Skimming the Surface of Babbitt
Skimming the Surface of Babbitt
Not all of us can have a great escape with that fairy child in our dreams. In Chapter 1 part II of the satirical phenomenon, Babbitt, by Sinclair Lewis; he really gives you something to ponder. In the previous section Lewis had just ended saying how the city of Zenith was “built-it seemed- for giants”, putting this city on a pedestal for its community. This statement is already mocking the citizens of Zenith who are materialistic middle-classmen, like Babbitt. Ironically enough, Babbitt is anything but a giant- as Sinclair himself says “There was nothing of the giant in the aspect of the man who was beginning to awaken.” By saying this, a juxtaposition is established, giving note to how infinitesimal Babbitt is. Babbitt just aspires to be more of a “typical” middle-class man. For example, it is pointed out that he is sleeping on the porch of a Dutch Colonial house. In his society, to most middle-class people, this was an amenity. The beginning of this passage is most likely to set the scene to portray the “tired, overworked business-man”, which when you get to know Babbitt, he is truly just a “want to be”. Throughout the passage Babbitt is described as a wrinkly and stout man. “He made nothing in particular, neither butter nor shoes nor poetry”, all of this goes into showing how utterly dull he was; he wasn’t the least bit creative, and just his look overall was uninteresting. Also, “prosperous” is used one of the many times that it will be used throughout the novel. Sinclair makes a point in using it so much because that’s almost all of what these rich men in Zenith care about, being prosperous. Take notice to what he says before “prosperous” though, “seemed”. Why does he do this? Lewis does this quite frequently. It’s almost putting doubt in everything he says after it. “He seemed prosperous, extremely married, and unromantic”, it almost makes every word symbolize being fake, which “altogether unromantic [fake] appeared
Not all of us can have a great escape with that fairy child in our dreams. In Chapter 1 part II of the satirical phenomenon, Babbitt, by Sinclair Lewis; he really gives you something to ponder. In the previous section Lewis had just ended saying how the city of Zenith was “built-it seemed- for giants”, putting this city on a pedestal for its community. This statement is already mocking the citizens of Zenith who are materialistic middle-classmen, like Babbitt. Ironically enough, Babbitt is anything but a giant- as Sinclair himself says “There was nothing of the giant in the aspect of the man who was beginning to awaken.” By saying this, a juxtaposition is established, giving note to how infinitesimal Babbitt is. Babbitt just aspires to be more of a “typical” middle-class man. For example, it is pointed out that he is sleeping on the porch of a Dutch Colonial house. In his society, to most middle-class people, this was an amenity. The beginning of this passage is most likely to set the scene to portray the “tired, overworked business-man”, which when you get to know Babbitt, he is truly just a “want to be”. Throughout the passage Babbitt is described as a wrinkly and stout man. “He made nothing in particular, neither butter nor shoes nor poetry”, all of this goes into showing how utterly dull he was; he wasn’t the least bit creative, and just his look overall was uninteresting. Also, “prosperous” is used one of the many times that it will be used throughout the novel. Sinclair makes a point in using it so much because that’s almost all of what these rich men in Zenith care about, being prosperous. Take notice to what he says before “prosperous” though, “seemed”. Why does he do this? Lewis does this quite frequently. It’s almost putting doubt in everything he says after it. “He seemed prosperous, extremely married, and unromantic”, it almost makes every word symbolize being fake, which “altogether unromantic [fake] appeared