# Julie Hempel — So Big character guide

> Julie Hempel in So Big by Edna Ferber.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Julie, Julie Hempel Arnold, Arnold, Julie Arnold

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

August Hempel's pampered daughter, who married into the family business and mistakes comfort for happiness, gently needling her old school friend Selina for letting herself go.

## Who they are

Julie moves through Chicago's moneyed circles as the wife of Michael Arnold, a man her father privately scorns as too soft to smell the stockyards. She is amiable, literal, and a little blinkered — she nods wisely at Selina's talk of beauty and growth without grasping a word of it, and she cannot see that her own life, arranged by a doting father, is exactly the gilded cage Selina is warned against. Her cheerful incomprehension sharpens the novel's central question: what does it mean to want the right things for the people you love?

## Relationships

### [Selina DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/selina_dejong)

_friendship_

A complex friendship between two strong-willed women, blending admiration with subtle rivalry over social status.

### [August Hempel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/august_hempel)

_family_

Father and daughter in a formal, affectionate relationship with August indulging Julie's social ambitions.

### [Dirk DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/dirk_dejong)

_social_

A flirtatious social acquaintance driven by Julie's wealth and Dirk's social climbing, lacking genuine depth.

### [Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/pauline)

_social_

A superficial friendship between two society women, bonded by gossip and shared social circles.

### [Selina DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/selina_dejong)

_friendship_

A complex friendship between two strong-willed women, blending admiration with subtle rivalry over social status.

### [Selina DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/selina_dejong)

_friendship_

A complex friendship between two strong-willed women, blending admiration with subtle rivalry over social status.

### [Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/pauline)

_social_

A superficial friendship between two society women, bonded by gossip and shared social circles.

### [August Hempel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/august_hempel)

_family_

Father and daughter in a formal, affectionate relationship with August indulging Julie's social ambitions.

### [Dirk DeJong](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/dirk_dejong)

_social_

A flirtatious social acquaintance driven by Julie's wealth and Dirk's social climbing, lacking genuine depth.

### [August Hempel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/august_hempel)

_family_

Father and daughter in a formal, affectionate relationship with August indulging Julie's social ambitions.

### [Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/pauline)

_social_

A superficial friendship between two society women, bonded by gossip and shared social circles.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/i)

Julie Hempel, Selina's chum, tries to persuade Selina to stay for dinner.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/ii)

Helps Selina prepare for her new life, reading Washington Irving with her.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/iv)

Selina writes to her but receives no reply; Mrs. Hempel says Julie is visiting a friend in Kansas City.

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/vi)

Mentioned as engaged to a Kansas man named Arnold; Selina no longer writes to her.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xi)

Now Mrs. Arnold, she rescues Selina from a policeman on Prairie Avenue, recognizing her old friend despite her ragged appearance.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xii)

Tries to take charge of Selina's affairs, arranges an automobile ride, and brings her father to help.

### [Chapter XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xiv)

Julie is mentioned as the mother of Paula and Eugene, and as having hosted Dirk at Prairie Avenue parties. Selina plans to get a recipe from her.

### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xv)

Mentioned as telling Selina about Paula's new house.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xvi)

Julie Arnold, now living in a new house in Chicago, warns Selina about Dirk and Paula's relationship and discusses her own elaborate beauty regimen.

### [Chapter XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/chapters/xvii)

Invites Selina to stay at the Arnold house during her city visits.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters/julie_hempel
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/so_big_se/characters