“Which is just to say, be careful when choosing what you’re proud of—because the world has every intention of using it against you.”
“In the moment, only some of those intrusions seemed welcome; but I guess I should have treasured them all. Because in a few years, I’d be living in a doorman building myself—and once you’re in a doorman building, no one comes knocking ever again.”
“I love Val. I love my job and my New York. I have no doubt that they were the right choices for me. And at the same time, I know that right choices by definition are the means by which life crystallizes loss.”
There were so many layers to this novel, as well as lessons for life and themes. I finished reading the book, saving the Appendix, Washington’s rules for civility for another time. Then, I read some of the discussion questions online, and I came across a question asking how Eliot’s poem, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” is central to the story. So, I examined the poem and realized the word “time” is used 14 times, not counting time-related words such as minute and moment. Then I went to Washington’s rules and counted the word “time” 12 times. In the entire Towles novel, variations of the word time appear 241 times; the word moment used 82 times. When I searched for words such as minute, hour, and day, there were about 300 more matches. I am not trying to reduce this novel to its literal terms, but rather emphasize the importance of Katey Kontent’s 1969 reminiscing in the book’s preface to the main story that takes place mostly in 1938. Through this ingenious novel with well-developed minor and major characters, we can’t help but remember that it takes a lifetime to figure out how different people have influenced us. And of course, it only takes an unforeseen moment to encounter individuals who will eventually impact our lives. We don’t know, especially when we are young, how our decisions and reactions will affect us forever. This novel provides us with so much material for considering such trite expressions as “time will tell,” “it only takes a moment,” and “make every minute count.”
Katey is a struggling secretary when we meet her, and the characters important to her in 1938. Eve, Tinker, Dicky, and Wallace play essential roles in her development during that year. She spends considerable quality time with each of them. Katey Kontent thinks she knows each of them, but she didn’t understand much about them or herself. She made assumptions that did not always pan out. She thought she knew what would make her “content,” and she did not. She thought she could identify her allies, and she was off base, especially when it came to some minor characters such as Anne Grandyn and Hank Grey.
Social strata and the caste system is alive and well in New York City in 1938 as the Depression is coming to an end, and men are preparing to go to war. Katey comes from a poor working-class family, and her friend Eve comes from wealth that she chooses to reject. Tinker is seemingly from old money, but the clues indicate that his family’s wealth was not what he conveyed. Katey recognizes the differences in the world view. Her ambitions vacillate between her roots, including family and friends from the rooming house and the people in her life who demonstrate the power of wealth. Katey’s reading, notably Dickens and Agatha Christie, leads to inner conflict and growth—both personally and professionally. A significant event in her career development occurs when she interviews doormen and elevator boys for a cover story at Conde Nast. She recognizes the intelligence of those in lower strata of society. She makes profound impressions on her boss and friends living in the flophouses with her desire to live in both worlds. She is continually in conflict with the importance of upbringing to success, and this turmoil is central to Towles’ characters in Rules of Civility.
There are so many symbols and motifs that I think I would have to reread the novel to truly address them. The concept of civility is at the core of every literary device Towles employs. I’m left with much to ponder. What makes one civil? Which aspects of friendship are essential? When is betrayal acceptable? Who is capable of forgiveness? Can we escape our upbringing? Who can be reinvented?
