Look Homeward, Angel · Chapter
XXXIX explained
Eugene graduates from university, with Gant and Eliza attending.
What happens
Eugene graduates from university, with Gant and Eliza attending. The family's disintegration accelerates as Gant declines, Eliza becomes obsessed with real estate, and sibling conflicts over inheritance erupt. Eugene feels both love and alienation from his family, sensing the end of an era.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Climax.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Closing
Gant, having emerged from his "charnel-house of death," witnesses Eugene's triumph and feels his heart "lifted…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- The American Dream and Materialism
Eliza's obsessive real estate trading and the family's greed over inheritance highlight the corrosive pursuit of wealth.
- Family Conflict and Dysfunction
Violent sibling fights over money, Gant's decline, and Helen's hysteria show the family's disintegration.
- Loss, Innocence, and the Passage of Time
Eugene's graduation marks the end of youth and the beginning of a harsh adult reality, with the family's 'great wild pattern' broken.
Characters to notice
- Eugene Gant
Graduates from university, reads his Class Poem, feels a mix of pride and alienation from his family's values.
- Eliza Gant
Obsessed with real estate, sells Gant's properties, becomes niggardly, and engages in secretive trading.
- Oliver Gant
In declining health, a spectre in waxen yellow, relapses into whining dotage after graduation.
- Helen Gant
Cares for Gant, moves between houses, suffers from hysteria and brooding morbidity, no children.
- Luke Gant
Appointed executor of Gant's will, engages in bitter conflict with Steve over inheritance.
- Steve Gant
Returns from Indiana, becomes insane from whiskey and veronal, confronts Eugene and Luke over money.
Key passages
“It was the end, the end. It was the beginning of the voyage, the quest of new lands.”
Eugene feels that his graduation is both an ending and the start of a new journey.
Reflects Eugene's ambivalence about leaving home and family.
“The great wild pattern of the family had been broken forever.”
The family's chaotic but familiar structure has been destroyed by Ben's death.
Highlights the irreversible change in family dynamics.
“She was obsessed. She talked real estate unendingly.”
Eliza's mind is consumed by property dealings.
Shows Eliza's monomania and its impact on the family.
