Marriage is like a wrapped gift. No matter how well you think you know the man you’re going to marry, you’ll only know him the day you’re married.” So, I thought, what difference would it make if we waited? Days, weeks, months wouldn’t change the way we felt about each other. It was the real thing. We both knew it.’ The book ‘Revolutionary Road’ is the symbolic of the personality of Richard Yates and hints toward the similar experiences that had in his life through the characters of Frank and April. The writer had a tough life coming from a broken family with a modest income. He strongly believed in American Dream and the aspirations it brought along with it to American people. He stressed this belief in his novel by making characters struggle toward better life. The novel highlights the personal thoughts and beliefs of Richard Yates and thus his personality serves as the non-textual element affecting the setting of the novel. However, the novel ‘Floating’ represents the struggle of a woman to make things work in her life that is all misery and full of frustration. It is written in entirely different context and therefore focuses on other issues. To sum up the entire discussion of the essay, the contextual analysis serves to be conveying to us the important meaning of the novel ‘Revolutionary Road’ as depicted through text. The language of the text is informal and the one commonly used by couples in households. The text of the novel seems to be written for the middle-class youthful audience with dreams and aspirations in their heart. The intention of the author seems to be bringing to the reader’s mind the serious realities of life instead of giving them a fantasy play to relish on. It is the intention of the author to make his readers think upon the realities of life and accept them while making attempts at improving their lives for the better. The novel strongly exhibits the context in which it had been written; suburban American of 1950’s. References: Bailey-Williams, Nicole, Floating: A Novel, Broadway, 2004. Print. Butler, Robert Olen, Jealous Husband returns in form of parrot, The New Yorker, May 22, 1995, p. 80. Chopin, Kate, The Story of an hour, Perfection Learning, 2000. Print. Habra, Hedy, Green Figs and Cherries, Mizna, Volume 9, Issue 2. Page 44-48. 2003. Yates, Richard, Revolutionary Road, Vintage Publications. 2008. Print. Read More