Babbitt

Babbitt is a classic novel by the American novelist and playwright Sinclair Lewis, first published in 1922. It is a satire about American values, and its main theme is the power of conformity and the vacuity of American life.

Related Topics:
Novel - American - Novelist - Playwright - Sinclair Lewis - 1922 - Satire - American values - Conformity

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The book takes its name from the principal character, George Babbitt, a middle-aged real estate salesman. He lives a successful life professionally, but he is unhappy. He lives in a fictional Midwestern town called "Zenith," which critics say is loosely based on Cincinatti, whose chief virtue is conformity and whose religion is boosterism. He gradually becomes disillusioned with his lifestyle and then rebels against it. However, he eventually finds himself too weak to do so, and lapses back into conformity by the end of the novel.

Related Topics:
Real estate - Salesman - Midwestern - Cincinatti - Boosterism

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One of the historical notes about the book is its use of the political word "liberal" from Chapter XXVI (26) and following. The book was written not too long after the project of new liberalism began, and so the term had not yet congealed in the US as standing for a specific stance of the moderate left as in the later New Deal. Babbitt takes to the word liberal as literally meaning "not instantly critical of the left", rather than as an agenda for a set of social programs, and even though he is a conservative businessman.

Related Topics:
New liberalism - New Deal - Conservative

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