The Magnificent Ambersons · Chapter
XXXIII explained
George Amberson Minafer, living in obscurity with his Aunt Fanny, takes a sour pilgrimage through the city, witnessing the erasure of the Amberson legacy—the hotel, opera house, block, and mansion are all gone or repurposed.
What happens
George Amberson Minafer, living in obscurity with his Aunt Fanny, takes a sour pilgrimage through the city, witnessing the erasure of the Amberson legacy—the hotel, opera house, block, and mansion are all gone or repurposed. He discovers that Amberson Boulevard has been renamed Tenth Street and that the Amberson name is absent from a civic history book of the city's 500 most prominent citizens. He finds a job at chemical works, endures a dull boardinghouse life, and ultimately receives his long-awaited comeuppance as the city buries the Ambersons forever.
Themes in this chapter
Decline of Aristocracy
The Amberson name is erased from the city—hotel, opera house, block, mansion, and boulevard are all gone, symbolizing the complete fall of the family.
Illusion of Permanence
George confronts the impermanence of the Amberson legacy as buildings are demolished and the boulevard renamed.
Coming of Age and Humility
George works a lowly job, endures social ridicule, and receives his comeuppance, marking a forced maturation.
Characters to notice
- George Amberson Minafer
Takes a pilgrimage to the former Amberson sites, discovers the family name erased from the city, works at chemical works, and receives his comeuppance.
- Fanny Minafer
Lives with George in an apartment, plays bridge, makes coffee for George, and has a vague understanding of his job.
- Major Amberson
His mansion and properties are demolished; the Amberson legacy is buried under the city's expansion.
- Isabel Amberson
Her house is among the wreckage cleared for new tenements.
- Eugene Morgan
Mentioned indirectly through the past; not present in the chapter.
Key passages
“The city had rolled over his heart, burying it under, as it rolled over the Major’s and buried it under. The city had rolled over the Ambersons and buried them under to the last vestige”
The city overwhelmed George just as it had overwhelmed the Major and the entire Amberson family, erasing them completely.
Illustrates the theme of decline and the finality of the Amberson erasure.
“Georgie Minafer had got his comeuppance. He had got it three times filled and running over.”
George received the punishment he had long deserved, and it was more than enough.
Directly states the fulfillment of the long-awaited comeuppance.