# Chapter IV explained — National Avenue

> Chapter companion for National Avenue by Booth Tarkington.

## What happens

Dan Oliphant visits his grandmother, Mrs. Savage, who warns him against marrying a New York girl and mixing 'stocks.' She argues that the strongest American stock came from yeoman English settlers who moved west, while Easterners are 'remnants.' Dan defends Lena McMillan and her family, but Mrs. Savage remains skeptical. The chapter also describes the changing neighborhood around Mrs. Savage's house, with new commercial buildings and an apartment house rising near older cottages.

## Themes in this chapter

### Home and Belonging

Dan struggles with the choice between staying in his hometown and moving to New York to please Lena and her family.

### Social Class and Family

Mrs. Savage's warnings about 'mixing stocks' and the McMillan family's disdain for Dan highlight class and family tensions.

### Change and Loss

The neighborhood around Mrs. Savage's house is changing, with new commercial buildings and an apartment house replacing older cottages, symbolizing the loss of the old order.

## Character check-ins

### Dan Oliphant

Visits his grandmother and defends his engagement to Lena McMillan, but is troubled by her family's objections and the prospect of moving to New York.

### Mrs. Savage

Dan's grandmother, who delivers a lengthy warning against marrying a New York girl and mixing 'stocks,' and questions Dan's plans.

### Martha Shelby

Mentioned by Mrs. Savage as a more suitable match for Dan; Dan and Martha are seen walking together and parting at Mrs. Savage's gate.

### Lena McMillan

Dan's fiancée, discussed at length; her photograph is shown to Mrs. Savage, who remains unimpressed.

### Nimbus

Mrs. Savage's elderly servant, who announces Dan's arrival and is gently rebuked for stating the obvious.

## Key lines

> The surest way to make misery is to mix stocks.

Mixing different social or hereditary backgrounds will inevitably lead to unhappiness.

_Mrs. Savage warns Dan against marrying outside their perceived 'stock.'_

> They don't know anything in the world except French and soirées, and it's no wonder when you look at their stocks!

New York girls are frivolous and ignorant because of their inferior lineage.

_Mrs. Savage dismisses Lena's background as shallow._

> The only thing that keeps the East going is the people that emigrate back there from here in the second and third generations.

The East Coast is sustained by the descendants of Western pioneers who return there.

_Mrs. Savage argues that the West produces the strongest people._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/national_avenue_se/chapters/iv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/national_avenue_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/national_avenue_se/chapters