All through Lucky Jim, Jim Dixon seems to judge other people largely on their appearances, and he's got a great eye for detail. Margaret Peel, for example, is someone who gets little flecks of lipstick on her canine teeth; Christine Callaghan's irises can turn shades of light blue; Bertrand Welch has ears of different sizes. Jim admits to judging people on their appearance without thinking there's much wrong with it. He might question his judgment but doesn't question his right to do it. There are a lot of odd-looking characters in the book, and that's because Amis thinks a lot of people are odd. He gives them appearances to match the personal characteristics. With the possible exception of Gore-Urquhart and Bill Atkinson, we wouldn't lose money by betting that the attractive characters are good people and the strange-looking ones aren't.
Questions About Appearances
- Do you have any ethical problem with the way Kingsley Amis suggests that attractive people are generally pleasant while unattractive people aren't? Do you feel like he's actually saying this?
- What do you think Jim could learn if he judged people less on their appearances? Is there anything he's missing out on by forming opinions of people without ever talking to them?
- Apart from Christine Callaghan, is there any other person in this book whose appearance actually pleases Jim?
Chew on This
Ultimately, the author doesn't approve of the way the Jim judges people by their appearances. He wants us to judge Jim just as much as we judge anyone else in the text.
The main point of Lucky Jim is that some people are lucky enough to be attractive and some people aren't. Life is good for attractive people and bad for the unattractive, and it's as simple as that.