Jake and Babbitt both crave the “authentic American” lifestyle, but this means different things to each of them. Initially, Babbitt vies for a rise in his social status and to live the lifestyle of the wealthy by acquiring material things and luxury items. The extravagant design and objects of Babbitt’s residence, Floral Heights, depicts how he views himself as an important figure. His bathrooms contain glazed tile and an enormous bathtub, his furniture is mahogany, and the bedrooms are masterpieces. Even his alarm clock has prestige and the most modern attachments. Lewis states that Babbitt “was proud of being awakened by such a rich device” (Lewis 3). Clearly, materialism and mass consumption played a significant role in his life and how …show more content…
However, Babbitt didn’t feel completely happy or satisfied with his life. While his house presented luxurious taste and modern conveniences, “there was but one thing wrong with the Babbitt house: It was not a home” (12). Although it seemed like he had everything, Babbitt actually feels dissatisfied with his life and has no purpose in life. As a real estate agent, all he does is sell homes for more than people can afford to pay in order to make as much money as possible. He then attempts to rebel against social contentions (find example), but after his best friend Paul Riesling shoots his wife and is sentenced to jail, Babbitt’s life starts to fall apart. He drinks more, has an affair, and alienates his friends. Although he tried to change his ways to bring more purpose to his life, there was just nothing for him to do due to his age and lifestyle. At the end of the novel, his son, Ted, secretly elopes and says he would rather become a mechanic than finish college, despite his father’s original wishes. Babbitt accepts Ted’s decision and feels proud of him since, “I’ve never done a single thing I wanted to in my whole life!” …show more content…
In Hester Street, Jake erases much of his Jewish background in favor of a standard American identity. During the opening scenes, Jake and Mamie have dinner with a man who clearly recently emigrated. Throughout the meal, it’s clear that he is out of place. They mock his Jewish apparel and take his hat from him as a way to degrade him. This portrays the lack of respect and importance of non-American culture in America. As a result of this perception, Jake knew he had to change his identity in order to meet American standards. First, he changed his name from Yankel to Jake so people wouldn’t judge him for being Jewish. He does the same for his son, renaming him from Yossele to Joey, despite his wife Gitl’s opposition. Additionally, Jake cuts Joey’s hair and proclaims afterwards, "Now you look like a real Yankee!” (Silver). Meanwhile, Gitl refuses to sacrifice her Jewish heritage and struggles to adjust to America as a result. This causes her marriage with Jake to collapse and she ends up marrying Bernstein at the end of the film, since he still values his culture. While minority culture plays a significant role in Hester Street, the lack of presence of minorities in Babbitt shows how little they mattered in upper class society. Whenever an African-American emerged in the novel, they merely appeared as objects of production by working low-skill and low-pay jobs,
“Watch your tone young lady” a phrase known all too well to the American culture, whether it be from mom giving her children a lecture or on a television screen being spoken out by an actor. The tone of voice that one uses while speaking plays an extremely significant role in what the spoken words actually mean. Many times one can say one thing and mean another just from placing emphasis on a particular word. With tone of voice plays such a vital role in the meaning of a sentence it becomes clear that poetry, although often times found in books as written work, is meant to be read aloud; this was not all that clear to me until I attended my very first poetry reading. On November 10th Ramapo College welcomed the marvelous poet Mark Doty to its campus. Through Mark Doty’s reading of “House of Beauty” and “Theory of Marriage” it became clear that the use of emphasis and tone are vital characteristics that allows for the poet to challenge poetic traditions and conventions.
Brian purchased the finest penthouse that his money could buy. After all, “I deserve it”, he would boast to friends. Expensive white Italian silk suits, alligator shoes, and a red Lamborghini sports car with license plates that read “MONEY” were his trademark. His penthouse apartment held a sweeping vista of the city along with elegantly appointed rooms, marble entry, a swimming pool and a sauna. Art work from the masters and rare collections were an impressive site to visitors. Brian had all the latest toys and electronics gadgets a young man could desire. A staff of servants cooked, cleaned and pampered him where ever he desired.
The dawn of the 20th century was met with an unprecedented catastrophe: an international technological war. Such a horrible conflict perhaps threatened the roots of the American Dream! Yet, most do not realize how pivotal the following years were. Post war prosperity caused a fabulous age for America: the “roaring twenties”. But it also was an era where materialism took the nation by storm, rooting itself into daily life. Wealth became a measure of success and a facade for social status. This “Marxist materialism” threatened the traditional American Dream of self-reliance and individuality far even more than the war a decade before. As it morphed into materialistic visions (owning a beautiful house and car), victims of the change blindly chased the new aspiration; one such victim was Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. As his self-earned luxury and riches clashed with love, crippling consequences and disasters occur. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby delves into an era of materialism, exploring how capitalism can become the face of social life and ultimately cloud the American Dream.
Is being attached to something in a great abundance a bad thing? Well, it can be in some cases. Undoubtedly, many people in today’s society live constantly in angst with the fear of losing their loved ones and cope with their anxiety in a variety of ways. However, while many methods are accepted by society’s standards as of dealing with their stressors, some individuals have more extreme methods of coping with their separation anxiety. For instance, in “A Rose for Emily”, the main character, Emily Grierson, loses her father and fears a similar event will occur with her assumed lover. For that reason, it is easy for readers to assume that Emily has a separation anxiety. In this story by William Faulkner, she takes what modern day society would consider drastic measures to make sure the two never leave her.
The idea of conspicuous consumption, or buying unnecessary items to show one's wealth, can be seen in Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis. Lewis describes the main character of the book, George F. Babbitt, as a person who has his values and priorities all mixed up. Babbitt buys the most expensive and modern material goods just to make himself happy and make people around his aware of his status. He is more concerned about these items than about his wife or children and to him, "god was Modern Appliances" (Lewis 5). Through Babbitt, Lewis is attempting to show how the average American person will do or buy anything, even if unnecessary, only to show off and make peers think highly of him or her. As seen in Babbitt, George wakes up to the "best of nationally advertised and quantitatively produced alarm-clocks, with all modern attachments" (3). Babbitt is extremely satisfied to be awakened by this expensive clock because it raises his value to the world. A regular alarm clock can do, but George Babbitt needs the top-of-the-line model to show off his wealth. He, along with the rest of the citizens in the book, takes great value in his car, which to him was "poetry and tragedy, love and heroism" (22). One must think that of his family and friends, not of a piece of metal sitting in the garage. Babbitt continues his conspicuous consumption lifestyle by vowing to quit smoking and then going out and buying "the electric cigar lighter which he had coveted for a week" (51). Therefore, Babbitt does not necessarily buy the lighter for himself, but to show to everyone around him that he has the money to buy it, and consequently feels superior to them. The fi...
In ‘The Great Gatsby’ Fitzgerald criticises the increase of consumerism in the 1920s and the abandonment of the original American Dream , highlighting that the increased focus on wealth and the social class associated with it has negative effects on relationships and the poorest sections of society. The concept of wealth being used as a measure of success and worth is also explored by Plath in ‘The Bell Jar’. Similarly, she draws attention to the superficial nature of this material American Dream which has extended into the 1960s, but highlights that gender determines people’s worth in society as well as class.
... in soccer always bringing prices at home that he has won at school. He can’t face the fact that his son Biff has grown up and his not successful in life he had just fallen into a life of crime and Happy was a womanizer who just can’t establish a stable life of his own.
The book, and to a certain extent the film, clearly convey the importance the characters place on appearance, material possessions, and status. The book is countlessly punctuated with descriptions of the designer clothing that Bateman and other characters are wearing. There are frequent descriptions of the latest high-tech equipment that he owns and wants. Bateman and the other characters eat exclusively at elegant five-star restaurants, and expect extremely high quality and elaborate dishes. Stat...
Many popular novels are often converted into television movies. The brilliant fiction novel, Flowers for Algernon written by Daniel Keyes, was developed into a dramatic television film. Flowers for Algernon is about a mentally retarded man who is given the opportunity to become intelligent through the advancements of medical science. This emotionally touching novel was adapted to television so it could appeal to a wider, more general audience. Although the novel and film are similar in terms of plot and theme, they are different in terms of characters.
Hester Street is a 1975 film about a Russian Jew family coming to America during the third wave of the migration era to the United States. The main characters are Jake, Joey (Yossele), Gitl, Bernstein, Mami, and Mrs. Kavarsky. Hester Street is a great example of how to explain migration. In this paper, I will be talking about moving from Russia to America, the opening scene, getting to America, and finally being an American.
When he calls up for Paul Riesling for lunch he mentions “But Babbitt strenuously believed and lengthily announced to the world of Good Fellows that Paul could have been a great violinist or painter or writer.” (Lewis, 99). Saying that even though Riesling was conforming to Zenith’s standards of living, Riesling is not happy with how his life has turned out. His true passion was to be in the arts, but ultimately turned those down to work for his father’s business. In the time, it seemed like a good idea to conform to the norm and now it is more of a burden to work for his father’s business. In addition, I think Babbitt was realizing that conforming to society was not what he wanted at all for his life. Zenith’s social conformity was taking over Babbitt’s lifestyle and it was holding him back from wanting to be who he really wanted to become. Then Babbitt tries to live his life without conforming to Zenith’s
From his lavish parties to expensives cars, Gatsby embodies the American dream because he aims to constantly aims to construct a satisfactory life that includes Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby grew up on a desolate Minnesota farm along with his unwealthy parents with the desire to thrive. Even as a child, he held the mentality of “improving his mind”(173), which evolved into an undying obsession with Daisy. The naïve dream that Gatsby has a child ultimately becomes his fatal flaw, as it causes him to ignore the evil realities of society. In his later life, meeting Daisy, who lived superior to his penniless self, causes him to focus towards gaining money for her
The obsession with wealth often blinds people from the potential crisis. The crisis of having everything they worked and struggled for redefined if the reality fails them. Just like strivers who chase the American dream, Gatsby also spend his whole life in persue of his American dream, which Daisy was a major component of it. Gatsby’s “American dream” seems actualized when Daisy comments him “resemble the advertisement of the man(Ch7).” But Daisy eventually betrays Gatsby and went back to the arms of Tom. This is the final nail in the coffin, with Gatsby’s dr...
Jay Gatsby, as the protagonist of the novel, is one the few characters that is affiliated with the lower class. In Gatsby’s childhood, he suffers through poverty. Paradoxically, Gatsby is the most prestigious when compared to other characters, yet he was the only character to lack wealth in the past. With this, Fitzgerald proves that the current status of wealth justifies the current acceptance of a character. After attaining wealth, Gatsby remains distinguished from other wealthy characters due to the fact he once lived a life of destitution. Unlike Tom and Daisy, who live an empty life, Gatsby lives a life replete with motivation. Even though Gatsby was presented as one of the corrupted characters, he was considered prolific because he had a dream. This is achieved because Gatsby once experienced a low class life, unlike Tom and Daisy who grew up with prosperity.
For my Literature Circle assignment I read the novel entitled The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger.Taking place in the 1950's, The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most popular American books of all time, though, its hero is not really a hero at all. Main character Holden Caufield, is a 17 year old, disproved and misunderstood, classic "screw-up", who does poorly in school, loses his team's equipment, and takes an impulsive trip to New York. Distraught by the death of his 11 year old brother Allie, Holden wanders around his birthplace of New York, reconnecting with old friends and making new enemies. The main conflict of this novel is Holden transitioning into an adult and trying to cope with his brother’s death. One main theme displayed all throughout this novel would be depression. For the duration of this novel, Holden spends his time alone, and even if he is in the company of other people, you hear his thoughts of being depressed. Most of this depression is derived from his brother’s death, but there are many other things accountable for his mental issues. Although much of this novel was just Holden’s opinions and thoughts, I found this novel to be very interesting and thought provoking.