Babbitt

Study Guide

1. What do you learn about working life in the 1920s from this novel? Compare and contrast to the images of working life in Black Boy and Out of this Furnace.
2. What does it mean to belong to the "Clan of the Good Fellows"? Describe three or four different ways Babbitt conforms to the rules of this clan.
3. Compare and contrast the lives of three of the women depicted in this book. Consider their social lives, their work experiences, their education, and their political awareness.
4. What effect have Progressive-Era reforms had on white middle-class life in Zenith? Consider issues other than Prohibition.
5. What chances do people have to revolt against the social constraints of their lives in Zenith? How do they do so? How do these compare with the revolts of other characters or people we have discussed in this class?
6. What evidence of a generation gap do you find in Babbitt? Do you believe that generation gap offers any chance for social change?

Internet Resources

Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy

Library of Congress source materials documenting the prosperity of the Coolidge years, the nation’s transition to a mass consumer economy, and the role of government in this transition.

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