When the rich are poor
Sinclair Lewis, the son of a Minnesota doctor, is known primarily for his novels that examined American ways of life during the 1920s. While commercially successful, his books also reformed American letters at a time when sociology and economics were transforming across the nation. Lewis, America's first winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1930, enflamed his reading public with such novels as 'Main Street,' 'Babbitt,' 'Arrowsmith,' and 'Elmer Gantry' during an era of breakneck prosperity and social recklessness.
America can be a very ironic place and Sinclair Lewis's triumphs of the 1920s are a shining example. Lewis's novels sold hundreds of thousands of copies, yet he was continuously smeared by the literary establishment and those outside of it. Lewis was judged by many critics as out of touch with the prevailing American spirit. He felt this disfavor in 1921, when the Columbia University Board of Trustees overturned 'Main Street' in favor of Edith Wharton's 'The Age of Innocence' for the Pulitzer Prize. In a provocative move five years later, Lewis refused his Pulitzer for 'Arrowsmith,' noting that American authors were forced to be 'safe, polite, obedient, and sterile.' After the wide publication of 'Elmer Gantry' in 1927, he received death threats and condemnation from religious leaders.
The atmosphere presented in 'Babbitt' is anything but safe or polite; rather, it is smug, suffocating, and duplicitous. When 'Babbitt' first appeared in 1922, the United States was undergoing vast and seemingly effortless growth after the First World War. The sky was apparently the limit for American expansion, but Lewis, a social critic who seemed to inherit his father's medical precision, was able to cut through several layers of hubris and realize that all of it was a sham. 'Babbitt' startled its first readers accordingly, receiving simultaneous praise and criticism while becoming a major success in both America and Europe.
'Babbitt' is a novel of 34 chapters with varying subdivisions, all centered upon George F. Babbitt, a real estate agent based in the Midwestern city of Zenith, which compares to Cincinnati, Minneapolis, and Omaha. Though Lewis does not specify the exact location of Zenith, it serves as a prototypical American city that is undergoing major economic developments. This prosperity, however, is not freely shared in Lewis's world; a brief member of the Socialist Party, he sensed a gross inequality between the upper and lower classes. And to make matters worse, the rich were (and still are) as equally miserable as the poor.
As Lewis biographer Mark Schorer adeptly points out, the ruling classes of 'Babbitt' are radically different from those in the American literary tradition of James, Dreiser, and Tarkington, who laid the country's economic power entirely in the hands of tycoons like Andrew Carnegie and John Jacob Astor. By the 1920s, American commerce was dominated by 'middlemen' who do not propel forward an industry, create a product, or offer anything of tangible value. These men, who include real estate dealers, attorneys, stock brokers, and bankers, have only cleverness and a gift for conversation as their selling points.
The middlemen may be turning vast profits at the lower classes' expense, but don't readily assume that they're so happy. In Lewis's America, those of higher social strata only exist for profit's sake. While driving a shiny car and living with a neat family in the suburbs, these nouveaux-riches live emotionally and intellectually crippled lives that are overshadowed by American conformism. Several institutions play a role in this castration of personality - Lewis delves into government, family structure, civic organizations such as the Rotarians and Elks, religion, and America's one-shoe-fits-all system of education.
'Babbitt' is not so much a novel as a series of vignettes. It is a trail of episodes placing Babbitt and his acquaintances in everyday dilemmas that reflect America at large. Any semblance of plot is not noticeable until chapter 21, after dear friend and inspiration Paul Riesling shoots his wife and finds himself in prison. A novel without clear plotlines would fail miserably if written by an author of lesser talent than Sinclair Lewis. But Lewis accomplishes a major feat by injecting enough significance into the chapters for each one to stand on its own. The story is presented through a witty, third-person narrative and is often pathetically funny, unlike earlier social novels.
Lewis was interested in socialism but actually lived as a bourgeois through the success of his writing. In 'Babbitt,' Lewis hints - rather skeptically - at workers' movements as a possible solution to the American malaise. He sympathizes with the working classes to an extent, but his middle-class upbringing still causes him to portray those of lower social strata as ignorant and uncouth. This inner conflict feels similar to that of W. H. Auden, who dabbled with Marxism during the 1930s but was too much of a middle-classman to remain for long. Lewis, in fact, doesn't seem to possess much hope for America's future at all. The novel concludes with a possibility of Babbitt's college son Ted overcoming the constraints of older generations, but this is a large question mark. In fact, America may be so bogged down in its conformity and anti-intellectualism that to reform American thought means to destroy its very existence.
The dilemmas seen by Lewis in the 1920s continue today and seem far worse after eight decades. With such factors as the globalization of commerce, the advancement of women and minorities in the workplace, the further polarization of urban and rural dwellers, and the complete amorality of those in power, the situation is a hundred times more complicated and not an inch closer to being solved. Now the question needs to be asked if it's worth trying to solve America's problems at all or if we should just ride out the steep decline.
For those who can stomach these issues (even after my depressing review), 'Babbitt' is a unique experience in American novels. 'Babbitt' has been republished several times, including as a small paperback by Signet Classic (451-CE2366), which hit shelves in 1991. The widely-circulated Signet edition is 334 pages long, including a brief afterword by Mark Schorer; a one-page bibliography follows the main text. Signet designed a bright cover for the edition and the novel itself is presented in clear type. The type, however, is rather small and crammed onto the pages. Signet editions have been popular amongst students, but older readers may want to find a larger-sized version. No matter its size, 'Babbitt' is a ground-breaking novel that fits the higher ranks of American literature.
The Naked Capitalist
Having recently read Lewis' Main Street, I was interested in more from the author. Babbitt tells the story of George F. Babbitt, a successful realtor in the booming Midwest city of Zenith in the early 1920s. He leads a perfectly mundane life as a business partner with his father-in-law and has all the outward indications of a happy and successful businessman. But inside, he has a vague uneasiness and discontent. Vacations to Maine (he and his friend Paul go a week earlier than their families), winning public acclaim for his speaking prowess at a convention and around town, and his efforts at hometown boosterism all leave him dissatisfied and somewhat empty. His wife and family seem to aggravate him most of all.
I was unable to finish this story, and finally gave up after reading about 2/3rds of it. Unlike Main Street, Babbitt has no really sympathetic characters. In fact, while the supporting characters are slightly more well-developed than those in Main Street, they still come off as unimportant cardboard figures. Babbitt believes he is honest and intelligent, although the book makes a point of satirizing his (and everyone else's) lack of both, and I felt no interest in him. Instead we are treated to an unending stream of his complaining and lengthy speeches extolling whatever virtues he feels expert in and I kept waiting for something to finally make me want to read this book. Alas, no such luck and I'm giving up for greener pastures.
While I can appreciate that the book is a satirical look at how pathetic and vapid the lives of many Americans were (and probably still are), there was just no cleverness to the story. His comparisons are blunt and obvious and lack any creativity, such as the dinner with an old friend who's now very wealthy followed immediately by his attending one at the home of another old friend who's never been successful in business, or his complaints of the children contrasted immediately with their complaints of him. I even tried consulting Cliff's Notes to see what I was missing, but found there wasn't much *to* miss. I listened to the audio book and the narrator (Wolfram Kandinsky) sounded too much like voices from certain old cartoons that I couldn't quite identify, and became very annoying. Recommended only for those with uncommon stamina in the face of unwavering tedium.
Stands the Test of Time
I first read "Babbitt" in my mid-thirties, after trying to slog through one of John Updike's "Rabbit" novels and giving up out of sheer boredom. I knew that "Rabbit" was vaguely patterned on "Babbitt," so I thought I'd give the original a try.
I loved it from the word go! Satirical, fun, biting, enjoyable, caustic, hilarious--everyone enjoys it for their own reasons. That a novel published in the 1920s can still fascinate readers of all stripes just shows how exceptional "Babbitt" is. The story flows smoothly and opens up gradually, punctuated by familiar details of everyday life that had me laughing out loud several times.
"Babbitt" is still fresh today because its subject is timeless. Middle-aged people go through mid-life crises--that's part of being human. And elementally that is what I liked about Babbitt himself and the novel: their humanity. Although Sinclair pokes fun at Babbitt, it is affectionate fun. Now on the far side of my mid-life crisis, I understand the fond humor of "Babbitt" much better than I did when I first read it. I will probably re-read it at regular intervals all my life, because every time I do, I see something I missed before.
"Babbitt" is a gem of a book, well worth the money, a real treat to read. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that I find the denoument to be somewhat forced. But that doesn't detract from the enjoyability of the book, and it gives you something to chew on until the next time you read it. I recommend this book very highly.
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