Babbitt By Louis Sinclair

" 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, but grants only supposed happiness. Every block that has made up his life has been affected by the pressure of conformity. Success in relationships, family, social life, and business are all based on his ability to conform to Zenith's preset standards of thought and action. Everything that Babbitt did was a reflection of what society told him to be. Also, the only time that Babbitt provided an opinion different from the other citizens of Zenith was when he took the side of the union strikers. His opinion was swiftly shot down by his friends and colleagues, and as he leaves the meeting he overhears his friends beginning to question his objections to social law.

At first Babbitt is portrayed as a person happy with conforming to the standards set for him by the rest of society. He is repeatedly found talking about modern technology, material possessions and social status as ways to measure the worth of an individual. The first of there occurrences comes early in the book when Babbitt boasts about his luxurious alarm clock. "It was the best of nationally advertised and quantitatively produced alarm-clocks, with all modern attachments, including cathedral

chime, intermittent alarm, and a phosphorescent dial. Babbitt was proud of

being awakened by such a rich device."

All of Babbitt's actions and thoughts are controlled by the standards of those around him. He does not act because it was what he is inspired to do, he acts for the acceptance of the rest of Zenith. Babbitt does everything expected of him by others because he hopes to improve his social status. By doing this, he moves quickly up the rungs on the ladder of success, feeling hollow happiness as he accomplishes the social goal of getting richer and richer.

However, Babbitt soon realizes that his rising hierarchal status, (along with his widening wallet,) aren't his honest aspirations. He begins to feel a yearning for his real dreams, such as nature and adventure. Babbitt slowly starts comprehending the power that conformity has over his life, but feels unable to make a change.

Babbitt finally comes to his senses about the nature of conformist society from his good friend Paul Riesling. Paul is Babbitt's only true friend and is the extreme example of the stifling conformity in Zenith. Paul is one of the only characters who can see Zenith for what it really is. Paul explains to Babbitt how Zenith's uniformed culture and backstabbing people ruined his dreams of becoming a fiddler, and instead forced him to become a tar roofing salesman. Babbitt, in attempts to lift Paul's spirits, plans a trip to the wood of Maine to "smoke," fish, and hunt. He hopes the trip will help Paul, but instead, the refreshing burst of nature into his otherwise monotonous cityscape inflames his desire to dislodge from conformist society and not sink to Paul's level of unhappiness. The final straw comes when Paul plants a bullet into his wife's brain out of unhappiness and Babbitt realizes that he can either escape his daily routine or live with the possibility of becoming the next Paul.

Babbitt's first

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