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MonkeyNotes-Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
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LITERARY/ HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Sinclair Lewis has often been referred to as a writer in revolt
because his novels are satiric. They expose the hypocrisy and
mechanization of American society. If in Main Street, he deals
with the flaws of American rural community, in Babbitt, he
focuses his attention on the conservative but hypocritical business
community. Babbitt, the protagonist of the latter novel, is a typical
businessman with lofty aims and a desire to climb the ladder of
social success.
When Lewis started writing novels, America had established itself
as a super power. People were glorifying the New World and
emulating it as their model. The American people, therefore,
considered themselves to be a superior race. At such a time, Lewis'
novels were a timely reminder that the "super" nation had its
underbelly. He exposed the follies of American society
courageously. His fans admired his frankness, but his critics
condemned his cynicism.
Lewis started writing the first draft of Babbitt at a farmhouse in
Kent. The rest of the book was finished in London. As suggested
by his publisher, he undertook some research on the real-estate
business before writing the novel. He was familiar with the
business class residing in commercial cities like Zenith since he
had been living in America for a number of years and had also
traveled some, meeting many American people in the process. He
translated the world of his experiences with his imagination and
poured the contents into a novel. In a letter to his friend, Alfred
Harcourt, he writes " [Babbitt] is all of us Americans at 46,
prosperous but worried, wanting passionately to seize something
more than motor cars and a house before it's too late." Babbitt
represents the business class with its high ambitions, but he is also
a man--an individual, craving freedom and peace. Sinclair Lewis
succeeded in making a lively presentation of the commonplace
through the protagonist and his circle of friends. In the words of
H.G. Wells, he convincingly portrayed the vulgarity and 'vile
gregariousness' of the American businessman and made it
amusing.
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