In the 1950s, women in American society relied on men to provide them a stable future filled with security and income. Cathy struggles greatly trying to be happy with her life because Frank, her husband, never appears or puts the effort to show he cares. It seems though impossible, keeping her family together when he barely comes home most nights, and her kids don’t have the feeling of a father figure in their life. As Frank avoids being affectionate with Cathy and instead with other men; slowly, this tares her down and her family apart. The fear of losing him, she only hopes with time and treatment his disease would get better, but truly it only got worse. Cathy gets physically abused by Frank. Women during that time period were considered property owned by their husbands, therefore it was very common for women to get hit.
Turning to Raymond, an African American man, Cathy begins to feel important, and meaningful in his presents. Though society does not accept Raymond, Cathy thinks he’s simply beautiful. Unable to express how she feels to her husband, Raymond allows her to talk about any of her problems. However, as the community begins to see them causally standing together, others start to talk and awful rumors continue to spread. Its hard for Cathy to live without no longer having a man who loves her, and Raymond to rely on when he leaves town. Cathy is vulnerable once she is left with almost nothing to make her feel alive.
