The white monkey

Synopsis

The still-angry Wilfrid tells Michael that he's in love with Fleur and will take Fleur away from Michael if possible. He also tells Michael that Fleur knows all about it, and that Wilfrid thinks he has a chance. Michael goes home to Fleur and tells her that he knows all about Wilfrid. He goes off to hear a Socialist economist speak. Meanwhile, Fleur visits her father, who's staying with them. He tells her it's maybe time she thought about having children. Get it over with early, he suggests. She thinks it would tie her down, but tells Soames that she has thought about it. Soames, the man who was once bitterly disappointed to have a daughter instead of a son, tells her that he would prefer it if she had a daughter: "something like you," he says, fondly. When she leaves, he discovers the balloons he's been carrying in his pocket. He inflates them then, at a loss, bats them out his window and into the square. Michael, coming home from his lecture, finds them and carries one into Fleur. They embrace.

Soames attends the PPRS board meeting. He has his improved accounting figures, and he's not happy with them. They reveal a deep commitment to foreign investment and insurance that he feels is too risky with Europe in the state it's in. He convinces the board to abandon the policy for the coming year. Elderson, the company manager, gives in very easily. Soames is distrustful: the easy capitulation was out of character for Elderson.

Mrs Bickett visits Michael and asks about employment. He is impressed by her unusual face, and sends her off to his artist friend Aubrey Greene as a model. He then goes off to find Bickett "accidentally". He feeds Bickett lunch. Mrs Bickett is an interesting model for Greene, but has a hard time smiling. He goes off to visit Fleur to borrow her dog, which he feels will make his new model smile. There he encounters Old Forsyte, who has brought Fleur the painting of the white monkey. Conversation is made.

Gradman, unusually, appears at Fleur's home to speak to Soames. He is now somewhat elderly and digressive. Soames is a little impatient listening to him, but restrains it. Eventually Gradman comes round to the point: a young man has come to him with urgent business for Soames, and Gradman liked the look of him. The young man is PPRS employee Butterfield. Butterfield has overheard conversation that revealed Elderson has been taking kickbacks from some Germans to accept the very foreign business that has Soames so nervous. Uh oh.

Wilfrid tells Michael that he's in love with Fleur, that he'll take Fleur away if he can, and that he thinks he has a chance.	Michael immediately tells Fleur that he knows all about the Wilfrid thing.	Soames, the loving father, tells his daughter that it's perhaps time she thought about having children.	Soames inflates the balloons he got from Bickett, then tosses them out into the street.
Where they are found by Michael, who is then invited into Fleur's bed.	The PPRS board meeting, where Soames gets his figures. Elderson is shown.	Soames strongly dislikes the risk of their foreign investments, so strongly he demands that the company abandon them in the coming year.	Elderson capitulates so easily that Soames' distrust is aroused.
Bickett's wife goes to ol' softie Mr Mont for help.	The softie "accidentally" runs into Bickett and feeds him lunch.	Butterfield: a clerk in the employ of the PPRS. He seems earnest and ambitious.	Mont has sent Mrs Bickett off to be a model for artist Aubrey Greene. Greene is a bit flip and modern.
Fleur, after playing with fire one last time, tells Wilfrid it's no good, he can't have her.	Soames tells a story to the rather disrespectful Aubrey Greene about a British climber he met in Switzerland in the '70s.	A digressive and elderly Gradman-- still Soames' right hand man-- appears to talk to Soames.	Gradman has Butterfield in tow. Butterfield overheard conversation to the effect that Elderson has been taking kickbacks from German businessmen.

Novels

The middle sections of The white monkey, condensed and a little rearranged.

Commentary

The white monkey is not a good novel. It's just not... interesting. Or rather, what's interesting about it is Soames. When Galsworthy leaves Soames and concentrates on his daughter Fleur, it gets dull. Galsworthy was trying to deal with the effects of the war on the younger generation, but he had no clue what those effects were. Aubrey Greene rings false. Wilfrid rings false. Galsworthy did better when he looked at its effects on a member of his own generation.

But the real problem is that the difficulties Soames faces mostly aren't interesting. So what about some stupid insurance company and its stupid foreign policy that goes into the tank when the mark tanks? Wasn't it much more exciting when Soames's wife was having an affair with his architect and one was wondering if he was going to go off the deep end about it? Yes! And indeed, the second trilogy stays dull until the third book, where Irene's son and Soames's daughter threaten to kick over the traces again, and there are Consequences. It's also got a sustained study of Soames, who's steadily become more and more sympathetic, until it's clear he's his author's voice.