# XV explained — So Big

> Chapter companion for So Big by Edna Ferber.

## What happens

Selina encourages Dirk to visit Paula Storm at Stormwood. Dirk visits Paula's lavish estate, where he is impressed by her stables and coach house, and they discuss his dissatisfaction with his architectural career. Paula's wealth and lifestyle both attract and unsettle him.

## Themes in this chapter

### Class and Social Mobility

Dirk's discomfort with Paula's wealth and the opulence of Stormwood highlights the class divide between his farm upbringing and high society.

### Ambition and Self-Fulfillment

Dirk expresses dissatisfaction with his architectural career, yearning for more creative and prestigious work.

### Beauty and Art

Selina's appreciation for aged, character-filled furniture and her love for live theatre contrast with the superficial elegance of Paula's world.

## Character check-ins

### Selina DeJong

Encourages Dirk to visit Paula, furnishes his room with secondhand treasures, and explores Chicago with a sense of wonder.

### Dirk DeJong

Visits Paula Storm at Stormwood, feels uneasy about her intentions, and expresses frustration with his architectural career.

### Pauline

Picks Dirk up in her roadster, shows him her stables and coach house, and tries to engage him in riding and driving.

### August Hempel

Mentioned as having lived in Chicago for over half a century but never explored it; also noted as refusing to visit Stormwood.

### Julie Hempel

Mentioned as telling Selina about Paula's new house.

### Theodore A. Storm

Mentioned as Paula's husband who never rides or takes exercise.

## Key lines

> Any piece of furniture, I don’t care how beautiful it is, has got to be lived with, and kicked about, and rubbed down, and mistreated by servants, and repolished, and knocked around and dusted and sat on or slept in or eaten off of before it develops its real character.

Selina believes furniture only gains true character through years of use and wear.

_Reflects Selina's philosophy on authenticity and the value of age._

> All the difference in the world between the movies and the thrill I get out of a play at the theatre. My, yes! Like fooling with paper dolls when you could be playing with a real live baby.

Selina finds live theatre far more exciting than movies, comparing the difference to playing with paper dolls versus a real baby.

_Highlights Selina's preference for genuine, live experiences over artificial ones._

> I’ve spent all yesterday and today planning how to work in space for toilets on every floor of the new office building, six stories high and shaped like a drygoods box, that’s going up on the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Ashland, west.

Dirk complains that his architectural work is mundane, focusing on practical details for a plain, boxy building.

_Illustrates Dirk's frustration with the lack of creative fulfillment in his job._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/so_big_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/so_big_se/chapters