The Plastic Age · Chapter
XXIV explained
In his final year at Sanford, Hugh spends his last vacation at home, working and reflecting.
What happens
In his final year at Sanford, Hugh spends his last vacation at home, working and reflecting. He sees Janet Harton (now Moffitt) and feels disillusioned, vowing to avoid women. Back at college, he enjoys his studies, earns good grades, and is elected to Helmer. However, the second term brings turmoil when Norry reports that Cynthia looks awful from overexertion. Hugh's correspondence with Cynthia deepens his confusion. Late in the term, he and fellow seniors—George Winsor, Jack Lawrence, and Pudge Jamieson—express bitter disillusionment with college, feeling it has coarsened them and failed to teach them to think. They decide to ask Professor Henley whether college is worthwhile.
Themes in this chapter
Disillusionment and Loss of Innocence
Hugh and his fellow seniors express deep disillusionment with college, feeling it has shattered their ideals and failed to provide real education, leaving them coarsened and confused.
Education and Intellectual Awakening
Despite his disillusionment, Hugh experiences genuine intellectual awakening in his senior year, enjoying his studies and earning good grades, particularly in Professor Henley's composition course.
Love and Romantic Confusion
Hugh's correspondence with Cynthia deepens his emotional turmoil, as he is torn between love and fear of commitment, leading to a tangled and painful relationship.
Characters to notice
- Hugh Carver
Spends his last college vacation at home, working and reflecting; sees Janet Harton and feels disillusioned with women; enjoys his senior year academically, earns good grades, and is elected to Helmer; becomes troubled by Cynthia's condition and his own confusion; expresses contempt for college education in a discussion with seniors.
- Janet Harton
Now Janet Moffitt; Hugh sees her at the lake and finds her childlike and shallow, feeling sorry for her husband.
- Norry Parker
Returns after Christmas and tells Hugh that Cynthia looks awful from overexertion.
- Cynthia Day
Mentioned by Norry as looking awful from a wild pace; corresponds with Hugh, expressing her love and willingness to wait.
- George Winsor
Participates in the senior discussion, criticizing college education and suggesting they ask Professor Henley if college is worthwhile.
- Pudge Jamieson
Joins the discussion, admits he knows little despite his Phi Beta Kappa key, and plans to attend law school.
Key passages
“College is bunk, pure bunk. They tell us that we learn to think. Rot! I haven't learned to think; a child can solve a simple human problem as well as I can. College has played hell with me.”
Hugh declares that college is worthless, claiming it has not taught him to think and has destroyed his ideals.
Hugh's bitter critique of his college education reflects his deep disillusionment.
“I'm not as fine as I was when I came here. I've been coarsened and cheapened; all of us have. I take things for granted that shocked me horribly once.”
Hugh feels that college has degraded him, making him accept behaviors that once appalled him.
Hugh laments the loss of his innocence and moral sensitivity during his college years.