Vanity and Class in H.G. Wells's Tono-Bungay

Introduction: Tono-Bungay as Social Chronicle

Tono-Bungay diverges from H.G. Wells's more popular science fiction (Costa 89). The novel is rich with social commentary, and many literary critics have gone so far as to describe it as a "galvanic fictional chronicle of the intellectual and moral history of England at the close of the 19th century" (Costa 89). Indeed, Wells captures prevailing trends in political, economic, and social thought, as well as significant currents in English history. A preoccupation with issues related to social class status and capitalism permeates the Edwardian novel. Although Wells deftly refrains from overtly didactic or pedantic moralizing, Tono-Bungay cannot be fully understood without reference to the author's message concerning ethical egoism, vanity, and human behavior within a capitalist system.

Upward Social Mobility and the Novel's Structure

One of the overarching themes of Tono-Bungay is upward social mobility, and the ethical trade-offs made in pursuit of a higher social status. George's rise takes place on a weak foundation, yet he describes his ascent in power, wealth, and status slowly and over the course of nearly half the novel. Tono-Bungay is divided into four books. The first book establishes the setting and theme of upward social mobility by depicting George and the rest of the Ponderevo family as poor, even within a working-class context. Uncle Ponderevo is the only member of the family with the drive, determination, and ambition to break free of the shackles of his caste, and Wells suggests that the only way he can do so is through fraud.

George, by contrast, patiently attempts to improve himself through legitimate means, such as attending college in London. His failed attempt at legitimate upward social mobility leads him to collude with his uncle in Book Two. Yet it is not until Book Three of Tono-Bungay, entitled "The Great Days of Tono-Bungay," that the novel reaches its climax and its main themes are elucidated clearly. The emphasis on social class status is evident from the very first chapter in Book Three: "How We Became Big People."

George Ponderevo's Moral Deterioration

George exhibits his moral character in Book Three through a series of transformative decisions that erode his integrity. Until Book Two, he is presented as a young man whose moral character had not yet been tested. He resists his uncle's business schemes and partners with him only reluctantly, in order to win the heart of a shallow woman. Wells nonetheless shows that even George cannot resist the temptation for "bigness." At first, George perceives his uncle as dishonest, referring to "his industrial and financial exploits" (Book Three, Chapter Two, Section One). The term exploits clearly invokes the quality of exploitation; George thus judges his uncle's actions as predatory. His moral character emerges, but unfortunately he fails to remain committed to ethical integrity. By Chapter Four of Book Three, George admits to stealing and killing — he becomes a changed man, which Newell identifies as the essence of the novel.

Uncle Ponderevo: Vanity and the Nouveau Riche

Uncle Ponderevo epitomizes vanity and self-aggrandizement in Tono-Bungay. His upward social mobility is built on a weak foundation, as George comes to recognize: "I believe that a haunting sense of the intensifying unsoundness of his position accounts largely for his increasing irritability and his increasing secretiveness," George notes in Chapter Four, Book Three, Section Ten. George astutely observes the rise and fall of his uncle, failing perhaps to recognize his own parallel ascent and descent despite pursuing a career in aeronautics. Uncle Ponderevo's business schemes "grew more and more expansive and hazardous, and his spending wilder and laxer" (Chapter Four, Book Three, Section Ten). His vanity is epitomized by unruly spending on frivolous materialistic items — he chooses a home on Crest Hill based on status alone, and collects cars simply because he can.

Uncle Ponderevo represents the culture of the nouveau riche — those who achieve upward social mobility rapidly and by whatever means possible. One dramatic image George presents of his uncle is of his stature, "ridiculously disproportionate" to his surroundings (Chapter Four, Book Three, Section Ten). George observes that "there are crowds of people who, like we were, are in the economically ascendant phase, but whole masses of the prosperous section of the population must be altering its habits" (Book Three, Chapter Two, Section Four). The subject of ascendancy is closely and delicately linked to the motif of vanity in Uncle Ponderevo, whom George describes as "the symbol of this age for me, the man of luck and advertisement, the current master of the world" (Chapter Two, Book Three, Section Ten).

Also notably vain is Uncle Ponderevo's insistence that England has mastered upward social mobility and new-money magnetism better than the Americans have. Upward social mobility is not only about money, the uncle insists, but also about status-driven intellectual pursuits. Like the frivolous cars he collects, the uncle dabbles in prevailing intellectual debates. George slyly mocks him in Section Nine of Chapter Two, Book Three: "My uncle was not altogether swallowed up in business and ambition. He kept in touch with modern thought. For example, he was, I know, greatly swayed by what he called 'This Overman idea, Nietzsche — all that stuff.'"

Conclusion: The Rise and Fall of Capitalist Culture

Wells makes overt social commentary on the shallowness of new-money pursuits, embodied in the character of the Uncle. The Uncle achieves success for a brief time, but like an airplane, he must come down from his high perch. Humans were not meant to remain soaring in the air indefinitely. The extended metaphor of flying — a major motif in Tono-Bungay — perfectly symbolizes the rise and fall of the Ponderevos. It is possible also that Wells makes a broader commentary on the potential rise and fall of capitalism, thus framing Tono-Bungay in a Marxist context. George's character evolution represents the insidious vanity that infects consumerist and capitalist cultures; George himself admits that he sees his uncle as the "symbol of this age." George lives in "confusing times of money and merchandise worship," as Liu puts it (1). Capitalist times are reaching their heights, and will descend just as George's ship sinks and his planes crash. "The rise of a skyrocket becomes a fall; the growth of an organism becomes a decay; reality becomes illusion; and each process evidences Change" (Newell 1).

Works Cited

Costa, Richard Hauer. "H.G. Wells's Tono-Bungay: Review of New Studies." English Literature in Transition. Vol. 10, No. 2, 1967, pp. 89–96.

Dirda, Michael. "Revisiting H.G. Wells' Literary Masterpiece." Salon. 15 June 2011.

Liu, Sai-xiong. "On the Symbol Consumption of H.G. Wells' Tono-Bungay."

Newell, Kenneth B. "The Structure of Wells's Tono-Bungay." English Literature in Transition. Vol. 4, No. 2, 1961, pp. 1–8.

Sommers, Jeffrey. "Well's Tono-Bungay: The Novel Within the Novel." Studies in the Novel. Vol. 17, No. 1, 1985, pp. 69–79.