Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

The novel examines several varieties of prejudice, with consequences that range from humorous to problematic. While the novel’s tone and action largely confirm that tolerance and acceptance are virtues, the action suggests that making distinctions and drawing divisions are an instinctive human reaction and that once these patterns are ingrained, they can be very hard to overcome. This idea is reflected in the Major’s initial distaste for the two Americans, Sandy and Frank, and his reactions stand as a humorous portrayal of cultural prejudice. His dislike is a response to their forward manner, which he sees as an unfortunate extension of their nation’s character. The Major makes several jokes about Americans being tasteless or overreaching, but his disapproval doesn’t carry the weight of other, more sensitive types of discrimination because he shares the bias that Roger expresses by asserting that Americans are “just like us”—meaning white.

The novel immediately establishes that Roger has absorbed the same kind of prejudice displayed by Daisy, Alma Shaw, and the widow Augerspier, who believe that whiteness is one indication of the “right” sort of people. As discussions elsewhere in the novel indicate, the “right” sort of people are also Anglican (a predominant Christian religion in England), and are preferably of middle to high socioeconomic status.