Essay Questions

The Wheelers seem to find their suburban lives emotionally claustrophobic. How does the film's director add to this feeling?

In order to show how confined in their lives the Wheelers really feel, Sam Mendes decided to shoot the home scenes inside an actual house, rather than on a more open, spacious set. This meant that he and the cast were working in extremely close quarters, which made everyone tense, creating a feeling of not being able to escape. This is the feeling that April and Frank are experiencing in their day to day lives.

The audience is also able to see how confined everything is on the screen and this enables those watching to feel that they are invading the Wheeler's privacy rather than watching them from afar. It is a feeling that is rather uncomfortable, which is something that Mendes wanted to create in those watching.

Is Frank responsible for April's death?

In many ways, he is responsible for April's death because he chose not to listen to her feelings at any point during the marriage. He knew perfectly well that she did not want to a have another child but would not discuss her feelings clearly or rationally, resorting instead to yelling and being verbally abusive. He also seemed to trap her into having the child by telling their friends that her pregnancy was the reason that they decided not to go to Paris when in actual fact he had already accepted a promotion the real reason for their staying in Connecticut.

Frank is a manipulative character who does not give much thought to his wife's goals or feelings and leaves her feeling so alone that she resorts to performing an abortion on herself, a procedure that ultimately kills her.