In an average day, a person can make nearly 35,000 different decisions, both conscious and subconsciously. The process of which these decisions are made can sometimes be complex and sometimes simple, depending on the severity of the results. However, many times, such choices can slip away, taken from a person’s control due to outside influences and societal pressures. Within the novel Age of Innocence, social conventions and adherences to the norm are what dictate daily decisions for those who subscribe to this kind of lifestyle. However, the plight of many characters to escape this pressure ultimately reveals a connection between societal cues and Wharton’s use of ellipsis when overlooking many significant events. Rather than maintaining
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The hieroglyphic society is a constant trap that Archer is required to figure out throughout the novel and his life, yet never truly masters it. Even towards the end of his story, the unfulfilled dreams and “acknowledge[ment of] the cultural confinements of a whole society” (Tsimpouki 134) become too much for him to bear as he is confronted with memories from his past. Archer never found the courage to break the social stigma attached to his emotional affair with Ellen, despite the changes being made in society around him. He romanticizes the idea of reading signs so much so that he becomes trapped in the past, never moving forward. This too can be tied back to his inability to read the cues of society. Without the critical interpretation of signs that progressed his society, Archer is caught in a time that never changes, in a “generation [known] for knowing more about each other's private thoughts” (Wharton 306). He remains oblivious and with that, his relationships grow stagnant. After the death of May, Archer’s first born son Dallas explains the very cause of Archer’s frozen attitude towards life revolves around the couple “just [sitting] and watch[ing] each other” (Wharton 306) attempting to guess “at what was going on underneath” (Wharton 306). The very nature of Archer’s mindset becomes what confines him to a prison on inaction. He feels that he must keep the social order, but without the ability to see the changes being made in his own hieroglyphic society, Archer will never be able to free himself from the chains that bind
The hieroglyphic society is a constant trap that Archer is required to figure out throughout the novel and his life, yet never truly masters it. Even towards the end of his story, the unfulfilled dreams and “acknowledge[ment of] the cultural confinements of a whole society” (Tsimpouki 134) become too much for him to bear as he is confronted with memories from his past. Archer never found the courage to break the social stigma attached to his emotional affair with Ellen, despite the changes being made in society around him. He romanticizes the idea of reading signs so much so that he becomes trapped in the past, never moving forward. This too can be tied back to his inability to read the cues of society. Without the critical interpretation of signs that progressed his society, Archer is caught in a time that never changes, in a “generation [known] for knowing more about each other's private thoughts” (Wharton 306). He remains oblivious and with that, his relationships grow stagnant. After the death of May, Archer’s first born son Dallas explains the very cause of Archer’s frozen attitude towards life revolves around the couple “just [sitting] and watch[ing] each other” (Wharton 306) attempting to guess “at what was going on underneath” (Wharton 306). The very nature of Archer’s mindset becomes what confines him to a prison on inaction. He feels that he must keep the social order, but without the ability to see the changes being made in his own hieroglyphic society, Archer will never be able to free himself from the chains that bind