Babbitt by Lewis Sinclair - Book Report/Review Example

Babbitt by Lewis Sinclair Introduction Babbitt by Lewis Sinclair is a story about George F. Babbitt. He is a middle-aged man in the 1920’s who has a good family and a successful career. Lewis Sinclair shows Babbitt in the historical context of the 1920’s where the middle class is engrossed in materialism, social class, and conformity. Babbitt is dissatisfied and unhappy with his life. He feels that he does not have a personality. His individuality has been imposed upon him by society. Lewis molds Babbitt’s character to show the society in the 1920’s. Oppression of the Common Masses and Selfishness of the upper and middle classes Babbitt is not necessarily a bad person. His conformity to the society makes him act in ways that are not ideal for an individual. If he existed in the 21st century, he would probably be accommodative to the society’s liberal view. Babbitt realizes the hypocrisy and dissatisfaction of his life when it is too late to rebel from it. The story captures the 1920 ban on alcohol by the American government (ONeal 91). However, Babbitt and many other middle-class and wealthy people continued to consume illegal alcohol. American society’s hypocrisy at the time is partly revealed through the consumption of alcohol by Babbitt and his friends. For example, one of the reasons the prohibition was put in place was because it was morally wrong for Americans to drink and merry while its young men went to war (ONeal 91). From Babbitt, it seems that most Americans in the middle and upper class were too self-indulged to remember the soldiers at war. Additionally, the prohibition was repealed because people were willing to drink alcohol provided they did not speak (ONeal 92). Babbitt is an example of people that publically rebuked taking alcohol but secretly and constantly took alcohol. He even practiced it publicly at the time when he rebelled. When Verona Babbitt expressed interest in working for charity, her father quickly dismissed her and the idea of charity as a whole (Lewis 24). According to Babbitt, charity was almost an equivalent of socialism. He said that encouraging charity enfeebled a working man’s willpower to fend for and feed his children. Additionally, he claimed that it gave children of the lower class notions above their status. Babbitt represents the selfish and self-indulged nature of the middle-class society at the time. The 1920’s were spent crashing labor unions and reducing wages (ONeal 71). In fact, Babbitt is one of the people in the 1920’s that opposed labor Unions. As a business owner, he believed that while radical unions destroyed property and good labor unions were useful in keeping out radical unions. However, he preferred that unions become outlawed because they had strength. The lower class was oppressed and suffering from extreme poverty because of such views. Verona’s inspiration to work with a charity was inspired by a college classmate who worked for the Associated Charities. Apparently, children often went to the charity’s milk station for milk. While Verona wished that one of the department stores would allow her to set up a welfare department, her father thought that it made the lower classes lazy. He preferred that she keeps working at Gruensberg Leather Company until she could get a promotion as Mr. Gruensberg’s secretary. Through Verona, Sinclair Lewis illustrates that there were people that saw the faults of the capitalist system. However, they were unable to change society due to the grasp of the middle-class society. Verona calls working with the charity a meaningful job, but, her father begs to differ. He thinks that society needs productive citizens as opposed to people that required charity. This attitude continued to the 1930’s where 75 percent of the population lived in poverty due to the depression (ONeal 64). Furthermore, some of the middle class also suffered in the onset of depression. For instance, Babbitt was a real estate agent. This means that with the depression of the housing market Babbitt may have suffered economically because his business was significantly affected by the depression. The economic boom of the 1920’s created a ruling class of rich people who continued to oppress the working class population until President Franklin Delano Roosevelt granted the working class population rights to form trade unions in 1933 (ONeal 77). Prior to that, the wealthiest in society banded up as a group refusing to feel any sympathy for the starving masses. They thwarted any measures to make them assist the government in feeding the massed and countered hunger marchers with violence. The selfishness and self-centeredness of the wealthy had started quite early with men such as Babbitt discouraging participation in a charitable organization and demeaning their existence. His statement that it gave children of the lower class notions above their status also implies that the rich wanted to maintain a status quo where they remained wealthy and important with everyone else beneath them. Social Capital In the 1920s as many decades later, business not only relied on hard work but also significant connections. In Babbitt, it is clear that he does not care about his wife’s interest in being invited to a party by the wealthy Charles Mckelvey family (Lewis 25). Nonetheless, he feels the loss of losing contact with Charles Mckelvey because of the business he is losing. In fact, while his wife would like to be invited in order to see the big house, he has been to the house for business purpose. It seems that crossing social classes is quite difficult. Although he intends to befriend the upper class, he does not want social advancement to affect his business motives. Consequently, he does not take his wife to the Mckelvey house. The strong link between business and social class connections is also seen in the way that Babbitt’s business suffers when he attempts to rebel the conformity of the middle class. His friends shun him and hardly take their business to him (Lewis 112). He realizes that it is difficult to maintain a rebellious nature and live in his social class. Ethics in Business The novel also criticizes the dubiousness of businesspersons during the 1920s. Although the middle class claimed to have strong moral values, it applied them selectively. The middle class consists of greedy, inconsiderate, and opportunistic people like Conrad Lyte and Babbitt. Conrad Lyte is a middle class individual and a cautios investor in his business as a real estate speculator. He asked for advice from Babbitt who advised him to purchase a piece land in the neighborhood next to Archibald Purdy’s grocery shop. He did this with the knowledge that Purdy intended to buy the piece of land and open an adjoining butchery to the grocery shop. After buying the piece of land for eleven thousand dollars, the two manipulated Purdy into buying the land for twice the amount (Lewis 85). In the knowledge that he was ready to purchase the land, they told him that there were many competitors for the piece of land. Nonetheless, out of the goodness of their hearts they had decided to give him the first chance. Remarkably, they implied that they would probably sell the land to a chain store that was planning to open a butchery and grocery store which would drive him out of business. Lewis shows that unethical business practices existed since the 1920’s. In addition, the resentment of the working class population for the wealth investor did not begin recently. Babbitt had utilized ideologies and strategies that have been the stronghold of salesmanship for years (Lewis 86). He understood tactics that sales representatives continued to use in business in the modern and postmodern times. He used strategic values, talking point, under appraisals, and the psychology of salesmanship to pull off the business deal. Unfortunately, while Mr. Lyte made approximately nine thousand dollars or more, Babbitt made a commission of four hundred and fifty dollars. He later expressed his resentment for Mr. Lyte for gaining most of the profit while he had done most of the work. The unethical practices in real estate and other forms of businesses started a long time ago and will probably continue for many years. The price of land keeps increasing due to its demand and the brokers’ and investors’ need to make huge profit margins. By the 1930’s, the government felt obliged to address the housing problems of its citizens. This threatened real estate because realtors and builders feared that people would prefer public housing compared to home ownership. Fortunately, the American dream of home ownership was quickly rekindled after the recovery of the economy. It was not until 2008 that the housing industry suffered from another depression. Social Problems The novel shows the rise of advertising and mass consumerism in the 1920’s. The two factors were sparked by mass production, which lowered prices and encouraged giving credit and buying in bulk. The society’s obsession with social classes encouraged advertising. People in the upper and middle class bought the best and most expensive products in order to reaffirm their position in society. Through Babbitt and Charles Mckeleveys the writer also shows that America is not necessarily the land of equality. Babbitt and his acquaintances treat the immigrants and minority groups as inferior (Lewis 114). Therefore, America in the 1920s was not as it advertised itself. Finally, like the modern man, the man in the 1920s also underwent personal crisis. Babbitt and Riesling undergo a mid-life crisis. They are dissatisfied by their current lives and regret abandoning their dreams to be seduced by business. This dissatisfaction results to their frustration with hypocrisy and they abandon their high moral standards. Babbitt realizes that it is too late to rebel. However, he is able to save his son from the mechanical society. This shows that there is hope for a liberalized future. Conclusion As previously mentioned, Babbitt is not necessarily a bad person. However, through his character, the reader can envision the American history of 1920. Sinclair Lewis was able to document the economic, social and political life of Americans at the time. This helps in understanding the long journey of America from that time to the currently stable society that is liberal and receptive of everyone. Works Cited Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. ReadHowYouWant.com, 2008. Online. ONeal, M. (2006). America in the 1920s. New York: Facts on File. Online. Read More