The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

How does Ralph Hopkins embody the American ideals of hard work and material success? What does his life suggest about the validity of those ideals?

How does the novel function as a critique of the suburban landscape that was rapidly expanding in 1950s America? What elements of suburban life contribute to Tom and Betsy’s unhappiness? Do these critiques still apply to suburbia today?

What does Hopkins’s initial approach to the mental health campaign reveal about his values and his self-image? How does he seek to present himself as the right person for this job?

How does the novel use property and houses to explore the characters' relationship with society? How do the three houses in the novel—Tom and Betsy’s small suburban house, Hopkins’s mansion, and Tom’s grandmother’s grand estate—suggest different visions of what makes a good life?

What sources of alienation exist in the novel? How are characters alienated from the society around them, from their friends and loved ones, and from themselves? Does any character identify an effective way to combat this alienation?

When Caesar Gardella first appears, as yet unrecognized, in the office building where Tom works, Tom feels a sense of apprehension. Is Caesar ultimately a threatening presence? If he is a representative of repressed memory, what kind of relationship to his past does he encourage in Tom?

Consider the symbolism of the gray flannel suit. What other uniforms exist in the novel, and how do they define and limit the characters who wear them?

Why does Tom turn away from his corporate career? How is this turn away from the ideal of the American Dream related to him finally owning up to his past?