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Kipps and Belsey: Chapter 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in On Beauty, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Nature of Beauty
Politics in Academia
Race and Identity
The Value of Family
Summary
Analysis
Howard gets annoyed when people from New England assume that England is cold; while England may be colder in the summer, New England’s winters are much colder. And so, when he arrives in England that November, he doesn’t even need his scarf. He thinks back to a couple sentences in an academic journal where Monty pointed out that Howard mistakenly referred to the wrong Rembrandt painting in one of his own letters to the journal. Their argument in that journal was the culmination of 15 years of rivalry.
Howard gets annoyed when people bring up a small stereotype about English life. Ironically, however, he often fails to see how other characters in the story experience prejudice, such as how Kiki sometimes feels out of place around Howard’s (mostly white) academic colleagues. And so, it makes sense that Harold, who gets annoyed about small things like a stereotype about English weather, would also be the type of person to hold a grudge for 15 years and to view one exchange in the letters-to-the-editor of an academic journal to be a major life event.
Themes
Howard calls the Kipps family and doesn’t recognize the voice of the person who answers. After a confusing conversation, Howard realizes he’s talking to Michael. He says he’d rather meet Michael in person first to ask a few questions before seeing Jerome. Michael agrees.
Howard reveals that, particularly outside of the comfort zone of his family and his university, he often struggles to relate to and empathize with others. This suggests that academic ideals don’t always carry over into practical settings and can be alienating.
Themes
Howard isn’t used to meeting people taller than him, so he feels unnerved when he see the six-foot, five-inch Michael. They talk, and Howard learns that Michael is a risk analyst at an equities firm. Howard senses that Michael doesn’t like him and that perhaps that’s because Michael doesn’t like the idea of Jerome marrying Victoria.
Themes
Michael asks if Jerome goes to the university where Howard teaches, but Howard says that’s Zora—Jerome goes to Brown. Howard supposes it’s better for Jerome to do his own thing, but Michael says he liked being at the same university as Monty for a while. Michael says it’s a Caribbean value to have a close family, which is why he always tries to stay close. Howard thinks Michael is pretentious.
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Howard says he can tell Michael agrees and makes vague comments about how they should work together to prevent an insane thing from happening. Michael says he knows Howard and Monty have argued in the past, but Michael believes in forgiveness, and he thinks Jerome is a good kid. But when Howard mentions marriage between Jerome and Victoria, Michael is shocked and has no idea what Howard is talking about.
Themes
Michael says he likes Jerome but thinks he’s far too different from the Kippses to ever marry Victoria. Howard takes some offense at this and says he also doesn’t want Jerome to marry someone like Victoria. Howard implies that probably Jerome only wants to marry Victoria because she was his first time having sex (a theory Howard came up with on his own). Howard’s claim angers Michael, who insists his sister is still a virgin.
Themes
Michael angrily storms home and confronts Jerome. Carlene intervenes and says that Jerome’s engagement with Victoria is already off. Michael is surprised to learn there was ever any engagement to begin with, and even Jerome looks surprised. Michael goes to get Monty.
Themes
Howard is surprised that Carlene is older than Kiki, since he figured Monty would have a “trophy” wife. Carlene explains that Victoria just turned 18 but is sensible for her age. She asks if Howard has a hotel and then suggests that perhaps Jerome should go there with him. Carlene tells Jerome he can pick up his things in the morning but that he should probably not contact Victoria until he leaves so that there are no more “scenes.”
Themes
Carlene tells Howard it was wonderful to have Jerome stay with them. Howard wonders if he should at least stay to say hello to Monty, but Carlene thinks that’s probably a bad idea.
Themes
