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, was all interested in her or entirely aware that she was alive" (Lewis 7). Paul also truly disliked his wife Zilla, "why I want to kill her", " (i)f I only could [divorce her]! If she'd just give me the chance!" (Lewis 58-59). This lack of feeling for their wives is what Lewis focused on in the rest of the story.
Lewis brings about conflict between these two characters and their wives. He brings about the idea of infidelity between the two married couples. The dissatisfaction for their wives leads George and Paul to lust for other women. Lewis is making the point that when men are dissatisfied with their women, they go and try to find others to satisfy their "hunger".
George dreamt of a fairy girl that he could run off with and escape from his friends and most of all, his wife (Lewis 2-3). Babbitt also had two affairs on which Lewis indirectly, with class points out. Babbitt and his buddies in Maine, picked up a prostitute in which some devious behavior took place. This behavior "was never known to his family, nor to anyone in Zenith... (i)t was not officially recognized even by himself". His chief affair was with a widow, Tanis Judique. He had even spent the night with her, but he later dumped her to be free. Paul on the other hand only had one affair. He had an affair with a lady named May Arnold that he had been writing, who lived in Chicago. This affair with May was Paul's infidelity to his nagging wife Zilla.
By describing these instances of men cheating, Lewis revealed to his readers what was not commonly portrayed about American culture.
One of the main reasons Europeans colonized Africa was for their useful resources. There are countless assets in the African landscape that were wanted by other nations. The European countries had access to some of the worlds most needed resources such as cotton, oils, coal, gold, and diamonds because they controlled Africa. This is shown on a chart of African colonies and their exports. ("Selected African Colonies and Their Exports" 269). This shows how the European countries carefully selected the land they did, to get certain resources they needed or wanted to use to benefit from. Another chart from a book by Trevor Lloyd, (Lloyd, The British Empire), displays the large jump of exports to Africa from 1854 to 1900. What that means is once Great Britain established complete control of South Saharan Africa, they began to export the resources they found that they could use. These charts are proof of how the European's wanted resources, and that is one of the main reasons for the imperialization of Africa. Not only did the European nations want the continent's resources, but they had an equal hunger for power.
I married George because I thought he was a gentleman, I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe. He is no more of value than of the ashes of the valley. The pathetic, delusional man; thinking he really can please me with stupid words. ‘I love you Myrtle. I would do anything for you, and you know that’. But we all know that words are not REALLY made of gold, don’t we?
Britain was committed to imperializing countries that benefitted them. Benjamin Disraeli, the British prime minister during the 1870’s, persuaded Great Britain to imperialize because it was a way to guard vital British markets overseas, resources, and jobs, as well as enhance their well known reputation as being the most powerful country (Butler). Great Britain wanted to spread its culture and religion (Butler). As a result, Christianity was dispersed imperialized countries under the name of Great Britain. Another major reason Great Britain imperialized in Africa was because other European countries that were participating in the “Scramble for Africa” (Berard). This was the time period where certain European countries fought over what countries in Africa to imperialize. Britain wanted more power, and therefore, more land as well. Therefore, they resorted to imperializing lands such as those in Africa.
The Attitudes Toward Marriage in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Jane Austin wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice in 1813. The novel provides a great deal of information and gives us a detailed insight to the different attitudes towards marriages at the time. Pride and Prejudice is focused and written about the lifestyles among "gentry". The "gentry" was the middle to upper class citizens in England. In the novel Jane Austin shows us that social status is a very important factor and that is was essential to have connections with people higher up in the gentry.
George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.
In the short story "weekend" by Ann Beattie, there is one main central conflict between the main characters of Lenore and George. This conflict arises from that fact that George and Lenore have a child together, live in the same house, yet they have no apparent relationship. George is always bringing back women to the house in front of Lenore and she hides how it hurts her deep down. George’s character is portrayed as an alcoholic older man who does not seem to care too much about anything that is going on around him. While Lenore is shown to be a “simple” woman who just lets George walk all over her by showing up with younger girls and who rarely shows emotion. Although Lenore is not as simple as she leads on to George, she has a lot of emotion buried inside of her that she does not always show, and her character is a lot more complex after a second glance.
He’s a smart, small man that works well and could possibly find a lady to settle down with. George still tho chooses to stay with Lennie, Lennie is also really hard to take care of as George says, “I could get along so easy and nice without you on my tail.” (Pg7) George knows tho that without Lennie he’d get lonely. He knows that without anybody his life would be even harder. George says “I want you to stay with me lennie.” (Pg 13) That proves to us that George needs lennie. George knows as a migrant worker companions are hard to get. Even know George has Lennie he still finds himself lonely. As the quote at the beginning of my essay says you need an intimate relationship too to not be lonely. That's what George is missing in his life. He doesn't have a girl to be with which makes him depressed, and lonely. Lennie also gets in the way of him getting a girl but george needs Lennie. George knows that it's better to stay with lennie
Being African American means more than just having descendants from Africa or having distinct physical features. It is about a culture that has been resilient for hundreds of years in a country that devalued its people. The best word to describe African American or Black Culture is resourceful. There are aspects of this culture, such as the folk music and food that came about because slave used what they had available to them and made the best out of it. Now, it has grown to a culture that is not only valued by its people, but also is used by others that do not associate with being African American or
In her essay, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Margaret Fuller discusses the state of marriage in America during the 1800‘s. She is a victim of her own knowledge, and is literally considered ugly because of her wisdom. She feels that if certain stereotypes can be broken down, women can have the respect of men intellectually, physically, and emotionally. She explains why some of the inequalities exist in marriages around her. Fuller feels that once women are accepted as equals, men and women will be able achieve a true love not yet known to the people of the world.
Marriage in Pride and Prejudice It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife." Jane Austen provides subsequent argument with the first line of her novel, Pride and. Prejudice. The.
First off, New Orleans, a lively place that no one would want to miss, can only be experienced with my own eyes. Culture is what New Orleans live for and culture is what I thrive for. This city is stuffed with an abundance of heritage that creates a vessel of life and turns it into what we know about New Orleans today. To be able to see all of the influences from the French and the Africans, or any other nationality would be an interesting experience. There is a whole bundle of different foods that have their own unique appearances and tastes that is only local to New Orleans, and I would love to taste every single thing there if I were
“ It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This sentence, the first of the novel Pride and Prejudice is the statement of one of the major themes in the book. Within this novel there are seven different marriages that exist, and Austen uses each one to represent different attitudes that people have towards marriage in the society in which she lived. In addition, her ultimate goal was to show the reader the marriage that she believes to be the most idealistic one.
that she is humoured by the idea that every young an who has a large
Jane Austen’s novel is commanded by women; Pride and Prejudice explores the expectations of women in a society that is set at the turn of the 19th century. Throughout the plot, Austen’s female characters are all influenced by their peers, pressures from their family, and their own desires. The social struggle of men and women is seen throughout the novel. Characters, like Elizabeth, are examples of females not acting as proper as women were supposed to, while other women like Mrs. Bennett allow themselves to be controlled by men and society. Mr. Collins is a representation of the struggles males deal with in a novel dominated by women. The theme of marriage is prominent during Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Marriage can be examined in different ways due to Mrs. Bennet’s commitment to finding her daughters husbands, the male parallelism of marriage to their female spouses, and Elizabeth’s nontraditional approach to looking for love.
The Presentation of Marriage in Pride and Prejudice During the Pride and Prejudice novel, written by Jane Austen, we are presented with many marriages and relationships between the characters. The symphony of the character. As each character is introduced to another or if a new character has been entered into the novel), Austen always tells us. about their social status and financial background as this was a major contribution to marriage back then.