So Big

Paula devises a scheme to encourage women to buy bonds. Like many of her schemes, she convinces Dirk that it was his idea. In the charming, handsome Dirk, she has the perfect salesman to speak to female clients. He succeeds beyond expectations and is well compensated by the bank. To further the business, the bank decides to put together an advertising campaign. Dirk is charged with hiring an artist, and he settles on a popular young artist named Dallas O’Mara, though Paula is less enthusiastic about her work. When Dallas proves difficult to hire, Dirk impatiently speaks to other commercial artists. None of them can offer what he wants. He speaks at last with Dallas, who makes him wait for their meeting and who brings nothing but herself to his office. When he asks her fee, she surprises him by asking for $1,500. Dirk is taken aback, but Dallas maintains her “effortless composure” (157). Dirk hires her anyway and—only when she leaves—realizes that he has bought a $1,500 drawing, sight unseen. His bosses (and Paula) will likely ask questions.

Dirk wants to know more about Dallas. Many rumors proliferate through the city, chief among which is her desire to study art in Paris and paint oil portraits. Paula accompanies Dirk to Dallas’s studio, where she is working on the drawing. Dirk is struck by her “disorderly, comfortable, shabby” (159) appearance, especially as it contrasts with Paula. However, he is fascinated by her absorption in her work. Even after the project is completed, he continues to think about Dallas. He tries to meet with her alone, but her studio is always busy. One day, he enters to find her at the piano with a famous “blackface comedian” (161) named Bert Colson. They are singing the blues together and, later, Dallas admits that she wrote the song for Colson to perform. Dirk invites her to dinner, and she agrees. Over dinner, Dallas mentions the time she spent in France during the war, doing “odd jobs” (162). Their conversation delights Dirk, who likes that she does not fuss about her weight or her appearance. She quizzes him about being a banker, and Dirk suspects that she is criticizing him. He defends himself by insisting that he does everything so that he can spend lavishly on his mother. Sensing that Dallas is not interested in him, Dirk confesses his hurt feelings to her. Dallas tells him that many men fall in love with her. Telling him about her desire to study art in France, she takes Dirk to an art class. After his initial shock at seeing a nude model, he finds himself invested in the artistic process. When they emerge from the class, Dirk hopes that Dallas might be interested in him. When she smiles at their waiter as she smiles at him, however, he knows that she is not as interested in him as he is in her.

After his meetings with Dallas, Dirk begins to question his materialistic values. Though he thinks of her often, he does not recognize the similarities between Dallas and his mother. Selina laughs good naturedly at her son when he embarks on new experiences. When a fox is brought to Chicago so that the local elite can indulge in the British practice of fox hunting, for example, she finds the entire enterprise to be absurd. Dirk takes such ventures seriously and defends them against his mother’s mockery, only to find out that Dallas feels “much the same” (168). Dallas describes her lack of enthusiasm for the Chicago elite, many of whom she feels are trying to express things they do not feel. They often entertain foreign dignitaries, such as the decorated French general who is being hosted by Paula. Paula tells Dirk that the general will be accompanied by a famous French sculptor: Roelf Pool. Dirk corrects her, noting that Roelf is no more French than he is. Selina is also excited by Roelf’s return. To Dirk, Paula seems overly excitable. He finds her presence exhausting and would rather be with Dallas, even though Dallas admits that she does not believe she could ever love a man like Dirk. He gave up architecture, she says, and she could only love a man who fought for his passion in such a way that he would have marks and scars on his hands. In contrast, Dirk is “all smooth” (170).

Dirk is set to attend Paula’s dinner with General Goguet and Roelf. Feeling restless, however, he goes to Dallas’s studio. There, he finds Roelf and Goguet having a fun time. Dallas knows them from her time in France, she explains. Roelf is pleased to meet Dirk and mentions his plan to drive out to Selina’s farm in the afternoon. Goguet is uninterested in Dirk’s bond business but is intrigued by a trip to a farm, since he is an amateur horticulturalist. Dirk, Dallas, Goguet, and Roelf all drive out to High Prairie to surprise Selina with a visit. In the car, Dirk tries to point out items of local interest to the general while Roelf and Dallas rekindle their friendship. They are “very much absorbed” (172) in their Paris reminiscences. When they arrive at the farm, Selina is still out in the fields. She is summoned back to the house by a loud horn. Walking back, she spots Dirk and smiles. When she spots Roelf, however, her eyes fill with tears and she clutches at her heart. They embrace.

The group has tea in Selina’s farmhouse. The general is fascinated by Selina’s talk of asparagus. Selina’s attention, however, is preoccupied with Roelf, as though “he were her one son, and had come home” (173). Dallas leans into Dirk and explains to him that Selina’s is the kind of portrait she would like to paint. Dirk cannot comprehend why Dallas is so captivated by his disheveled mother. Selina and Roelf share old jokes. Though Selina claims to have been nowhere in the world, Roelf assures her that she has “been everywhere” (174). The general worries that they will be late for Paula’s dinner, so the meeting must end. Roelf mentions off-handedly that he does not find Paula beautiful. Instead, he favors Dallas. Dirk can do nothing but watch helplessly as Roelf praises Dallas’s beauty. Before they leave, Roelf kisses Selina’s hand. Dallas asks permission to paint Selina’s portrait, and then they set off in the car, returning to Chicago. Dallas shares her compassionate thoughts with Roelf and then is dropped back at her studio. Dirk is taken to his apartment to get ready for the dinner at Paula’s house. Inside his apartment, among his expensive possessions, he is greeted by his Japanese houseman, who has laid his expensive clothes out ready. Everything seems correct and immaculate. As he prepares, Dirk lies still on the bed. Paula calls, the “shrill insistence” of the telephone interrupting his reflection (175).