“I read this for a high school English class and found it to be very well-written. It made its point soundly. Babbitt, the title character, is a well-known realtor who is known as a gentleman and is defined by his business success. But after a friend gets in trouble, he starts to feel alienated by what he stands for, and begins to rebel against the conformity he's clung to all his life. He realizes his wife doesn't understand him, that he doesn't enjoy his life, that he might need to be more open-minded. Going against all his principles from his "previous life," Babbitt begins to hang around with people he never would have associated with before, like liberal people who support unions and women with whom he can have affairs. However, he does end up realizing he loves his wife and does care about the issues he'd stood for, so he reverts to his conformist ways by the end of the story. His foray into another way of life helped him restore his convictions, coming back to them with a little more wisdom and compassion instilled in his mind. I wasn't too happy that he eventually went back to being sort of a suit drone, but I did like the way it was written.”
swankivy wrote this review Tuesday, June 30 2009.
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