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Babbitt, who loves anything large and new, is anxious to see the large, new Pennsylvania Hotel when he and Paul arrive in New York. Paul wants to see an ocean liner. You\'ll remember that it was Paul\'s youthful ambition to go to Europe and study the violin. Now as Babbitt and he make their way to the docks, he insists he will cross the Atlantic some day. (Babbitt would like to go, too. But while Paul thinks of Europe as a place of culture, Babbitt thinks of it as a place where he can easily get a drink.) When they reach the docks, Paul becomes upset. It\'s as if the ocean liners are reminders that his youthful dreams of musical success are now forever out of his reach.
At last, Maine. The pine woods, the clear lake--symbols of a masculine, wilderness world completely unlike Zenith--bring Babbitt peace. After a week at camp, both he and Paul have changed from the boisterous but unhappy men they are in Zenith into the naive, enthusiastic boys they were in college. Their families\' arrival briefly dampens these good feelings but doesn\'t destroy them.
The next year will be different, Babbitt promises himself as he returns to Zenith. Perhaps it will be. But you might notice that the only thing he hopes for is that the Real Estate Board will elect him president. That\'s a sign that he still thinks of his life in terms of business success, and that his values may not have changed as much over the last few weeks as he thinks they have.
What do you think it would take to shake up Babbitt and make him undergo a genuine change of heart? Would anything be sufficient? Or is he inevitably doomed to conformism, mingled with an occasional tremor of restlessness?
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