Babbitt Trivia Quiz

Answer: Edith Wharton

Lewis had admired Wharton's work since his days at Yale in the early 1900s, and Wharton herself held Lewis' early novel "Main Street" in great esteem. When he rather timidly asked if he might dedicate "Babbitt" to her, she was delightedly surprised and admitted "I'm a little dizzy!" When the novel appeared, she wrote Lewis a long letter of appreciation, beginning: "There's so much to say about "Babbitt" that I don't know where to begin...If I've waited as long as this to have a book dedicated to me, Providence was evidently waiting to find just the Right Book. All my thanks for it."

Answer: Babyish

Babbitt is forty-six and a successful realtor (a profession which Lewis describes as "... the calling of selling houses for more than people could afford to pay."). Despite his years, Babbitt is a man of no character or individuality; Lewis describes his physical appearance in slumber thus: "His large head was pink, his brown hair thin and dry.

His face was babyish in slumber, despite his wrinkles and the red spectacle-dents on the slope of his nose." Babbitt's name is rich in symbolic allusion; his surname suggests the word "baby", also the word "babble" (it also rhymes with "habit", probably not coincidentally).

His quite dignified Christian name, George, is usually corrupted into the far less distinguished "Georgie" (reminiscent of Georgie-Porgie?) in the novel.

His middle name is Follansbee; very late in the novel, one of his cronies at the Booster club makes a play on this by creating the legend (inscribed on a blackboard) "George Follansbee Babbitt- oh you Folly!", which has far more significance than anyone in the club realizes.

Answer: Sanitation

Babbitt, writes Lewis, "...did not know a malaria-bearing mosquito from a bat; he knew nothing about tests of drinking water; and in the matters of plumbing and sewage he was as unlearned as he was voluble." Because of an unreasonable prejudice about the supposed unhealthiness of cesspools, he has outfitted his Glen Oriole acreage development with a complete sewage system, scorning the cesspool system used by the rival Avonlea development.

The problem is that "...the Glen Oriole sewers had insufficient outlet, so that waste remained in them, not very agreeably, while the Avonlea cesspool was a Waring septic tank."

Answer: Himself and his daughter Tinka

Babbitt's unflagging self-approval and good conscience is his hallmark throughout the novel, despite the fact that he is "not too unreasonably honest" in business and a complete hypocrite in his personal and home life. He is rather condescending to Paul, regarding him as a rather wayward younger brother who needs his guidance.

However it also seems likely that Babbitt (whose literacy is such that he thinks Samuel Butler's novel "The Way of All Flesh" is about religion) subconsciously finds Paul's intellectualism and greater depth of character rather stimulating. Being essentially a grown child himself, Babbitt is closest to his youngest child, ten year-old Tinka (short for Katherine), who is the daily recipient of the one affectionate nickname in his vocabulary- "kittiedoolie"- and who is still young enough to be in awe of him.

He is out of touch with his high-school age son Ted (full name: Theodore Roosevelt Babbitt) and still more so with his daughter Verona, a college graduate.

Answer: True

Myra, Babbitt's loyal and patient, but utterly colorless wife, is Paul's second cousin; she and Paul's wife, Zilla, were childhood friends. Myra's maiden name was Thompson; her father is Babbitt's business partner (coincidentally, Thompson was also the surname of Lewis' second wife Dorothy, whom he wed in 1928). Babbitt met her while studying law and developed a comfortable friendship (helped along by Myra's unflagging approval of everything Babbitt says and does), but Babbitt never actually loved her. Myra eventually came to regard their engagement as a matter of course, and Babbitt, unable to bring himself to hurt her feelings, took the path of least resistance and married her, rather to his dismay.

Answer: Law

Babbitt had begun working as a realtor while studying law. He had intended to be a crusading defense attorney, defending the distressed poor against the Unjust Rich. He had also dreamed of a political career, but had difficulty sustaining his lofty ideals and, thus, "fell back" on the comfortable routine of real estate.

Answer: He plays the violin

Paul had studied the violin and was going to go to Europe and become a virtuoso performer; sadly, like Babbitt, he chose a humbler and more routine livelihood- roofing. Paul has come to the depressing realization that he is nothing more than a hack; his marriage to Zilla merely reinforces his misery. Zilla berates Paul mercilessly and has the maddening habit of starting arguments with perfect strangers and expecting her husband to "be a man" and fight for her honor. Paul gets out of this by claiming (not at all convincingly) not to have heard a word of the incident, which leads to more abuse from Zilla.

Answer: Ice cream and liquor

The shadow of Prohibition hangs heavily over this novel, in which a great deal of drinking takes place even though the sale and purchase of liquor are prohibited by law. Although Babbitt supports Prohibition, his home is always sufficiently stocked with booze (no doubt of dubious quality); for the dinner party, he makes a stop at Healey Hanson's saloon (where, we are told in the previous chapter, a murder had taken place the night before) to pick up some bootleg gin.

He also stops at Vecchia's, an Italian caterers, to pick up some ice cream; he almost forgets to make this stop, although Myra, to his considerable annoyance, reminds him several times.

Answer: He comments on the beauty of the steel mill.

Paul is struck by the way the flames from the mill transform the cluttered steel yard into a thing of beauty in the dark night. When he exclaims "My lord, look at that- beautiful!", the others assume that he means "beauty" in the figurative sense, and begin talking about the fortune the plant made during the war.

When Paul explains what he actually meant, the others mentally dismiss him as a highbrow (except for Babbitt, who tries unsuccessfully to jolly things along) and ignore him for the rest of the conversation.

The appearance of a "colored" steward prompts an especially unsavory turn of discussion, as the men speak disapprovingly of blacks who fail to "keep their place" and aspire to "white men's jobs", all the while insisting that they have not a shred of racial prejudice. Paul makes his exit shortly after this.

Answer: Eunice Littlefield, Ted's girlfriend

The "fairy child" represents Babbitt's vision of the ideal woman; significantly, she is perpetually slender and untouched by age and is utterly and uncritically adoring of himself. Apart from these two factors, she has no particularly outstanding features. Eunice Littlefield is the girlfriend of Babbitt's son Ted; when she comes into the house, she innocently flirts with and teases Babbitt, jumping into his lap and crumpling his newspaper, which simultaneously annoys and arouses him. Babbitt's dream companion soon begins to take on a marked resemblance to Eunice; he does not seem overly disturbed by the obvious Freudian overtones of this. Later, desperately seeking sexual comfort in the immediate wake of Paul's imprisonment and Myra's subsequent absence (she goes to visit her ailing sister), Babbitt entertains similar fantasies about Louetta Swanson, the wife of his friend Eddie Swanson; he makes a pass at her, in fact.

Answer: He discovers that Paul is having an affair.

Babbitt is shocked when he sees Paul having dinner with a strange woman. Paul introduces her as one Mrs. Arnold (a widow). When Babbitt confronts Paul about his immorality, Paul once more agonizes over his growing unhappiness with Zilla and his need for a sympathetic companion.

Although he deeply disapproves, Babbitt agrees to keep quiet about the affair (he will have one himself later in the novel, also with a widow).

Answer: He offers to perjure himself on the witness stand.

Babbitt asks Lawyer Maxwell if he couldn't take the stand and testify that Zilla had reached for the gun first and that Paul shot her by accident trying to wrest it away from her. Maxwell reminds Babbitt that this constitutes perjury and that, at any rate, the prosecution could easily establish that Babbitt wasn't even present when the shooting took place. That Babbitt actually goes so far as to propose such an outrageous thing is a clear indication of how distraught he is over Paul's imprisonment.

He is even more depressed when Maxwell suggests that the best thing he can do to help Paul is to stay off the stand altogether. As Maxwell explains: "The trouble with you, Babbitt, is that you're one of these fellows who talk too readily. You like to hear your own voice. If there were anything for which I could put you in the witness box, you'd get going and give the whole show away. Sorry."

Answer: False

Paul, who is deeply ashamed and is reluctant to see Babbitt at first, intends to plead "Guilty", much to Babbitt's dismay. He is overwhelmed by his violent act, which has awakened feelings of sympathy for his injured wife. As we learn later in the novel, these feelings are not mutual.

Answer: Eunice Littlefield

Although Babbitt has fantasized about his son's girlfriend in his dreams, he (mercifully) refrains from seriously considering an affair with her. He does consider his secretary, Miss McGoun, and goes so far as to keep her a little late and inquire about her plans after work, but thinks better of it.

He then goes to Thornleigh's and makes so bold as to ask a young manicurist, Ida Putiak, out to dinner. Although Ida agrees and even permits him to kiss her in the cab going home, she is too canny to go all the way and asks to be dropped off at her home, leaving Babbitt feeling rather foolish. During a visit at the home of his friend Ed Swanson, he makes a rather desperate pass at Ed's attractive wife Louetta, who is uncomfortable and breaks away from him (though she seems more willing at a later point in the novel). Eventually, Babbitt begins an affair with an attractive, widowed female client of his; the exotically named Tanis Judique.

Answer: She has become a religious fanatic.

During her recovery, Zilla has been visited by the pastor of the Pentecostal Communion Faith, an apocalyptic and fanatical sect, who succeeded in converting her to his church's faith. Zilla now believes that the end of the world is imminent and has foresworn worldly pleasures in order to be saved when God comes. Christian forgiveness, however, does not seem to figure in her new religion; she rejoices that Paul is in prison, reasoning that the punishment he is enduring may yet save his soul. After telling Babbitt that she is at peace after finding God, she expresses the hope that Paul will die in prison! This prompts the one statement of Babbitt's that virtually any reader may wholeheartedly agree with: "Well, if that's what you call being at peace, for heaven's sake just warn me before you go to war, will you?"

Answer: His reluctance to join the "Good Citizens' League"

Babbitt's affair with Mrs. Judique and his occasional socializing with her associates is largely kept secret from Babbitt's mainstream asociates, though there are rumors. His rather half-hearted expressions of admiration for the liberal Seneca Doane and of sympathy for the striking workers raise some eyebrows, but it is his chronic reluctance to join the "Good Citizens' League" (a sort of Zenith version of the "John Birch Society") when invited to do so by Verne Gunch which leads his comfortable circle of friends and acquaintances to conclude that he has "turned crank".

He finds himself snubbed and increasingly cut off from mainstream Zenith society; even Myra comments on this and chides him for not joining the League.

Answer: True

Myra never overtly voices her suspicions, but she becomes suspicious at her husband's reluctance to give her an account of the household expenses during the time she was away. She also notes Babbitt's increasing shortness of temper with her and, most painfully, his inability to bring himself to display any physical affection for her. Myra also finds Babbitt's excuses for his evening excursions to visit "a client" or "some people" increasingly unconvincing.

Answer: His wife becomes seriously ill.

Babbitt discovers Myra in bed one night groaning in pain and becomes sufficiently concerned to call the doctor. She is diagnosed with a ruptured appendix and must be operated on immediately. Babbitt is suddenly made aware of her fragility and vulnerability; suddenly, she is no longer merely a prop for himself.

Although he seems, yet again, on the verge of a kind of epiphany, Myra's successful operation and recovery ultimately revive a desire to return to his former comfortable existence. He joins the "Good Citizen's League" and reaffirms his earlier parochial and myopic views on society and ethics.

In short, he returns to much the same state as when the novel began.

Answer: False

Although Myra is certainly appalled, along with Eunice's parents, Babbitt secretly expresses admiration for his son's action. Ted's willingness to take such a decisive action and go after something that he really wants, despite the consequences, is something Babbitt himself has never been able to do.

He admits to Ted "I don't know's I've accomplished anything except just get along... Well, maybe you'll carry things on further. I don't know. But I do get a kind of sneaking pleasure out of the fact that you knew what you wanted to do and did it!"

Answer: H.G. Wells

Lewis was a great admirer of Wells (the latter's "The Story of Mister Polly" was an early inspiration for Lewis) and had actually named his first son Wells Lewis after the author. Wells had expressed admiration for Lewis' "Main Street" and was unreserved in his admiration for "Babbitt". The two men shared a mutual contempt for the myopic bourgeois values of their respective societies.
Lewis had initially intended this novel to be in the style of Joyce's "Ulysses"; it would take place during the course of a single day, beginning with Babbitt asleep in bed and rising for work and ending with him suffering a hangover from bootleg gin; however, the novel quickly grew out of this narrow confine.
The name "Babbitt" has entered the American vocabulary to designate smug, middle-class conformity; a fellow FunTrivia member and quiz-maker (Catamount) informs me that J.R.R.Tolkien had the name "Babbitt" in mind when he created the word "Hobbit" for his smug, self-satisfied Shire folk.