Is it me or does this novel have too many characters. I was forced to lay out all o the names in order to follow. AS you can guess this can be quite distracting to the point of the novel but let me try to understand what it all means. O.K, obviously Lily does not want to marry. I can’t tell whether it was her fate or choice to be free from the chains. It seems as if marriage in this society is the only way into the social elite. Why does she reject it then? It must have to do with being an individual. It seems as if the only one with enough sense in this book is Gertrude who chooses to live on her own. Lily on the other hand is confused. She doesn’t know what she wants. It seems as if she is as bad as the rest of te women constantly on hunt for a man(and the money that comes along with one). Yes, this makes them beast like. I’m thinking Mcteague at the moment. These characters are so artificial and pathetic. Mrs. Bart literally dies over the fact that she has no one to wind her clocks. They live the life. I would love to be served breakfast in bes the way they do. But what does it all bring. They are all in competition with each other. Who is the best host, who has the least amount of wrinkles, who has the biggest collection of Americana”? Who the heck cares. These people have no morals. There are a few charectors that I have a little respect for. Mr. Bart for example. Poor guy. He worked himself to death for his wife and daughter. They didn’t even care about him. Mrs. Peniston was against gambling. I think she was placed in the novel as a way to demonstrate Lily’s fate. Lawrence would prefer to keep out of the artificial life that the social elite brings. So what causes Lily to fall? It starts with her father’s bankruptcy, and ends with her being thrown off the yacht by Bertha. One thing certainly leads to another. If Lily didn’t borrow the money from Gus she could have married Seldon. ...
