Babbitt is a biting critique of living the “American Dream”, which Sincalr Lewis interprets as chasing after material wealth and social status. Lewis’s protagonist, George F. Babbitt, is a successful realtor who is narrow-minded and conformist. Babbitt’s driving factor in life is his desire to become wealthy and powerful. While running his business with ruthless efficiency, he pursues social climbing with equal energy. He joins clubs and societies, becomes a leading figure in them, and shakes hands with the elite. His life goal is to become a wealthy, important, and influential figure in the community. But Lewis argues that living such an artificial life, chasing after a materialist and egoistic goal, is frustrating.
While success follows him, Babbitt becomes increasingly dissatisfied with life. He feels extremely lonely and finds the world unsympathetic to his individual self. This midlife crisis makes him irritable and turns him into a rebel. He challenges the respectable, conformist society with his liberal views and outrageous conduct. Suddenly, this decent, honourable community member turns to booze and women, offending the community sensibilities. But to his utter chagrin, Babbitt realizes that there is no place for his rebellious self in a conformist society. He had either to worship the socially dictated status quo or become socially ostracized and subsequently be annihilated. Babbitt’s predicament is the true position of every individual who swims against the conventional tide. Individuality is no longer possible, as it is stifled by social expectations. One doesn’t live a true life, but a lie. And the result is exhaustion, emptiness, and a deeper sense of dissatisfaction.
While thematically satisfactory, the novel’s greater attraction lies in its writing. Sinclair Lewis has adopted a light tone full of subtle satire. Throughout the novel, it is perfectly maintained. The story is character-driven, and much of what you read is mundane details of Babbitt’s life, his thoughts, his frustration, his domestic and social interactions, and his rebellion. But Lewis has an incredible gift for making seemingly boring content fascinating. The novel was riveting, and I had a fun time reading it.
Babbitt is a post-World War I novel. It is incredible that a novel written almost a century ago can still resonate with our times. The universal appeal for chasing after material wealth and social status is not exhausted. It still happens all over the world. Even today, success is judged by the car you drive, the house you live in, what you wear, and where you dine, and not by your self-growth. We may have slightly evolved from Babbitt’s society, but we are still slaves to materialism. That the novel is not entirely dated is another attraction of this novel.
Rating: 4/5
