The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-10-10
AnnIrr ~ Sinclair Lew. IIarcouFL
AKh sINcLAn LrwIss nreaonl

nchefe it1t authors never REPEAT thff
lriumpha Nothing delights mora tho SEN
saiion fed American public after raising
40 a new celebrity 10 tho stars Than 70 ro-
a1to him to The ranks 10th Mr., iiuichln-
fon and Mr. Lewis fsoc this human nreiu-
Gee Of democincles with their seasou'a Of
lsrlnrs. Afr. slnelnlr LOWS ~ least. with
he keen understanding Of popular proecsses
hf thinking. has not sought 90 ovado tho
Issue. "iiabhllt" u a distinct challenge
Alike 70 tho friends and tho critics of his
famous novel Qunintly the intention is
too apparent. but It has tho merit Of uu-
daciiy, Imagination and that vital conn
dtnco IN oneself which protects a certain
author oven aeninst his fricnds.
i, has become popular In certain cauHtlc
circles 10 say tho SUCCESS of "Maln Street"
gaa madc by those who could mover finish
n, ana In this criticism ihore must bo
iomo portlnaoliy. for Il has not only bc-
fomc current hero hnt iciurns 10 us from
l.ne'lah sources. IL ls criticism which
Ar. Lewis. II hc ndhoros to his present
literary methods. VIII have 10 face con-
tnuouaiy others have aid that the popn-
lariy of tho book Law IN lis extremely fcli-
fl,ous title aud have asserted that once
the proposition stated the rest was Im-
material. All these criticisms can he
urged against tho city method Of MIR.
Lewis In the present book without. how
ever. dotracting from the significance of
Mr. Lcxis IN present day fiction.
T... tsa.s ffrrttra seIafEFr aft I attln n
true novelist or not. whether he is a
socloloFlst rather than an artist whether
ils depletion Of "AIaln Street. and tho
larger maeadamizcd Main Street OF Bah
btt." ls true TO life or q distortion: the
fact will remain that Mir. Lewis is reyolu-
tionizngly significant ~ his later de-
velopment. added TO his realistic genius
tor detailed observation. tronchnnt phrase
and folicitous description (part of the bag
Eago Of an artist surely. he may de-
vclop q vision for seeing from the bottom
IN. as wcll as from the top down, and a
moro sympathetic perception Of the humble
quaiities of romance: which is simply
stated, that the lights and shadows Of ifc
are relative aud that the compensations OF
love, ambition. sacrifice and hope are just
as active. precious and real under the cloak
OF vulgnrlty as where refinement, opportu-
nifty and education fashion a society. The
secret OF the success OF Dickens was not
In tho pencil of the carieaturist but in his
power to draw out Of tho masses eharac-
ters that were often iovabo and always
sympathetically understandable.
Yet, If Mr. Lewis does remain in his
present literary method he afll at least
have profoundly affe, I'd not only the COM
ing generation of uovelists hut, a more
notable achievement. have educated the
grent reading public TO a willingness to-
ward self examination. receptive mood,
which induces a genuine literature. Many
a novel Of fearless Insight into American
life will succeed because Mr.. Lewis has
shocked his public with the brusqueries OF
main Street" and Rabbit" When we
remember the treacle hungry public of
only ten years ago and its sacrosanct
tenets Of SNUG respectability that were the
despair Of the writer, |, for one acknowl-
edge gratefully my debt to the rlotous au-
dacity OF Mr. Lewis
II.
Considered as novel "3abbltt" is ex-
tremely vulnerable. But first consider It
not as work of fiction but as an arraign-
ment of society, which Mr.. Lewis GER
tainly has in mind and possibly holds Of
major Importance. For after all the novel
is valuable as a literary form. chiefly be-
cause 1t may be said to have no cananzed
form and is plastic material that each ar
riving literary architect can mold to his
own requirements, undaunted BY traditions.
Wells's Marriage 10 cite but one case Is
distinctly a tract. Promptly then "13abbitt'
should be considered as a polemic.
Mir. Lewis, then. having accomplished t
the notable feat Of forcing Snug Amer ]
lea to consider its superficial vanities and I
narrowness in d novel that was /
50 significant of all American life that the !
title Main Street has become universally ]
applicable. has now proceeded to bigger t
,anvaG and applied his lindoubted talents Q
If analytical ciSicsm to booster business 7
,s in a booster town Of 100000 inhabitants c
ocated somewhere near Chicago. Babbitt v
IS real estate OPERATOR product of a State Il
prospeling at forty; married 4
10 q woman who became his wife as a t
sort Of sentimental accident: living a home I
life OF unrelieved yugarity; yulgarian n
himself, and tie friend of business types n
II boosters who are represented as narrow,
vulgar. covetous. explosive. ostentatious G
md cheaply imitation of standards they II
merely coyet But Bahbitt, though cvi- Il
iently drawn to represent that tyrant Of q
democracy, the average citizen his point "
,f view, his methods Of self-deeeption, &
and self sufficency is, t
tfter ALL only a convenient window s.
through which TO spy out the real hero of o
he book, which is the city Of Zenith ITSELF II
Mr.. Sinclair Lewis proceeds to arraign Il
he city Of Zenith Supply whatever name n
'ccurs to you) with an aceumulating ar ii
ay Of detailed criticism worthy Of u
'inkerton agency and in a manner that "
uegests the opening Of new era OF liter o
ry undertaking. lie arraigns ii trench is
Ely. imag.aativcly, vindictivey. without i
sA,-1s.cmise Or palliation. Business is its Il
'Ud anG tie booster its prophet. Its sue n
f4xAillrcs fr1fI xssif1 -