Comparing Satire in Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis and The Simpsons

2069 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The simpsons american society

The Power of Satire in Babbitt and The Simpsons

Sinclair Lewis used his writing to promote the enrichment of American society by attacking the weaknesses he perceived in his era. His most notable work, Babbitt, is a satire on the middle class lifestyle and attitude of the 1920s. Lewis' satirical style and voice is comparable to the modern television series The Simpsons, written by Matt Groening. Babbitt and The Simpsons contain numerous similarities in satirical writing, presentation and commentary. Matt Groening satirizes many modern situations with his style and characterization in The Simpsons that are similar to the conditions in Babbitt. The Simpsons represent the pinnacle of how Lewis' opinions are still alive in today's world.

Lewis uses both the effects of direct and indirect satire. Lewis is a realistic satirist who, like many others, can "...utilize their vast firsthand knowledge of the material they describe and their sensitive ear for dialogue to support the illusion of reality" (Feinburg 61). Lewis' firsthand knowledge is seen through the use of the minister Mike Monday in Babbitt, which is a satirical poke at the minister Billie Sunday of his time which would be unknown to him unless he knew the current events of his era. Lewis first presents an obviously dead end idea through a foolish character, then has it refuted by an outside voice of reason, only to have the original character praise and defend the idea until he likely fails or realizes his blunder (Feinburg 92). This type of interaction can be seen in Babbitt through a conversation between George and Myra. Babbitt begins by defending his new found liberalism and denouncing the Good Citizens Leagu...

... middle of paper ...

...to the greatest ongoing modern satire of our time" (Whitbourn and Kim 1). The two shall never be forgotten as their sayings, "Oh by gee, by gosh, by jingo," and "D'oh!" will continue to ring out of America's middle class forever (Lewis 13).

Works Cited

Carlisle, Henry C., ed. American Satire in Prose and Verse. New York: Random House, 1962.

Feinburg, Leonard. Introduction to Satire. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press, 1967.

Groening, Matt. The Simpsons A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family. Ed. Ray Richmond. New York: HarperPerrenial, 1997.

Kim, James, and Cade Whitbourn. The Simpsons. "Matt Groening." 1998. School of Media and Communication. 23 Nov 2002. <http://mdcm.artsunsw.edu.au/Students98/WhitbournC/innovate1/creator.html>.

Lewis, Sinclair. Babbitt. 1922. New York: Signet Classic, 1998.

Show More
Related

  • Analyzing Satire and Parody in Blazing Saddles

    2138 Words  | 5 Pages

    "Satire - Definition and Examples | Literary Devices." Literary Devices. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar.

    Read More

  • A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner vs How to Tell a True War Story by Tim O’Brien

    1553 Words  | 4 Pages

    Near the end of the story, after describing Miss Emily’s life, Faulkner catches up to present day where Miss Emily has died. He explains how Emily’s cousins came once they heard of her death and buried her. The cousins all walk into Miss Emily’s room which greeted them with a bitter smell.

    Read More

  • Effective Satire in God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    Satire is a technique used in literature to criticize the faults of society. An excellent examle of contemporary satire is Kurt Vonnegut's novel God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. The author tells the life of Eliot Rosewater, a young and affluent man troubled by the plights of the poor. Eliot is the President of the Rosewater Foundation, a sum of money worth approximately $87 million. Using this position, he does everything he can to help the poor. This charity giving is socially unacceptable to the wealthy, particularly Eliot's father Senator Lister Ames Rosewater. Vonnegut uses caricature, irony, and tone to satirize the lack of care the rich have for those socially "beneath them."

    Read More

  • Religion and Racism in A Good Man is Hard to Find and Everything that Rises Must Converge

    3390 Words  | 7 Pages

    Studies in American Fiction 17 (1989): 33-50.

    Read More

  • Wackos And Brown Lashers

    691 Words  | 2 Pages

    One form of satire that particularly stands out is his use of diction. Both speakers are so focused on oppresing on the other group that they allow emotions to invade their arguments. For example in

    Read More

  • The 20s And Sinclair Lewis

    1648 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Babbit and Main Street Sinclair Lewis repeataly shows his reactions to the new feeling of the 1920's. These times fueled him into writing his two most well known books in which he shows his fustration of selfish, Capitalistic, mid-western America.

    Read More

  • Intriguing Use of Plot in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    1266 Words  | 3 Pages

    The beginning of Faulkner's story is the end for Miss Emily. Faulkner presents images of the townspeople dutifully attending the funeral of this fallen fixture. As soon as the reader becomes acclimated to this setting, however, Faulkner subtly takes the reader back in time: "Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town, dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Satoris, the mayor, [. . .] remitted her taxes" (Faulkner 75). Faulkner inserts exposition into the middle of what was a section of falling action. Rather than returning the reader to the scene of Miss Emily's funeral, Faulkner trudges forward from 1894, bringing the reader up to date on the issue of Miss Emily's taxes.

    Read More

  • Essay on the Structure of William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily". An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Ed. Barnet, Sylvan, et al. 287-294.

    Read More

  • A Rose for Emily, by William Faulkner and The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s story he writes about how earlier in Emily’s life she refuses to let the town’s people in her house even though there is a strong odor that is coming from her property. In this section her father has just passed away and was abandoned by a man who she wanted to marry. This section she becomes very depressed. In section three it talks about how Emily is starting to come down with an illness after all of the depressing events she had to endure. In sections four and five Faulkner describes how there is fear throughout the towns people is that of which Emily is going to possibly poison herself. A while later she then she passes away. In section five is when the truth is revealed to the public about her sickness. Faulkner uses the view point of an unnamed town member while he uses a third person perspective to show the general corrosion of the southern town’s people.

    Read More

  • Resistance to Change: Miss Emily Grierson

    811 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faulkner, William. "A Rose For Emily." 1930. Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 11th ed. New York: Longman, 2010. 29-35. Print.

    Read More

  • Babbitt Analysis

    1674 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Being There by Jerzy Kosinski

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brown, Earl B., Jr. "Kosinski's Modern Proposal: The Problem of Satire in the Mid-Twentieth Century." Ebscohost. N.p., 1980. Web. Mar.-Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Invisible Race and Gender in Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

    2387 Words  | 5 Pages

    Johns, Gillian. "Jim Trueblood And His Critic-Readers: Ralph Ellison's Rhetoric Of Dramatic Irony And Tall Humor In The Mid-Century American Literary Public Sphere." Texas Studies In Literature & Language 49.3 (2007): 230. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Web. 27 Nov. 2015.

    Read More

  • Chopin’s The Story of an Hour

    1355 Words  | 3 Pages

    Works Cited “American Literature 1865-1914.” Baym 1271. Baym, Nina et al. Ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Plot in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Shorter 5th ed. Ed. R.V.Cassill. New York: W.W. Norton & Comp., 1995.

    Read More

More about Comparing Satire in Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis and The Simpsons

Open Document