Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt satirizes the life of commerce where status, position and comfortable but competitive conformity are the end in life. Lewis satirizes these features of life most common in some commercial democratic societies through an examination of the life of George Babbitt, a realtor from the fictional mid-western American city of Zenith.

Babbitt lives the life of a businessman who esteems the trappings of middle class success, in particular, what success can buy. Babbitt is seemingly happy with his success, for it has enabled him to display it to others through what it can buy; a house in a desirable neighborhood, a fine motor car, and membership of the right clubs and associations. Following a series of out-of-town trips, and dinner parties with persons “above” and “below” his level of financial status, Babbitt begins to question whether there is more to life. He searches for meaning/happiness, however, his search involves philandering and outwardly supporting radical views, or views he previously attacked prior to the start of his search for meaning and happiness. Babbitt’s search for happiness and meaning continues up to the point where his conduct begins to hurt him financially through being ostracized and blacklisted by his fellow club and association members who used to channel their business his way. Such flirtations prove temporary and Babbitt eventually reverts to his conservative and conformist ways.

Lewis’s writing is notable for its sarcastic and contemptuous praise of all the things important to Babbitt. Lewis tells us that a life devoted solely to the advancement of business, wealth, status and all it can buy is an empty life devoid of meaning – it will not make for a happy life. There is nothing new in this; many books have been written through the ages on this subject. Lewis’s innovation is that Babbitt’s attempts to “search for meaning” almost lead to his ruin until he sees the light and resorts to his old ways. A dissatisfied conservative life in business, wealth and status is apparently not made happy through philandering or adopting radical ideas. What then is Lewis’s point? How then, according to Lewis, do we become happy? He doesn’t say in this book. Perhaps the answer is provided elsewhere by Lewis, or, by recognizing that the means to "happiness" as viewed and pursued by Babbitt (which almost lead to his ruin) should not be considered in by a serious searcher for meaning or happiness.