So Big

Dirk attends university but chafes and grows restless under the tutelage of the female professors. He returns home regularly. Like many people in High Prairie, he assumes that Selina is lonely. They have no idea how she sits before her fire with her memories, recalling her father, husband, and even her son, whom she would affectionately call Sobig. During their regular conversations, Selina notes the budding affection between Dirk and Julie Hempel’s daughter, Paula. They spend time together often, and Julie invites Dirk to many social gatherings, where his background of relative poverty often makes him feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless, Selina notes how often her son directs the conversation back to Paula. He says that she “makes all the other girls look sort of blowzy” (120), though admits that he is often perturbed by her cold and grabby hands. In contrast, he praises his mother’s hands. Dirk mentions his interest in architecture. Studying architecture would cost a great deal of money, but Selina is delighted that her son has an artistic interest. To fund his studies, Selina decides to invest in pigs. Dirk is appalled, but Selina assures him that these “high-bred hogs” (123) will be very profitable. The farm no longer has debts, she says, and is now profitable. Furthermore, she loves her life on the farm. She likes providing food for so many people.

Dirk studies architecture at Cornell. He develops a contempt for the local architecture of Chicago. When he graduates in 1913, Selina attends the ceremony. She wonders whether this would have happened if Pervus was alive, but she chides herself for such a thought. Dirk takes a junior job in an architecture office but is frustrated by his lack of opportunities. He is paid little, and Selina believes that he is avoiding the company of Paula and Eugene, as he fears that he looks poor beside them. When Paula visits the farm, she and Dirk wander through the fields. Paula confesses to Dirk that she will need to marry a wealthy man. Her grandfather’s business has fallen into difficulties, she notes, and she has grown accustomed to the trappings of wealth. Dirk struggles to vocalize his love for Paula and his horror that she would marry anyone else, but she insists that she must marry a rich man. Six months later, she marries a wealthy 50-year-old businessman named Theodore A. Storm. They live in a large house and, within a few years, Paula has two children. When World War I breaks out in 1914, the Hempel family business rockets to new profitable heights. Unexpectedly, Paula telephones Dirk and invites him to her family estate.

Selina encourages Dirk to visit Paula. She collects him from his small, sparsely decorated apartment. The apartment was decorated with Selina’s help during one of her occasional visits to stay with her son in Chicago, during which she often visited the theater but noted her distaste for the cinema. Paula is driving a large, expensive car. He invites her into the house while he packs, feeling faintly embarrassed about his meagre possessions and unimpressive wardrobe. Paula drives fast and with relish toward the large mansion in the city’s suburbs. At the Stormwood estate, Paula is “very much the mistress of the house” (133). She gives Dirk a brief tour, during which he counts the many servants in her employ. Her young children are cared for by a nanny. Dirk is impressed by the ostentatious display of wealth and is struck by Paula’s beauty.

Paula’s husband Theodore is not expected home until late, but much to Dirk’s disappointment, Paula has invited the neighbors to dine with them. They play bridge after dinner; Theodore makes a brief, uninterested appearance during the game. Paula assures Dirk that Theodore likes him. She claims that she wants Dirk “to be successful” (135) and admits that her marriage is a mess. Nevertheless, she wants to use her wealth and connections to help Dirk. She encourages Dirk to give up his unrewarding job in the architecture office. Dirk, feeling proud, refuses. That evening, he stands alone before the mirror and interrogates himself about the evening. In her bedroom, Paula does the same. The next day, Paula takes Dirk to the stables and teaches him to ride. He assures her that he is not angry with her and jokes that he thinks of her as someone who is “bored with her husband” (138) and is enlivening her existence through Dirk. When he laments his lack of money and his inability to buy nice clothes, she reminds him that she can help him become rich.

Soon, Dirk’s concerns are set aside because he is drafted into the war. Dirk joins the military as an officer; many of the wealthy Chicago elite skip straight to the officer corps due to family connections. Through these same connections, Dirk is able to remain in Chicago for most of the war. Paula works with the Red Cross as a fundraiser. By the end of the war, Dirk is eager to join the action. He is sent to Europe but ends the war in an office in Paris. When he returns to America, he claims to be “disillusioned” (139) with his architecture job. He takes a job in Theodore Storm’s company, working in the bond department. Selina believes that this is a temporary change, and Dirk allows her to maintain this belief. Dirk begins to earn more money and gain new connections. Once he begins to earn a good amount, he knows that he will never return to architecture. He is soon one of the rich young go-getters in Chicago. At first, he is disappointed by the wealthy members of the elite whom he meets in dining clubs. They seem fundamentally uninteresting to him and they often waste their time, particularly those who belong to the older generations, such as August Hempel. Dirk listens quietly and ingratiates himself into this new social circle. He travels more, dresses better, and lives more extravagantly, much to his mother’s confusion. She does not understand her son’s materialistic new attitude.

While visiting Julie, Selina learns that many people are gossiping about the amount of time that Dirk and Paula spend together. They may be friends, but Paula is a married woman. Even though he is one of Chicago’s most eminent young bachelors, Dirk shows no interest in other women. Selina mentions this to Dirk during their next meeting. During the conversation, he admits that there is no one he wants to marry and that he will never go back to architecture. Selina is horrified that her son would desert “beauty [and] self expression” (145) for money. When he is alone, Dirk refuses to reflect on Paula’s influence over his life. They spend a great deal of time together and she has greatly helped his career, though at times she irritates him. He sees plenty of women around his workplace and at social functions, but none of them interest him. Many of these women note “Paula’s proprietorship” (148) over Dirk.