Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-10-03
Sinclair Leluis, Master of
Stenographic Realism

/ doubtless responsible for the great pop
ularity of Main Street" and for the
growing popularity Of "Babbitt.' II
Is so real that at times it is startling
No man without considerable literary
gift could have done it.
| l have said that he lacks restraint,
but to his credit it must be said that
he has described two dinner parties
with much greater literary skill than
was shown by Booth Harrington in
"Alice Adams" The purpose of the
Harrington dinner party was to ex-
! hibit the difference in social habits of
the Adams family and Of the family of
the young man present as guest.
Harrington piles mishap upon mshnp
until it becomes painful, whereas he
could have produced his effect more
graciously by emitting half Of them and
by allowing something pleasant to hap
pen TO relieve the gloom. This is the
opinion of mere man. Women have
said that the dinner party of Tarking-
ton Is one of the finest things in the
book. Lewis. however, has Babbitt
entertain a family moving in higher
social circles than he and with few
dcft strokes he produces the impression
which he is after, the patronizing mood
Of the guests and the feeling Of tee hosts
that they are being patronizod. Then
he has the Rabbits entertained at
dinner by a family in n lower social
scale than theirs and he repeats tho air
Of patronage with the Rabbits doing
the patroni2ing. But neither dinner
party leads anywhere. The people are
just where they were before. Tarking-
tons dinner party is n crisis in his
novel. put in for a purpose and the
purpose is accomplished.
LcwiS moy in time become as skill
fW as Harrington, IN other rdW.
but he rill hare TO change his
methods first.
PROFESSOR STEWART 7. S1IER-
l. MAN. one of the admirers of Lewis,
has admirably summarized the man $
present limitations in recent essay in
which he says that if he "docs not wish
to pass for hardened pessimist he
will have to produce hero qualified in
some fashion TO register his own quest
for the desirable Neither in "Main
Street" nor in "Babbitt' has he in
dicatcd that there is anything that IS
to be desired. A Frcudian might say
that he is a man who has vainly sought
for enduring satisfactionS. and has de-
cided that they are not to be found Rut
the dissatisfaction which Lewis de-
scribcs is not the divine discomfort of
which the poets have written. 1t is
merely the disgust of little people with
the necessity of earning living when
they would much rather be doing some
thing else. 1t is impossible for either
n man or woman TO escape from tn"
struggle for existence. The man must
earn the money to buy food and clothing
for his family and the woman must
supcrntend the cooking of the food il
she does not do it herself and she must
look after the children. These are the
simple duties Of life which when recog-
nizcd are done without chatting under
the yoke. Stevenson butcher. who
curved meat, hut in his mCditative life
dwclt with the saints, had solved his
problem. Lewis people carve meat and
in their mcditativc life dwell with the
goading furics. They may be typiCH!
Americans. but ! do not want to think
that they arc.
GEORGE W. DOUGLAS.