The Plastic Age · Chapter
XII explained
Hugh and Carl navigate the intense fraternity rushing period at Sanford.
What happens
Hugh and Carl navigate the intense fraternity rushing period at Sanford. Despite Carl's social anxieties about his nouveau riche background, the two friends receive bids from multiple fraternities and ultimately join Nu Delta together. Hugh has a candid conversation with Malcolm Graham, who warns him about the political and sometimes disillusioning nature of fraternities. The chapter concludes with the brutal two-week initiation period, characterized by relentless paddling and humiliating tasks.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Fraternity Snobbery
Carl's anxiety about his nouveau riche background and the upper-classmen's perception of it highlight the class-based snobbery within fraternity culture.
Disillusionment and Loss of Innocence
Graham's frank talk about fraternity politics and Hugh's dawning realization that fraternities are not idealistic brotherhoods contribute to this theme.
College Life: Idealism vs. Reality
Hugh's romantic notions about fraternities clash with the harsh realities of rushing, paddling, and political maneuvering.
Characters to notice
- Hugh Carver
Hugh experiences the fraternity rushing process, receives bids, and joins Nu Delta. He defends Carl's worth and is unsettled by Graham's frank talk.
- Carl Peters
Carl is anxious about his social standing and nouveau riche background during rushing. He joins Nu Delta alongside Hugh and expresses gratitude.
- Malcolm Graham
Graham gives Hugh a candid, disillusioning talk about fraternity politics and warns him about Nu Delta, though Hugh initially mistrusts his motives.
Key passages
“Carl never explained how much he wanted to make a good fraternity, not any fraternity, only a good one; nor did he explain that his secret studying the first term had been inspired by his eagerness to be completely eligible.”
Carl hid his intense desire to join a prestigious fraternity and his strategic studying to ensure eligibility.
Reveals Carl's social insecurity and calculated efforts to fit in.
“The fraternity is a pleasant club: it gets you into campus activities; and it gives you a social life in college that you can’t get without it. It isn’t very important to most men after they graduate.”
Graham describes the fraternity as a useful social tool during college but of little lasting significance after graduation.
Graham's pragmatic view contrasts with Hugh's idealism.