# XII explained — National Avenue

> Chapter companion for National Avenue by Booth Tarkington.

## What happens

Harlan visits his dying grandmother, Mrs. Savage, who expresses her bitter opinions about Lena, Dan's wife, and the newborn baby. She condemns Lena as mercenary and bad, predicts the child's doom, and insists Dan should have married Martha Shelby. Harlan defends Lena mildly but ultimately agrees with his grandmother's harsh judgments. The chapter also reflects on Mrs. Savage's long presence in her window and her stubborn will to live despite her frailty.

## Themes in this chapter

### Generation and Legacy

Mrs. Savage prophesies the baby's failure due to his parents' flaws, reflecting anxiety about inherited character and family decline.

### Marriage and Alienation

Lena's marriage to Dan is portrayed as mercenary and unhappy; she isolates herself and nags him, while Mrs. Savage believes she will leave him.

### Change and Loss

Mrs. Savage's physical decline and the loss of her presence at the window symbolize the passing of an era and the inevitability of death.

## Character check-ins

### Harlan Oliphant

Visits his grandmother, defends Lena halfheartedly, and is told by Mrs. Savage that Martha will never marry him.

### Mrs. Savage

Bedridden and dying, she speaks vehemently against Lena, predicts the baby's failure, and insists Dan should have married Martha.

### Lena McMillan

Discussed harshly by Mrs. Savage as mercenary, painted, bad, and a poor mother; Harlan offers weak defense.

### Dan Oliphant

Mentioned as Lena's husband, a foolish but not bad person, and as the one who should have married Martha.

### Martha Shelby

Described by Mrs. Savage as the woman Dan should have married and as someone who will never look at Harlan.

### Baby Henry Daniel

The newborn great-grandson whose future Mrs. Savage darkly predicts will be doomed due to his parents.

## Key lines

> I guess it’s a good thing I’ve made a new will! Maybe this girl might have sense enough to clear out.

Mrs. Savage suggests that Lena might leave Dan if she realizes there is no money, and that her new will will ensure that.

_Reveals Mrs. Savage's suspicion that Lena married Dan for money and her hope that Lena will abandon him._

> When people put a lot on what their folks used to do, it always means they haven’t got gimp enough left to do anything themselves.

Mrs. Savage dismisses the McMillan family pride as a sign of decline, implying that boasting about ancestry indicates a lack of present vitality.

_Highlights the theme of generational decay and Mrs. Savage's contempt for the McMillan family._

> A woman that uses it at all is a bad woman and wants the men to know it.

Mrs. Savage equates wearing rouge with moral corruption and a deliberate attempt to attract male attention.

_Reflects early 20th-century moral judgments about cosmetics and female sexuality._

> People never forgive you for knowing they’re bad.

Mrs. Savage believes Lena hates her because Lena knows that Mrs. Savage sees her true immoral nature.

_Explains the ongoing hostility between Lena and Mrs. Savage._

## Links

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