# VIII explained — Alice Adams

> Chapter companion for Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington.

## What happens

Alice attends a dance where she struggles with social rejection and her fading popularity. She employs the 'absentee partner' ruse to appear sought-after, but is left alone when her matron abandons her. Harvey Malone condescends to her, and she dances with Arthur Russell, who she suspects was sent by Mildred as a charitable gesture. Alice sends Russell to find her brother Walter, who is discovered shooting dice in the cloakroom. After returning home, Alice breaks down sobbing in her mother's arms.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Mobility

Alice's anxiety about her social standing is evident as she fears being seen as unpopular and uses ruses to maintain appearances.

### Appearance vs. Reality

Alice pretends to be a jolly, popular girl while internally feeling rejected and resentful; the 'absentee partner' device is a deliberate deception.

### Pride and Shame

Alice's pride is wounded by being ignored and by Harvey Malone's condescension; she feels shame about her brother's behavior and her own social decline.

## Character check-ins

### Alice Adams

Struggles with social rejection at the dance, uses the 'absentee partner' ruse, feels resentment toward the young men who ignore her, and eventually breaks down crying at home.

### Walter Adams

Found by Arthur Russell shooting dice in the cloakroom; angry with Alice for sending someone to find him.

### Mrs. Adams

Waits up for Alice, asks about her evening, and comforts her when she breaks down sobbing.

### Arthur Russell

Dances with Alice at Mildred's request, then goes to find Walter in the cloakroom.

### Harvey Malone

Condescendingly speaks to Alice, calling her 'Lady Alicia' and 'old girl'; described as a glossy, handsome man trying to marry Henrietta Lamb.

### Mildred Palmer

Hostess of the dance; sends Arthur Russell to dance with Alice as a charitable gesture.

## Key lines

> For a girl who has been a belle, it is harder to live through these bad times than it is for one who has never known anything better.

A former popular girl finds social decline more painful than someone who never experienced popularity.

_Reflects Alice's internal struggle with her fading social status._

> She wanted to tell them they were no better than that; and it seemed a cruel thing of heaven to let them go on believing themselves young lords.

Alice resents the young men who ignore her, seeing them as undeserving of their self-importance.

_Highlights Alice's bitterness and sense of injustice._

> She supposed that Mildred's Mr. Russell had forgotten Walter by this time. 'I'm not even an intimate enough friend of Mildred's for him to have thought he ought to bother to tell me he couldn't find him,' she thought.

Alice feels insignificant, believing Arthur Russell wouldn't bother to report back to her.

_Shows Alice's low self-esteem and perception of her social standing._

> But at this, without warning, Alice threw herself into her mother's arms, sobbing so loudly that in his room, close by, her father, half drowsing through the night, started to full wakefulness.

Alice suddenly breaks down crying in her mother's arms, startling her father awake.

_Climactic emotional release after the evening's social pressures._

## Links

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