Abstract

UNCONFORMITY IN RELATIONS IN THE NOVEL

Jasim Mohammed Ghazi

Volume: 9 Issue: 4 2019

Abstract:

It is rare to find the most successful work of a writer is his first piece of work. This was the case with Richard Yates and his first novel Revolutionary Road, which he had written in 1955 and took five years to finish it. Critics see that it Yates' masterpiece and that he took a long time to finish it to take care of each word and detail in it. In fact, critics admire the accurate workmanship of the novel despite it is very simple in its style. It is obvious in Yates' works that he usually identifies with his protagonists; in the novel Revolutionary Road, he identifies with Frank Wheeler, the protagonist of the novel, in the matter of his age, as they two were 29 in the year of writing the novel. Moreover, Yates is identified with the female protagonist of the novel in the case of the separation of her parents and to be brought up in several homes. This makes the reader guess that Yates' is identified with his protagonists in the feeling of unconformity in relations that they undergo along the novel. The novel expresses the lives of several families; some members of these families are greatly bothered with the feeling of unconformity in their relations along the novel. Frank Wheeler and April Wheeler are the two protagonists of this novel; they will be the focus of this study. Frank who came as a result of an accidental pregnancy for two old and tired parents feels that his parents did not have time or energy to look for him. He feels unconformity of relation between himself and his parents. Frank felt that he was different among his peers at school, and this is considered another experience of unconformity in his relation with his peers. On the other hand, the reader finds April Wheeler, who is the female protagonist of the novel and the wife of Frank Wheeler. She was brought up in several houses of her aunts because her parents did not want her to live with them and that they were careless and irresponsible parents. She did not feel the warmth of the family and she was brought up as a stranger in the houses of her aunts. These circumstances emphasize the feeling of unconformity she felt in her past life before the start of the novel. April wanted to start a conformed life with the man that she admired and loved, but she could not conform to the role of the mother and the house-wife that lives in the suburbs. This developing feeling of unconformity in the character of April increases along the novel. She feels herself as "trapped" in her roles in life that she sees herself non-conformed to. The idea of unconformity in relations widens when the reader realizes that Frank and April are not conformed also with the suburbs they live in, that they feel themselves superior to the place they live in and that they dream of travelling to Paris to achieve the feeling of conformity. The pace of unconformity rises as the novel continues and the feeling of unconformity in the character of April causes a feeling of despair for her, as she cannot change the conditions of her life until she loses her life in an attempt of abortion. Yates wants to reveal that the unconformity of relations can cause very bad results that may have very bad ends and man can lose his life.

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References

• https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/se p/18/featuresreviews.guardianview26
• https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.ph p?storyld=11913039
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Yates_ (novelist)
• https://www.shoutoutuk.org/2018/02/05/bio graphy-richard-yates-troubled-realist-ageanxiety
• https://www.litcharts.com/lit/revolutionaryroad/characters