The theme in books by Sinclair Lewis1 relates to the time in which they were written. In both Babbit (1922) and Main Street (1920) Lewis shows us the American culture of the 1920's. He writes about the growing cities, the small towns, the common American man, the strong American need to conform, cultural integration, morals (or lack of in some cases), and he touches upon the women lib movement. All of these and more successfully describe the 1920's. "The parties were bigger... the pace was faster
Sinclair Lewis Sinclair Lewis was one of the greatest American authors from the 1920s to the 1930s. Lewis’ early novels failed to bring him fame and success but that later changed when these novels came along. His successes in the novels Babbitt and Main Street shot him up to commercial fame. Lewis was a great American novelist and writer. Lewis wrote novels, poems, and even short stories. His works redefined and brought to light many issues in America that were thought to be normal and just but
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
all of the seasoned furniture that was a gift from her mother-in-law. In Sinclair Lewis’ Main Street excerpt, he uses the literary terms symbolism, imagery, and allusion to present his theme of husbands leaving their wife at home alone. Symbolism is a distracter to the true meaning of something. For instance, “a window” may represent a melancholy feeling or it can also be a symbol of content with life. In Main Street, Lewis uses several symbols throughout the text to imitate the feeling of loneliness
In the Sinclair Lewis novel, Babbitt, the main character is a man who lives his whole life under the presumption that the only way to be happy is to follow society. Daily, he walks the path of right-wing social law, believing that only wealth can bring him happiness. Babbitt eventually makes an effort to change his ways, but is too deep into the system to pull himself from the lifeless abyss of proper society. George F. Babbitt lives in a society that prohibits creativity at the cost of wealth
Babbitt: Conformity In the Sinclair Lewis novel Babbitt, the character of Babbitt is completely controlled by the power of conformity. Conformity is so powerful that even after babbitt realizes the stifling nature of the society in which he lives he is powerless to change his fate as a member of conformist society. George F. Babbitt is a man who is completely controlled by the conformist society in which he lives. Pressure to conform lies in all aspects of Babbitt's life. Relationships, family
Sinclair Lewis's 1925 novel Arrowsmith follows a pair of bacteriologists, Martin Arrowsmith and his mentor Max Gottlieb, as they travel through various professions in science and medicine in the early decades of the twentieth century. Gottlieb and his protégé, Martin, explore the status and roles of scientific work at universities, in industry, and at a private research foundation, as well as in various medical positions. Lewis presents a picture of tension and conflict between the goals and ideals
Marriage in Babbit by Sinclair Lewis In the novel Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis touches upon various issues that characterize American society. Marriage was one of these various issues that Lewis focused on. In the story, George Babbitt was married and his best friend, Paul Riesling, was married. They both seemed uneasy about their marriages and were not pleased with their situations. George always seemed to care less for Myra, "she was as sexless as an anemic nun... no one, save [except] Tinka
Conspicuous Consumption in Sinclair Lewis' Babbit 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
The Republican Party in Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt portrayed a man bent on following his political party; his actions seemingly followed that religiously, and today's version of the Republican Party is proof that we are not too far off from Lewis' version, despite the expanse of time. George Babbitt, the main character in Lewis' novel, viewed the world in the eyes of a businessman. He saw immigrants as a waste to society, business and the means to survive, and the
George Babbitt: Image of a Presbyterian In Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis portrays religion as a corrupt business. In fact, he emphasizes this by focusing on his main character George Babbitt. George Babbitt is characterized as a businessman in Zenith. He is a man preoccupied about his reputation and his image before the main leaders of the town he lives in. Lewis creates a hypocritical figure for Babbitt through his reasons for being a Presbyterian. He says that if you were to question
Superiority of Races in Babbit Hatred, intolerance, prejudice, and narrow-mindedness are all terms that can be applied when describing someone who is a bigot. By these terms George F. Babbitt, the protagonist in Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt, and many of his acquaintances are quite the bigots toward all those that appear different than he is especially immigrants and minorities in America. The blame should not be placed squarely on these men's shoulders for possessing such hate filled beliefs
leads to isolation. The novel Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis certainly demonstrated the need for an individual to conform to social norms. The main character's son, Theodore Roosevelt Babbitt, or Ted, accurately represents how teenagers conform in order to feel a part of something. Ted often demonstrates the need to be different tha... ... middle of paper ... ... Current Health, A Weekly Reader Publication Sep. 1999: 6. Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. 1922. New York: Signet Classics, 1998
In 1927, Sinclair Lewis published one of the most, if not the most, controversial book in American Literature titled Elmer Gantry. The novel is a picaresque novel in which the main character is immoral and lives by his wits (Elmer). Lewis was no stranger to controversy and Elmer Gantry was no exception to the rule. Lewis harshly scrutinizes industrialized religion in America, and reveals so called revivalists as hypocrites and morons. The book begins by describing the protagonist, Elmer Gantry,
their strong backing of big business while discouraging the Labor Union movement. Literature was one medium by which the new intelligencia could express their views on impracticality and injustice of the social system and government in the 1920's. Sinclair Lewis was one such author who used his writing to condemn the stale and outdated ways of thinking that were so widely popular in our nation during the 1920's. In addition to exposing the poor working conditions of most factory labor, particularly the
Babbitt vs. The Hobbit Sinclair Lewis’ character of George Babbitt is similar to J.R.R Tolkien’s character of Bilbo Baggins, but they are also very different. These two characters are alike in two different ways: in personality and the heroic journey. However, on every other subject these two characters are extraordinarily different. The most basic of these differences being that George Babbitt is an anti-hero and Bilbo
Sinclair Lewis makes point of the efforts that Carol produces to reform her new home. These efforts can be perceived by the townspeople as unwelcomed and unsuccessful. Some of Carol’s ideas are ludicrous, out of proportion and not ready for the slow-moving town. She tries several different approaches to reforming the town from the moment of her arrival. She goes from architectural reform to poetic reform to artistic to introducing liberalism to amusing social functions. All of these tactics she hopes
Sinclair Lewis’s novel, Babbitt, details the life of the titular character, Babbitt, who finds discontent with his life but is unable to change it. Lewis uses this character to satirize 1920s the American lifestyle by highlighting the hypocrisy and hollowness of Babbitt’s life. Babbitt’s friendships appear to be false and only serve functional purposes. Members of the Booster’s club only make connections to better themselves politically or socially. Babbitt, like the others, makes these connections
Harry Sinclair Lewis was born on February 17, 1885 in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Also known as Sinclair Lewis. The son of Edwin J. Lewis and Emma Kermott Lewis. Sinclair was the youngest out of two older brothers Fred Lewis and Claude Lewis. They lived in a town called Sauk Centre, their house was located on 810 Sinclair Lewis Avenue Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Now you can get a tour of the Sinclair’s house for only five dollars per person. He was red headed, awkward, tall, super thin, and he was not the
poetry.# Soon after, he advanced into writing novels. Thought to be one of the last civil writers,# Hersey wrote for Time magazine during World War II, in which he documented many historical accounts.# Hersey also worked under famous muckraker Sinclair Lewis#, whom from he probably obtained his "tell it how it is" writing style. Over the years he has been classified as an American novelist, non-fiction writer, short story writer, editor, and journalist.# John Hersey uses humanistic ideas, explicit