Cathy Whitaker initially comes off as the stereotypical housewife of the 1950’s. Her husband works, she stays home, takes care of the kids and gossips with her girlfriends. Life really can’t be that simple, can it?
Cathy’s life seems to be all over the place. She finds out that her husband is having an affair with a man at work. Cathy desperately tries to rekindle the love that her marriage once had. When going on vacation after Christmas, he husband cheats on her again and the marriage basically fails from that point on. In the 1950’s, homosexuality is thought of as a disease. Frank is recommended to go to doctors, as if his “condition” could be cured. This clearly didn’t work out.
Our poor Cathy finds herself in another predicament when she becomes friendly with her gardener, Raymond Deagan. As a colored man, Raymond did not live an easy life in the 50s. Cathy, a white woman, going around with him, was easily considered taboo. Raymond and Cathy never stood a chance against society. When she is confronted by her neighbor about being seen around town with Raymond, she blatantly denies it, despite knowing her own feelings. The societal norms were too strong for Cathy Whitaker to go against.