Back to Methuselah · Character

Savvy Barnabas

Franklyn's sunburnt, Simple-Lifer daughter, all frank manners and Norwegian shoes, who treats the new rector as a tennis partner rather than a clergyman.

supporting

Also known as Savvy, Miss Savvy, Miss Barnabas, Savvy Who, Savvy Oh, Savvy Barnabas, Savvy To Haslam, Savvy Disappointed, Savvy Horace

First appearance: part ii the gospel of the brothers barnabas

As a supporting figure in Back to Methuselah, Savvy Barnabas is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

See Savvy Barnabas in part ii the gospel of the brothers barnabas Book page

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Savvy Barnabas enters her father's study like weather, kissing Conrad, calling Haslam by his first name, and strolling to the hearthrug as if it were hers. Her unceremonious manners scandalize Franklyn, who mourns his mother's grace and fears his daughter is becoming a demoralized Socialist, while Conrad insists she is simply eighteen and should be left alone. She matters because she embodies the generational fracture the brothers' gospel must somehow address: the young have no time to form a conscience, and Savvy is the play's most vivid proof.

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The fuller portrait of Savvy Barnabas sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

See Savvy Barnabas in part ii the gospel of the brothers barnabas