What Hidden Behind the Quarrels of Frank and April？

【Abstract】：Everyone has a dream， but not everyone has the courage to pursue the dream. Most of people have dreams when they are young， but they are defeated by reality， by age.

【Key words】：Quarrel， Dream， Depression， Social status of women

When I watched the movie Revolutionary Road in class which impressed me most was the leading roles’ endless quarrels. To tell the truth， at the beginning， I didn’t have a clear understanding of this movie， wondering why they quarreled so fiercely just about some small things？

However when the “crazy guy” appeared， and I paid high attention to his words. Then， gradually， I thought the clue of this movie is the conflict between the ideal and reality. At the end of the movie， the heroine-April did the self-abortion and lost her life！ This astonished me a lot， feeling pity for the ending. At the same time， I couldn’t help thinking why did she do that and what led her to do so？

The answer lies through the development of the plot. Frank was a handsome and humorous young man. April was a charming woman who was ambitious to be a famous actress. They fell in love with each other when they first met. Then， they settled down in a village with lovely children. The husband worked out and the wife did housework， cared children at home day by day， year by year. It seemed that they led a peaceful life. Yet a quarrel broke out at a night after April gave a performance together with some amateurish actors. They are both too intolerable to blame each other. So dull the life was that they gradually got tired of this terribly kind life. In fact， the couple was longing for a totally different life--a life full of hope and passion inside their hearts.

Especially April， she was strongly eager to go to Paris the moment she saw the photos， remembering Frank once told her that people in Paris were alive， not like here， and he wanted to feel things， really felt them. She even couldn’t wait to tell him the idea， persuading him that they were not getting younger any more， so they shouldn’t waste time， just let life pass by， they should change this kind of life， which full of hopelessness and emptiness， and try something new and different.

To Paris was a good choice for them to start a new life. In Paris， April could go out to work， get in touch with the society， not just limited at home. While Frank also could get rid of the boring work， pursue the art he dreamed of， and do what he actually liked to！ In other words， they were running away the fixed， traditional structure of the whole American family pattern at that time.

After they informed their friends of this news， most of them thought it’s ridiculous and unrealistic. Only the crazy guy， who was an intellectual and used to be a PH.D in mathematics seemed the first person really knew what they were talking about as well as in favor of their idea.

Nonetheless， things didn’t goes on according to what they had expected. Frank suddenly got promoted， he hesitated because he couldn’t resist the temptation of money and fame. Not long after April told him that she was pregnant， which further intensified the conflict. The battle between the dream and reality fiercely upgraded. Frank tried to persuade April to give up her dream to Paris， comforting her that he would give her and their children a better life， also let her happy here.

But April was too stubborn to give up her dream. She didn’t want to work as a robot that housework was everything to her， all she needed to do was to be a wife， to be a mother， and raise the whole family. She couldn’t bear the numbness of life！ Meanwhile， maybe she knew that her compromise meant that she would lead such a life till her death.

After knowing the plan to Pairs was cancelled， the crazy man， John scolded Frank’s cowardice. He guessed it was a question of money， but also pointed out that money is not the real reason. At the same time， he showed his great sympathy towards April.

Ultimately， a suppression of a long time’s depression broke out. The couple quarreled again. April ran into the woods for a whole night and finally made the decision. She did the self—abortion the next day after a “peaceful” morning with her husband， which indicated a quite big storm would follow after， because I believe that one’s decision cannot be changed easily. Unfortunately， she died. She would rather die than let the unborn baby hinder her pursuit of freedom.

At the end of the movie， I don’t want to criticize the cruelness or ruthlessness of April， on the contrary， I admire her courage to pursue dream persistently. Everyone has a dream， but not everyone has the courage to pursue the dream. Most of people have dreams when they are young， but they are defeated by reality， by age. They are afraid of failure， worried about losing things they have already owned. Tragically， they find excuses， they vacillate， even they can’t take the first step！ More sadly， they have to continue such numb life till their death.

The other thing I’d like to refer to is the social status of woman， which I think about further from this movie. Although long time ago we have advocated that women are born equally with men. And the women’s liberation movements took place in many countries with huge or small success. But generally speaking， women still have more disadvantages in many aspects even nowadays compared with men. For instance， in spite of more and more women pursue the financial independence from their husbands， we still have to admit that some jobs prefer men to women， much of the work that women do is still undervalued and underpaid. Besides， many women have to give up their jobs after they get married and deliver a baby. No matter how highly they have educated， how excellent they have done in their jobs， or how ambitious they are in their careers， they cannot but return to home and take care of the whole family. What they can do and should do is to swallow the bitterness in their hearts. So whether can women be truly equal to men and when？ Maybe only god knows the answer.

【References】：

[1]潘曉燕. 《革命之路》的存在主義解讀[D].華僑大學，2012.

[2]陳思. 從生態女性主義視角解讀《林中之死》[J]. 英語廣場（學術研究），2013，09：40-41.