Babbitt · Chapter
Chapter XV explained
Babbitt attends his university class dinner, hoping to advance socially by reconnecting with the wealthy Charles McKelvey.
What happens
Babbitt attends his university class dinner, hoping to advance socially by reconnecting with the wealthy Charles McKelvey. He succeeds in securing a dinner invitation from McKelvey, and the Babbitts host the McKelveys, though the evening is stiff and awkward. Later, Babbitt reluctantly dines with a poorer classmate, Ed Overbrook, and finds the experience dreary and uncomfortable.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Social Pretense
Babbitt's calculated friendliness toward McKelvey and his disdain for Overbrook reveal the superficiality and self-interest behind social interactions.
Conformity and Materialism
Babbitt's desire for status symbols like a dinner with the McKelveys and his discomfort with Overbrook's poverty highlight the era's materialistic values.
Characters to notice
- George F. Babbitt
Anxiously seeks social advancement through his university class dinner and later hosts the McKelveys, but finds the evening strained.
- Myra Babbitt
Helps plan the dinner for the McKelveys and is nervous about the social outcome; later shares Babbitt's relief at not having to reciprocate the Overbrooks' invitation.
- Paul Riesling
Attends the class dinner but feels out of place; Babbitt tries to cheer him up and keep him involved.
- Charley McKelvey
The wealthy and powerful class hero whom Babbitt courts for social favor; he accepts Babbitt's dinner invitation but the evening is awkward.
- Ed Overbrook
A poor, admiring classmate who invites Babbitt to dinner; the evening is a social failure, leaving Babbitt uncomfortable.
- Max Kruger
A banker and part of McKelvey's social circle at the class dinner.
- Zilla Riesling
Mentioned as the source of Paul's troubles before the dinner.
Key passages
“His march to greatness was not without disastrous stumbling. Fame did not bring the social advancement which the Babbitts deserved.”
Babbitt's rise in prominence did not automatically grant him the higher social status he and Myra expected.
Introduces the chapter's central conflict of social aspiration versus reality.
“Despite their resolution to be democratic they divided into two sets: the men with dress-clothes and the men without.”
Even though they intended to be egalitarian, the class dinner split into those who wore formal attire and those who did not.
Highlights the class divisions that persist even among old college friends.
“If he was not invited by them to dinner, he was yet accustomed to talking with bank-presidents, congressmen, and clubwomen who entertained poets.”
Though not part of their inner circle, Babbitt was used to mingling with influential people.
Shows Babbitt's social confidence despite his exclusion from the highest tier.
“It was miserable from the beginning. The Overbrooks had dinner at six-thirty, while the Babbitts never dined before seven.”
The evening with the Overbrooks was unpleasant from the start, beginning with the early dinner hour.
Illustrates the cultural and class gap between Babbitt and his poorer classmate.