Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis: Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Hm, interesting second chapter. The style of writing, the way Dixon uses flashbacks and different scenes, which aren't clearly connected in the story, is obviously done for a particular purpose which seems to be that he picks the scenes that present the characters in a negative light. He begins by presenting a recollection of scenes in which is he is speaking to Margeret Peel, a woman who works at the university with Dixon's but has a slightly higher social status. Dixon's, again, is presented to be commenting of the flaws in her character- she is not attractive, wears too much makeup to cover it up, and overly dresses in order to attract attension. It seems that Amis is mocking different types of people who seem to want to attract attension of over people and gain their approval even though they disregard how they are really being seen. It is also interesting how he seems to analyze that her supposed suicide attempt was strictly done to achieve the attension of him and her ex-boyfriend because she lacks the looks to which many women get attension from. This also presents another aspect in the novel, Margaret values the traditional gender roles and expectations. The reader sees this through the way in which she expects to get attension of men only through her looks and supposed sensitivity and how she makes Dixon pay for her drink even though she has a higher paying salary than him. The way he describes her laugh and sensitive actions also show that she tries to act as the traditional woman was expected to act during the time in which the novel was written. Towards the end of this chapter, Dixon's describes London and how he wishes to be there while his university is located on the other side of the country which maybe represents that he wishes to be in different conditions or have a completely opposite life than he already has.