An interesting facet of American Suburbia is its landscape on which it is built.

It could speak
volumes, it could speak just a book worth, but it still speaks. As we examine the features that are
included in the description of a suburb, well also factor in the importance of such features that may go
unnoticed. The obscurity of these connections should not go unexplained. It gives an important concept
which in the big picture, allows us to see how certain characteristics can give us more insight into the
sociological, and psychological, of the people within its grasp.
First, we should start off with a pseudo first person perspective of what suburbia may conjure.
Though a character in a novel may be fictional, the thoughts but into by the author could ring
authenticity as much as a photo. In Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, we find a very vibrant yet
bland description of the environment in which the characters experience. Mrs. Givings, the local hot
shot real estate agent, gives us an interesting side of normality. As you see its mostly these
cinderblocky, pick-up trucky placesplumbers, carpenters, little local people of that sort. And then
eventually.eventually it leads on up and around to a perfectly dreadful new development called
Revolutionary Hills Estatesgreat hulking split levels, all in the most nauseous pastels and dreadfully
expensive tooIts really rather a sweet little house and a sweet little setting. Simple, clean lines, good
lawns, marvelous for children. (Yates 29). The marvelous contradiction found in this excerpt is that all
houses in suburbia are known to be the same. It could be her seller wit, or maybe her pleasant naivety,
but it all rings the same; hypocrisy. An illusion that you are different, an illusion that every else is the
same, this is the idea behind the words spoken by Mrs. Givings.
Next, it is also important to understand the real aspects of this phenomena we call suburbia. A
quick lesson in history can give you a brief glimpse into the tangible forces at play. As many will know,
William Levitt was credited with creating, or perfecting, the concept of suburbs. He created and
implemented mass production of these communities for returning soldiers and families. These houses,
and communities were built upon agricultural lands at first, then full scale operations on different
terrains. These new homes, and communities were built so fast and in such great volumes that the land
itself had no time to adjust to the new artificial landscape. This point reflects the almost assembly line
fashion of young new home owners, moving into these new surroundings, without having time to
properly measure the option against their personalities or psyche.
Finally, we should look at the way these people environments affected their lives. When the
developments came about, as the unfinished landscaped, came unfinished wishes. People that moved
into the suburbs in an almost assembly like way, had not thought that moving into such a new
environment would have such a huge effect. Whether negative, or positive effects, led to many ways
into we as today think about a certain time in history, and also any long stretching effect. For many of
the new homeowners, this was the first time they could have a possession all their own. These homes
served a way to distinguish between the have and the have nots. Though they may have all been the
same, each had its own unique problems and exceptions.

Hebel, Udo J. American Suburbia: History, Ideologies, Visual, and Literary Representations. Visual
Culture in the American Studies Classroom: Proceedings of the U.S. Embassy Teacher Academy 2003
Udo J. Hebel and Martina Kohl Vienna: RPO, 2005. 183-216.

Pace, Eric. "William J. Levitt, 86, Pioneer of Suburbs, Dies." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28
Jan. 1994. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
Yates, Richard. Revolutionary Road. London: Vintage, 2007. Print. 29