Key Elements in Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt Essay - 1078 Words

Sinclair Lewis, the author of Babbitt, devised several key literary elements to explain his full effect and purpose for writing his novel. Babbitt is a satirist look, at not only one man, but an entire society as well. He exposes the hypocrisy and mechanization of American society in the 1920’s. In the story Lewis focuses on his main character George Babbitt, the protagonist throughout much of the book, who is a business with lofty aims and a desire to climb the ladder of the social class. To fully achieve his opinions and beliefs, Lewis used literary effects of irony and theme. The novel begins in the 1920’s, a decade that had started in economic boom and avid consumerism, only to end crash and depression. This was a parallel used by†¦show more content†¦By these terms George Babbitt, and many of this acquaintances are quite the bigots toward all of those who appear different than he is, especially immigrants and minorities in America. The blame should not be placed squarely on these men,s shoulders for processing such hate filled beliefs, but their own opinion of the matter is generated through the generations, that immigrants and minorities are far less superior than the â€Å"native† white men who have â€Å"always: lived in America. The irony of this subject in the book is that although men of Babbitt’s stature openly shared and joked with one another about their superiority to all other races, not one would ever admit that he was even by a small degree a bigot. Buying only the very best material items and throwing dinner parties are only a few of the ways Babbitt tried to accomplish a more noteworthy place in society and impress his peers. He is more concerned about these items than about his wife and children and to him, â€Å"God was Modern Appliances† (Lewis pg 114). However, at the end of the story, the irony is no more evident when Babbitt admits to his son that he has wasted life. He confides in his Ted t hat he has ruined his whole life shooting for goals which, in Babbitts lifetime, are realistically unattainable. He tells Ted that hopefully, the new generation (Ted’s generation), can recover from Babbitt’s ill fated dreams, and lead their own lives the wayShow MoreRelatedANALIZ TEXT INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS28843 Words   |  116 Pagesand depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed â€Å"model† for a piece of critical appreciation. Nevertheless, one can give information and suggestions that may prove helpful. PLOT The Elements of Plot When we refer to the plot of a work of fiction, then, we are referring to the deliberately arranged sequence of interrelated events that constitute the basic narrative structure of a novel or a short story. Events of any kind, of course,Read MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 Pagesshaped by ideas and concepts. The authors have brought their wealth of experience and understanding and provided the field with an imaginative resource to address the dynamics between theory and practice. Dr Susanne Tietze, Bradford University, UK The key to success for managers is not only to be result oriented but also to be wise in their decision making. This requires that they have a deeper than superficial understanding of management and organization issues. McAuley et al. helps student and managers