American Literature II

With a cast made up of almost entirely rich people, one of the most challenging parts about reading through The Custom of the Country is trying to find a source of tension to engage with. This is not to say texts focused on the rich or those seeking or on the verge of wealth are inherently boring. For instance, stories like playwright David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, concerned with the fight amongst salesman for success in the lucrative and cutthroat industry of urban real estate, or Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, which focuses on a once wealthy Russian family that profited off the exploitation of serfs and now on the verge of bankruptcy in the wake of emancipation are nothing if not compelling. Unfortunately, the stakes present in these two former texts are nowhere to be found in The Custom of the Country. Undine and those around her are already rich and at little to no risk of losing their money. Moreover, protaganist Undine’s search is for acceptance into the upper crust of society, and ideally achieving celebrity status among them. If she fails, the stakes are inconsequential–her family’s small fortune remains safe, and the most she loses is her ability to self-actualize. In this way, Custom works well as an educational text about the lifestyles of upper-middle to upper class families of the early 20th century and the cultural rifts that existed between those that considered themselves new money vs. old money, but unfortunately, it doesn’t make for a very good story.