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The Babbitts visit Paul Riesling and his wife, Zilla. The Rieslings live in an \"excessively modern\" apartment house, and Zilla Riesling, too, is more \"modern\" than Babbitt and his wife are. Zilla is a witty woman who sees Zenith for the dull place it is and isn\'t afraid to say so. Her wit can turn to bitterness easily, though, when she feels she\'s been ignored by her husband. That\'s what happens now. The Babbitts try to convince Zilla that Paul is tired and deserves an early vacation in Maine. Paul isn\'t tired, Zilla objects: he\'s crazy and cowardly.
After this shrill outburst the evening goes from bad to worse. Zilla accuses her husband of having girlfriends, and Paul admits that she\'s right. Zilla\'s stupidity, he says, has driven him to other women. Then Babbitt attacks Zilla, his harsh words bringing her to tears. Sobbing, she agrees to let Paul leave for Maine a week early.
On the way home Babbitt feels triumphant, but Mrs. Babbitt sees that her husband has been a bully and that Zilla is herself a victim, a woman losing her youth and beauty and trapped with an unloving husband. Briefly, Babbitt is forced to admit that his wife is right. But like so many other moments of truth in Babbitt, this one is brushed aside. \"I don\'t care,\" Babbitt tells himself. \"I\'ve pulled it off.\"
On the New York express train Babbitt rejoices at his and Paul\'s escape. Yet in some ways he hasn\'t really left Zenith. The conversation among the traveling salesmen in the Pullman smoking compartment sounds like one that could be heard back at the Athletic Club; consequently, it\'s no surprise that, when Paul Riesling makes the mistake of speaking not about money but about beauty, the other men can\'t understand him.
A black porter enters the car. He doesn\'t seem respectful enough to the salesmen: they call him offensive names and warn that blacks must stay in their \"place,\" all the time loudly claiming they aren\'t prejudiced. Their hypocrisy is spelled out even more clearly when one of them says America needs \"to keep those damn foreigners out of the country.\" The man speaking is named Koplinsky--a \"foreign,\" Eastern European surname. If his wish for immigration controls had been granted a generation earlier, his family probably would not have been allowed into the country.
Paul, fed up, leaves. But Babbitt remains, comfortable with such familiar conversation.
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