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Part 1, Chapter 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Razor’s Edge, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Wisdom and the Meaning of Life
Social Norms and Conformity
Trauma and Self-Destruction
Snobbishness, Social Status, and Cosmopolitanism
Truth and the Problem of Evil
Summary
Analysis
Somerset wants to make it clear that Elliott is not a horrible person. Indeed, Elliott often invited people to parties more because of their social standing than their character or wit, but he always made sure to invite one or two truly entertaining people to liven things up. Elliott was raised Episcopalian but in Paris, he converted to Catholicism, which opened up even more doors for him. Somerset believes that Elliott’s unmitigated snobbishness comes from a kind of romanticism. When Elliott had some duke or earl at one of his parties, Somerset thinks that he couldn’t help but think of the man’s ancestors who fought in old wars or participated in diplomatic meetings centuries ago.
Somerset defends Elliott because he’s afraid that what he’s already said about Elliott will make him seem like a monster, highlighting the possibility that Somerset finds some of Elliott’s ideas reprehensible. Still, Somerset goes out of his way to try to understand Elliott on Elliott’s own terms, including both Elliott’s flaws and strengths. That willingness to see the world from the perspective of others (without necessarily agreeing with their beliefs) is one of the main distinctions that separates Elliott’s snobbishness from Somerset’s cosmopolitanism.
Themes
