# Dirk DeJong — So Big character guide > Dirk DeJong in So Big by Edna Ferber. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Dirk, DeJong **First appearance:** 0000-i ## Snapshot Selina's son, a charming listener with no particular fire of his own, drifts from the prairie into Chicago's smart set and cannot say what he actually wants. ## Who they are Dirk grows up well liked and effortlessly average, blessed with the social gift of listening while others talk, and everyone — especially his mother — reads a future into his fine, inclined head. He is neither brilliant nor driven, and the novel watches him slide from a general university course into tailoring, roadsters, a Japanese houseman, and the correct little pile of invitations on the console. His quiet dissatisfaction, and the gap between what Selina sacrificed for and what he became, is the ache at the center of the book's middle stretch. ## Relationships ### [Selina DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/selina_dejong) _family_ Mother and son with a deep, often strained bond as Selina's ambitions for Dirk clash with his own desires. ### [Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/pauline) _romantic_ A passionate but ultimately doomed love affair marked by Dirk's infatuation and Pauline's manipulative charm. ### [Mattie Schwengauer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/mattie_schwengauer) _professional_ A business relationship where Mattie, as Dirk's secretary, enables his architectural career while harboring unrequited feelings. ### [Pervus DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/pervus_dejong) _family_ Father and son with a distant, uncommunicative relationship due to Pervus's quiet nature and Dirk's restless ambition. ### [Julie Hempel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/julie_hempel) _social_ A flirtatious social acquaintance driven by Julie's wealth and Dirk's social climbing, lacking genuine depth. ### [Eugene Arnold](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/eugene_arnold) _friendship_ A friendship of convenience among young artists in Chicago, marked by shared bohemian pursuits and mutual envy. ### [Selina DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/selina_dejong) _family_ Mother and son with a deep, often strained bond as Selina's ambitions for Dirk clash with his own desires. ### [Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/pauline) _romantic_ A passionate but ultimately doomed love affair marked by Dirk's infatuation and Pauline's manipulative charm. ### [Selina DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/selina_dejong) _family_ Mother and son with a deep, often strained bond as Selina's ambitions for Dirk clash with his own desires. ### [Mattie Schwengauer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/mattie_schwengauer) _professional_ A business relationship where Mattie, as Dirk's secretary, enables his architectural career while harboring unrequited feelings. ### [Pervus DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/pervus_dejong) _family_ Father and son with a distant, uncommunicative relationship due to Pervus's quiet nature and Dirk's restless ambition. ### [Julie Hempel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/julie_hempel) _social_ A flirtatious social acquaintance driven by Julie's wealth and Dirk's social climbing, lacking genuine depth. ## In the story ### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/viii) Selina's unborn child, four months along; she places the oak chest so he will see it each morning. ### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/ix) At eight, Dirk is a hardworking, energetic boy with long lashes and a 'different' look; he is caught between his mother's ambitions and his father's demands. ### [Selina Takes the Reins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/x) Selina's young son, who accompanies her to the market, excited by the lights and activity. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xi) Accompanies Selina to market, sleeps in the wagon, and becomes weary and hungry during the day. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xii) Enjoys the automobile ride and surveys the grays with the Van Ruys boys. ### [Chapter XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xiii) Attends school, has light farm tasks, meets Mattie Schwengauer, brings her to the farm, faces fraternity pressure to cut ties with her, discusses university plans with Selina. ### [Chapter XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xiv) Dirk works unhappily as a draughtsman, criticizes Chicago's architecture, and is infatuated with Paula Arnold. He confides in Selina about his desire to study architecture in the East. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xv) Visits Paula Storm at Stormwood, feels uneasy about her intentions, and expresses frustration with his architectural career. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xvi) Dirk has become a successful bond salesman in Chicago, acquiring a new manner of assurance. He defends his career to Selina and is involved with Paula Storm. ### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xvii) Successful Chicago businessman living a monotonous social and professional routine. ### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xviii) Dirk is a successful Chicago businessman, handsome and confident, who hires Dallas O'Mara for an advertising illustration. He is intrigued and unsettled by her independence and composure. ### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xix) Reflects on his changed perspective under Dallas's influence, feels alienated from his mother's world and North Shore society, and confronts Dallas about her lack of interest in him. ### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xx) Visits Dallas's studio, feels jealous of her guests, and accompanies the group to his mother's farm. ### [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xxi) Feels like a 'rubber stamp' after seeing his mother's connection with Roelf; returns to his apartment and lies down in despair. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/dirk_dejong - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters