ging for companionship, decides he must buy better clothes. To buy better clothes, he finds work at the prestigious Greene-Davidson Hotel. (Only, Clyde's nave mother, Elvira is unsure of whether the Hotel is a safe atmosphere.) Exposed to wealth and high society, he becomes corrupted. Clyde's hopes are shattered after a run-in with the law. He flees to Kansas and works odd jobs until he is hired into the regarded Union League Club. At the Union League, he meets his rich uncle, who gives him a job in his collar factory. Clyde moves to Lycurgus and, because of his last name, good looks, and charm, he soon enters the upper echelons of Lycurguss society. Less than two years later, he is abandoned by that society. He dies in the electric chair with little respect and no possessions. Until his last months, Clyde has no morals. He wastes 20 years chasing windmills. Then, in jail, with less than one year to live, he is forced to give up his chase. When the caring, friendly Reverend McMillan befriends Clyde, both of them discover God. Confession, Clyde feels, will save his soul. (Ironically, it takes his life.) He instantly has morals; when he reads the Bible and prays, he accepts and copes with his failure and guilt. From an early age, Clyde is a social and economic outcast. He blames his parents for his failure and vows not to live his life with them. After working in a malt shop for several months, Clyde finds a job at the Greene-Davidson Hotel. There, he makes more than $40 a week there, not including room and board. Finally, he is able to dress well, enter a higher social class, meet females, and escape his family. His plans are never realized: his friend runs over a little girl during a joyride in a stolen Packard. Clyde flees to Kansas, but he is too poor to live immorally until he works at the Union League Club, where he meets his rich uncle, Sam Griffiths. Sam employs Clyde in his shirt factory, and Clyde quickly succumbs to sexual temp...
