Some might even believe that by introducing Babbitt as a materialist booster Lewis is criticizing boosterism. However, in his book Sinclair Lewis: An American Life, ples that demonstrate Lewis’s materialism. One of them is that in an 1908 editorial titled the “Needful Knocker” Lewis himself seems to idealize boosterism presenting it as the opposite of Knocking: “The booster’s enthusiasm is the motive force which builds up our American cities. Granted. In summary then, we do not wish to knock the booster, but we certainly do wish to boost the knocker” (142). 29 For all that, this quotation and others rebut what some critics claim about Lewis’ denunciation of boosterism. 30 Still, in general, Lewis might have deep concerns about materialism, and in particular, for the reason that he had undergone a financial crisis: it took a long time before his work paid off.
In Theodore Dreiser: A Primary Bibliography and Reference Guide, Donald Pizer, Richard Dowell, and Frederic Rusch indicate that one “permanent [center] of Dreiser criticism was his naturalism” and hence they define Dreiser’s Naturalism as “Darwinian materialistic determinism in theme and crude massiveness in technique” (Pizer et al
Whatever implications boosterism might suggest, it cannot be acquitted of being merciless. The idea of delineating business as an agency of mercilessness and exploitation (i.e. boosterism) is uttered by Karl Marx’ “Capital I”: “The expropriation of the immediate producers is accomplished with merciless vandalism […] capitalistic private property, which rests on exploitation of the nominally free labour of others (1986, p. 209). In An American Tragedy such mercilessness exists even when the kinship of the employer-employee is that of blood. Gilbert appoints Clyde as the head of a department in the factory. Simultaneously, he warns Clyde against critical link “playing” because the people who work for the company must “feel that they are employees first, last and all the time” (159). This note emphasizes the callousness of business and the hardheartedness of materialism: there is no place for softness or for romance. Gilbert, who despises Clyde, reminds the latter that he is a family member “by blood” and therefore he should represent them in the best way. This remark lacks the feelings of love and passion which characterize families and stresses the only uncontrollable bond and the racial lineage that connects Clyde to the family: the blood relationship (161).
Apparently, such instances might refer to the author’s deep anxieties about materialism and mass industry
Despite Gilbert’s warning, Clyde does not keep his promise, at least, not for long. Entering the golden social gate, Clyde thrives in Sondra 31 Finchley’s “magical” world, impressed by the “plethora” of such a world and the luxury it may offer if he marries her: “One would have a cook and servants, a great house and car, no one to work for, and only orders to give” (248). Nevertheless, during all this, Roberta finds herself pregnant. She succumbs to shame and disgrace: an illegitimate child (252). Clyde is horrified by such news because now he is to lose everything: Sondra’s love comes with expensive presents such as the “gold pencil” (254) which stands in sharp contrast to Roberta’s obviously cheaper “metal Eversharp pencil” (231), and the distinction points to the social and material conditions of both women. Certainly, it is yet another incentive for Clyde’s would-be merciless act.
The business policy endorsed by Griffiths confirms Dreiser’s belief in the theory of “the survival of the fittest,” which he adopted from Herbert Spencer’s First Principles (1896) and The Data of Ethics (1879), (Newlin, 2003 , p. 131). , 1991 , p. 93). Clyde, too, is subjected to this theory: because he is financially weak, he is doomed in the jungle of the business world. The policy of hiring new employees is explained to Clyde by Liggett:
