Revolutionary Road

The immediate years following the end of World War II saw an unprecedented rise in American power and influence. It also witnessed the terrible consequences of mankind’s search for greater weapons, namely the advent of atomic weapons and the possibility of complete annihilation. The developments of the Cold War and the Korean War placed Americans in a situation unparalleled in the nation’s history. Americans became more affluent than ever before, and this affluence became a line of demarcation between American capitalism versus Soviet communism. Moreover, with the Soviet Union being a single-party communist republic, Americans saw themselves as not only the defenders of capitalism but of democracy. These circumstances resulted in a national desire for a clear-cut definition of the American way of life and a desire to retract into a safe and secure haven where the problems of a dangerous world could be ignored. Thus, the 1950s witnessed a call for conformity that redefined the characteristics of the American populace.

One redefinition was the role of men in society. In the aftermath of war, men were tasked with adapting military masculinity to one confined to suburban spaces, specifically as a father, a husband, and most importantly, a consumer. This transformation is best personified in Revolutionary Road through the character of