Revolutionary Road Research Paper

We were once a communal species, hunting, gathering, and foraging for the benefit of ourselves and those around us. Although we moved away from a society formed on the mutual needs for survival we continue the practice of asking our neighbors for help when we are knees deep in a cookie recipe, stranded without eggs. However even this once commonplace practice of neighborly interaction is developing into a thing of the past, a mindset derived on mutual need has devolved into one centered solely on each individual. Our “We” mentality has been transfigured into a mindset precariously fixated on “me and mine”. As technology continues to develop, we dive deeper into the abyss of apathetic behavior, favoring a conversation through text than face to face human interaction, or liking a picture of a newborn on Facebook instead of holding that newborn in person. We have become only interested in the quick pleasures and activities that prove beneficial to ourselves, not caring for wellbeing outside of our own …show more content…
Technology, at its face value, seems as though it provides adequate social interaction, however the reality is quite the opposite. It contains our social existence to the limited scope of our abused communication technology. As Richard Yates stated in his book Revolutionary Road, “It’s a disease. Nobody thinks or feels or cares anymore; nobody gets excited or believes in anything except their own comfortable little God damn mediocrity.” The pocket computers we hold so dear build a smokescreen of empathy, as they provide the ability to feign true emotion through cold, calculating, hollow sentiments. The distance created through instant messaging and texting has allowed individuals the ability to circumvent true human emotion. Falsification of emotion, through text, only further numbs us to the struggles and needs of other individuals by eliminating the emotional triggers of body language in face to face