Revolutionary Road: Part 2, Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

On Saturday afternoon, Frank is distracted from trying to study French grammar by the voices of April and Jennifer. Jennifer tells April which things she wants to pack, including her large doll house. April tells her she can only bring the small things, but Jennifer doesn’t understand. April snaps that she doesn’t feel like explaining everything to someone who doesn’t listen. Half an hour later, Frank asks April where Jennifer is. They find her sucking her thumb in bed. April asks if Jennifer is worried about moving to France. Jennifer admits this, bursting into tears. April comforts her. Afterwards, Frank tells April that Jennifer’s reaction left him feeling shaken. April briskly responds that the kids will get over it, and unless he is suggesting they call the whole thing off, there is no point in discussing it. It is their first fight since Frank’s birthday, and both Frank and April feel tense for the rest of the day.

The next day is Sunday, the day of John Givings’s visit. Jennifer and Michael go to the Campbells’ house. April feels nervous, but Frank says he bets John is like all the other “uncertified insane people.” April praises him for being so generous and openminded.

The Givingses arrive. John Givings is dressed in clothes from the asylum, and smokes intently. His frown makes him look exhausted by physical pain, and his smile looks unnatural. He walks around the house, saying it looks like a place where people live. April offers the Givingses sherry, and Helen begins to refuse, but John says that he would like it in a highball glass. Helen feels humiliated: she had brought John nice clothes to wear, but he insists on wearing clothes from the hospital. Howard is no help, and Helen tries to fill the time by chattering about the zoning board, watching as John wolfs down the sandwiches April prepared, leaving his sherry undrunk.

John interrupts Helen and asks Frank if he is a lawyer. Frank tells John that he has an uninteresting job selling machines. John says he thought that only women and boys worried about whether a job is interesting. Mrs. Givings tries to interrupt to talk about the weather. John goes on, saying he knows he’s being tactless, as his mother would say, and that he understands that you must have a job to buy such a nice house. Annoyed, Frank says that he agrees with John, which is why he and April are leaving. John says he remembers now: his mother said they were moving to Europe, and that it’s very strange. He laughs loudly, and Mrs. Givings, no longer even trying to sound cheerful, pleads with him to stop.

Frank, April, and John go outside for a walk. April lets Frank do most of the talking, but looks at him with admiration as he explains their plan to move to Europe to John. John approves of their plan, praising Frank for describing American life as a “hopeless emptiness.” Uncomfortable with John’s ecstatic praise, Frank changes the subject, asking about John’s work as a mathematician. John replies that he has had thirty-seven electrical shock treatments in the past two months and can no longer remember any math. April says this is awful, and John mocks her, asking if she thinks math is really “interesting.” April retorts that shock treatments sound awful, as does forgetting something you want to remember. She says she thinks math is probably boring. John tells Frank admiringly that April seems “female,” not “feminine” like Helen.

Watching John, Frank, and April through the window, Helen observes to Howard that they seem to be having a nice time. Howard suggests that she relax and let the others do the talking when they come back in. Helen does this, and she is pleased that the three young people reminisce about radio shows, like Don Winslow, that they listened to in their youth, although this is not the topic she had envisioned her son and the Wheelers discussing. When the Givingses depart, Helen says they had a very fun time. She expects John to mock her, but he is too busy bidding the Wheelers a friendly goodbye.

After the Givingses are gone, April praises Frank for how he handled John, adding that John seemed nice and intelligent; she especially appreciated what he said about their being male and female. She says that he is the only person who seems to understand their plan to go to Europe. Frank feels drained, the odd exhilaration of the visit had distracted him from the tension he felt all week, but now that tension comes back. He can tell that April feels it too and that the way she is touching him and complimenting him is an attempt to cover up her true feelings.