The Honorable Socrates Potter, a lawyer who calls himself 'an attorney and peacemaker,' dominates the opening of Irving Bacheller's Keeping up with Lizzie. He is introduced as the only 'scientific man' in Pointview, Connecticut, a figure who 'clung to the dress and manners that prevailed in his youth' while holding 'highly modern' ideas. His speech is marked by clipped words and changed tenses, a dialect that Bacheller renders with care. The first chapter sets up Potter's role as a community mediator who locks disputing parties in his office to force agreement. This blend of old-fashioned appearance and sharp wit establishes the novel's comic and satirical tone.

Socrates Potter's Voice and Method

In later excerpts, Potter's dialogue becomes more elaborate, as when he advises a client on a mock burglary: 'We'll launch our tiara on the Marcel waves.' His metaphors—comparing a large house to a 'millstone'—are both earthy and pointed. Readers should attend to how Potter's language signals his role as a moral commentator, even as he participates in schemes that blur ethical lines.

The Mock Burglary and Its Implications

Notably, the buyer is Bill Warburton, an old schoolmate who 'used to go to school with me up there on the hills.' This coincidence ties the plot to Pointview's past and hints at the novel's interest in social mobility. The burglary is presented as a pragmatic solution, but Bacheller leaves moral judgment ambiguous. Readers should consider how this episode sets up the novel's broader critique of materialism.

Lizzie's Offstage Presence and the Title's Irony

Potter's comment that Bill Warburton's wife is 'nervous and unhappy' despite having 'everything you want' echoes a theme of discontent that Lizzie's return might exacerbate. Readers should watch for how Lizzie's influence—whether through her accent, her fiancé, or her social climbing—affects the dynamics of Pointview.

Setting and Social Commentary in Pointview

The contrast between old and new is embodied in Potter himself, who 'wore broadcloth every day, and a choker, and chewed tobacco' while dealing with millionaires and motor-cars. Bacheller's satire targets both the pretensions of the newly rich and the stubbornness of tradition. Readers should note how the setting—with its 'fourteen horses, twelve hounds, nine collies'—serves as a stage for the novel's comedy and critique.

As you read Keeping up with Lizzie, pay attention to the interplay between Socrates Potter's old-fashioned wisdom and the modern follies he confronts. The excerpts suggest a novel that uses humor to question the value of social climbing and material display. Lizzie herself remains a catalyst rather than a fully developed character in these pages; her impact on Pointview will likely unfold through the reactions of others. Bacheller's dialect writing and episodic structure reward close attention to language and local detail.