Many characters in Lucky Jim spend a lot of time trying to create and maintain their reputations. Jim, on the other hand, seems bent on self-destruction. He's developing a rep, but it's not good. Throughout the novel, Amis seems to be saying that the people with good reputations and the respect of others don't always deserve it, and that people will go to any lengths to make a good impression.
Questions About Respect and Reputation
- Overall, which character do you think gets the most respect from others in this book? Does he/she deserve this respect?
- Do you think Jim gets the respect he deserves in this book? What part of him do people fail to appreciate well enough?
- Why does Jim have such deep respect for Bob Atkinson?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
In Lucky Jim, we find that people with good reputations do not always deserve those reputations. But in the end, these people always get what's coming to them.
In Lucky Jim, Amis shows that British society puts way too much emphasis on a person's reputation instead of his/her actual merits as a human being.