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Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Stoner, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Disappointment and Beauty
Passivity and Regret
Loneliness, Isolation, and Human Connection
Love and Marriage
The Value of Literary Study
Summary
Analysis
Despite Stoner’s protests, the university lets Walker stay in the English program, although he has to retake his oral exams, this time with a committee that does not include Stoner. Hoping to improve his standing in the department, Stoner meets with Lomax to repair their relationship. However, Lomax still holds a grudge over the Walker situation. He once again suggests that Stoner discriminated against Walker because Walker has a physical disability. Again, Stoner denies the accusation, though he realizes there is nothing he can do to change Lomax’s mind. Because of this disagreement, Lomax and Stoner do not speak to one another directly for the following 20 years.
Stoner and Lomax go from two people who could have been good friends to sworn enemies. Stoner believes his stubbornness is justified even though Walker ultimately passes because he stood up for a principle that he believes in. However, the cost of his opposition may cost him whatever joy he derives from his career in academia. Earlier in the novel, Stoner said Lomax reminds him of Masters. Although Lomax and Masters differ significantly, they are similar in that they are both relationships Stoner hoped to cultivate but couldn’t.
Themes
Stoner’s failure to resolve his issues with Lomax leads to more negative consequences in his work life. Many of the students in the department will no longer associate with him either because of what they have heard or because they do not want to get on Lomax’s bad side. Additionally, Lomax continues to assign Stoner bad courses, which Stoner dreads teaching. Not only are the courses boring, but they require a lot of work, meaning Stoner cannot spend as much time as he would like at home with Grace. Instead, he lives out of his on-campus office most of the time. During this period of his life, Stoner is profoundly depressed and considers suicide.
Personal arguments with professional consequences are common in the genre of the campus novel, as it is impossible to completely separate the personal from the professional. Unfortunately for Stoner, Lomax is vindictive and will do whatever he can to ruin Stoner’s life. Because Stoner is not wanted at home or in his workplace, he falls into the depression that marks the low point of his life. Grace and academia are what Stoner loves the most and, at the moment, he cannot access either.
Themes
