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What was April's plan and what did Frank mean?


1. What did Frank mean when he said "She did it to herself." I get the literal meaning but have struggled to understand what else he was implying, it seems like there were several levels of meaning to that statement.

2. What was April's plan had the abortion went as intended? I am of the belief that prior to the breakfast that morning she had one last epiphany that things might still work out between them somehow. Then over breakfast, once she realized Frank was seriously content with continuing on with the status quo of their mundane life, the weight of that outcome began to settle in and so she decided to go through with the abortion. But to what end? I see a few possibilities:

a. If successful this would remove the obstacle preventing them from moving on to Paris, not saying that it would have in actuality but perhaps in her mind this was the idea.
b. That it would kill her and this was suicide and her way of sticking it to Frank. I personally do not agree with either in this case, I firmly do not think it was suicide at all nor do I think she did it in an effort to prove anything to or to hurt Frank.
c. If successful she would use this as the motivating factor that would serve as the catalyst to the end of their marriage. Kind of functioning as a fulcrum it would serve as an axis from which they would either be drawn back together (and maybe move to Paris) or as a final blow to the marriage, either way removing them from the gray area of indifference they had been living in.
d. She was completely crazy and had no plan or purpose other than to abort the pregnancy, the consequences were irrelevant given her state of mind. Personally the more I watch it the more I believe this might be the answer but I am open to being convinced on any of these.

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This is just what I get from it to answer your questions:

1. To me it had several meanings. I was thinking of the fight the night before and then the next day, he thought everything was "back to normal" as far as he was concerned, but it wasn't. In his eyes I am sure that, and everything else, she did it to herself. Goodness knows, he felt he was not to blame to any of it. Or at least that is what he was trying to convince himself of.

2. I think it's a combination of all that you've written. To me, when she came up with that Paris move, she saw a brand new life, a new beginning, a new way to go. She seriously could have just packed up the kids and went to Paris and had the baby there and let him join her or not, but it was 1955 -- so many things came up to add to this, especially with his infidelity, she was sorting things out, at least trying to. It was all so confusing. She was confused. What she did, did she really want to? Was she having an out of body experience? Was it about freedom...what freedom. And that crazy man...listen to what he says..he summed up their lives for them. Did she get it? Did it finally make her crack? It's up to you to guess.

I'm big but I ain't dumb,hear?-The Great White Hope

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Hmmm... I was just mulling this over myself. Frank and April are really complex characters. I think that it was a combination of things, but I think the fight was her breaking point and the baby was sort of a symbol of the mundane society that made her feel so trapped.

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