The character of George Babbitt in the novel Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis is the author's image of the middle-American businessman of the age, a man constantly struggling with his identity in society and always eager to live up to the image he believes society sees as most superior. This image is based on the developing consumer culture, and Babbitt is a man who seeks to buy all the goods possible and to display them as trophies in his home in order to show the world that he is a success. What Babbitt wants is to be accepted in the terms he believes society has set, in terms of business ability, the accumulation of money, the right social image, and certain core American values. In truth, Babbitt never achieves the happiness and satisfaction he desires, and instead is constantly disappointed in the things he buys to make himself happy. His business dealings are part of his efforts to create an image and to live that image, and here again he is constantly disappointed that he never achieves the stature he seeks. He places a high value on a certain image without understanding that it is more illusion than reality.
Babbitt's home and office are both reflections of myself, but he fails to see how empty each may be. His home has been decked out with the best furniture and the latest gadgets, furnished with "the best of taste, the best of inexpensive rugs, a simple and laudable architecture, and the latest conveniences" (14). Only one thing is found to be wrong with the image of Babbitt and his house: "In fact there was but one thing wrong with the Babbitt house: It was not a home" (14). Instead, it has all the trappings of a home without the necessary heart. It has the right furnishings, but the people are not connected together as a family. This is the key issue in terms of what Babbitt wants--he knows he wants the image, but he fails to see that what he really wants is human contact. Money, and what it can buy, substitutes f...