# Bibbs Sheridan — The Turmoil character guide > Bibbs Sheridan in The Turmoil by Booth Tarkington. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Sheridan, Bibbs, Mist’ Bibbs, Mr. Bibbs, fainthearted Bibbs **First appearance:** 0001-the-turmoil ## Snapshot The sensitive, fainthearted son of an industrialist who cannot stomach his father's gospel that a man must make two blades of grass grow where one grew before. ## Who they are Bibbs is the Sheridan who fails to fit: too thoughtful, too unambitious, too easily tired by the family's roaring world of business and display. His father's favorite flourish—that his boys must double the yield of every field—lands on him as a sentence rather than an inspiration, and his quiet drift through the house and the office marks him as the family's disappointment. Yet his difference is the novel's opening wedge: through Bibbs, Tarkington asks whether a man can be worth something his father's ledger cannot measure. ## In the story ### [The Turmoil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/the-turmoil) Returns home from a sanitarium, feeling out of place and contemplative. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/ii) Introduced as the family's 'odd one,' physically frail and nervous, with a puzzling expression that hovers between tears and laughter. He failed in the machine shop and was sent to a sanitarium, much to his father's disappointment. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/iii) Returns home from the sanitarium, still weak but improved. Observes family and social dynamics with a whimsical, detached air. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/iv) Returns home from a sanitarium, weak and weary, observes the New House and the Vertrees property, and agrees to attend the housewarming. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/v) Mentioned as the youngest son, seen by Mary looking in a window; the Sheridans consider him less significant and note he had been 'right sick.' ### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/vi) Sits meekly among the retainers at the foot of the table, content to be left alone, and overhears his father's plans for Jim and Mary. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/vii) Observed by Mary at the dinner table; his tragic reaction to his father's threat to send him to the machine shop is noted. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/viii) Bibbs muses over Edith's framed poem, discusses his health with her, and engages in playful banter with the servant George about a statue. He is described as pale and thin but improving. ### [Chapter IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/ix) Summoned to his father's office, Bibbs reveals his desire to write poems and essays, but is ridiculed by Sheridan for his lack of ambition. ### [Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/x) Contemplates his temporary quarters and reads his manuscript 'Leisure' from the sanitarium. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xi) Appears at the barbershop to gently inform his father of Jim's death and escort him home. ### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xii) Bibbs takes control of funeral arrangements, showing unexpected strength. He feels deep pity for his father and reflects on his own mortality. He shares a silent, meaningful ride with Mary Vertrees. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xiii) Returns home pondering Sibyl's laughter, manages visiting relatives, writes in his notebook, and reluctantly promises his mother to return to the machine shop cheerfully. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xiv) Visits Dr. Gurney for a checkup; learns he is healthier but faces return to the machine shop. Later, he deliberately interrupts Edith and Lamhorn to protect family decorum. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xv) Bibbs is flustered and self-deprecating during his conversation with Mary, but opens up about his feelings and his lack of musical knowledge. He experiences a transformative moment while listening to the organ. ### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xvi) Reflects on music and life with Mary, accepts her invitation to hear her play, and writes introspective notes afterward. ### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xvii) Mentioned as the subject of Mrs. Vertrees's inquiries about his mental stability and as the target of Mary's supposed pursuit. ### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xviii) His scribbled notes are found and read by his father; later heard singing cheerfully. ### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xix) Dreads returning to the machine shop; confesses his fears to Mary and finds solace in her friendship. ### [Chapter XX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xx) Returns home and voluntarily agrees to go back to the machine shop, claiming he is cured and ready to work. ### [Chapter XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxi) Advises his parents to let Edith see Lamhorn; appears unusually happy and content at the family dinner; works contentedly in the machine shop and talks to the machine. ### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxii) Writes a philosophical letter on love and friendship, works in the machine shop, and experiences a dreamlike happiness centered on Mary. ### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxiii) Lives in a dreamlike detachment, absentmindedly wandering through family conflicts. ### [Chapter XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxiv) Defends his work in the machine shop, argues against business and industrial growth, and refuses his father's offer. ### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxv) Spends a blissful evening with Mary, reading and sharing personal reflections; returns home to find his father in a destructive rage over Edith's elopement. ### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxvi) Refuses his father's business offer, chooses to stay in the machine shop, and stands up to Sheridan's rage. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxvii) Walks with Mary instead of going to church, expresses hatred for the city and business, and notices Mary's lack of furs. ### [Chapter XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxviii) Agrees to take his father's job after overhearing Sibyl's accusations about Mary; burns his notebooks, symbolically abandoning his own aspirations. ### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxix) Visits Mary after capitulating to his father; proposes out of a misguided sense of pity and obligation, not love. ### [Chapter XXX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxx) Reveals Mary's rejection of his proposal, then shows business savvy by outmaneuvering his father on the warehouse issue. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxxi) Bibbs works tirelessly in business, suppressing thought and song, and buys Mr. Vertrees's failed stock. ### [XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxxii) Referenced extensively as having given up his own desires to work in the family business for Mary's sake, and as the subject of Dr. Gurney's theory about his mental improvement. ### [Chapter XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/chapters/xxxiii) Reflects on industrialization and his father's worship of 'Bigness'; receives a phone call from Mary and is overjoyed. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/characters/bibs_sheridan - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_turmoil_se/characters