The Coming of Bill · Chapter
IX: The White Hope Is Turned Down explained
Kirk Winfield is utterly absorbed in fatherhood, marveling at his son William's every action and dreaming of his future.
What happens
Kirk Winfield is utterly absorbed in fatherhood, marveling at his son William's every action and dreaming of his future. Steve Dingle and Mrs. Lora Delane Porter each envision different grand destinies for the child. Ruth, longing to reconcile with her father, sends Steve on a disastrous diplomatic mission to John Bannister's house, where the old man coldly rebuffs them, refusing to acknowledge his grandson.
Themes in this chapter
Parenthood and Child Rearing
Kirk's transformation from a detached bachelor to a doting father who pivots his entire world around William's every achievement.
Class and Bohemianism
The clash between the bohemian studio life of Kirk and Steve and the rigid, wealthy formality of John Bannister's Fifth Avenue household.
Wealth and Corruption
John Bannister's cold, manipulative use of politeness as a weapon to maintain social distance and reject familial connection.
Characters to notice
- Kirk Winfield
Overwhelmed by paternal pride, he abandons his painting and dreams of William's combined career as ambassador, champion boxer, and painter.
- Ruth Bannister
Desires to heal the breach with her father and sends Steve to present William as a peace offering.
- Steve Dingle
Acts as the reluctant envoy, bungles the mission, and is unnerved by John Bannister's icy politeness.
- William Bannister Winfield
The 'White Hope'—a remarkable, imperious baby who talks in his own language and causes chaos during the visit to his grandfather.
- John Bannister
Coldly refuses to acknowledge his grandson, dismissing Steve and William with exaggerated politeness.
- Mrs. Lora Delane Porter
Predicts an intellectual future for William, envisioning him as a university president or ambassador.
Key passages
“William Bannister Winfield was the most wonderful child. Of course, you had to have a certain amount of intelligence to see this.”
Only perceptive people could recognize that William was an extraordinary baby.
The narrator's ironic tone establishes the family's exaggerated pride in the infant.
“His identity seemed to have undergone a change. The person he had known as Kirk Winfield had disappeared, to be succeeded by a curious individual bubbling over with an absurd pride for which it was not easy to find an outlet.”
Fatherhood transformed Kirk into a man overflowing with irrational pride, struggling to contain his excitement.
Highlights Kirk's complete psychological shift from artist to devoted father.
“Steve made a few objections. His chief argument against taking up the post assigned to him was that he was a roughneck, and that the job in question was one which no roughneck, however gifted in the matter of left hooks, could hope to carry through with real success.”
Steve protested that his rough, unpolished nature made him unfit for the delicate diplomatic mission Ruth had given him.
Foreshadows the failure of the visit due to Steve's discomfort in high-society settings.
“Anger which found its expression in an exaggerated politeness was out of his line and made him uncomfortable.”
Steve was unnerved by John Bannister's cold, overly polite manner of expressing displeasure.
Contrasts Steve's direct, emotional world with the repressed hostility of the wealthy.
