Chapter 20: Une destinée accomplie — Bevel’s Self‑Made Narrative

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Chapter 20 presents the financier Andrew Bevel’s own account of the 1920s boom, written under the title “Une destinée accomplie.” He frames the post‑World War I era as America’s rightful ascendance and credits his own 1922 market maneuvers with sparking a decade of prosperity. Bevel describes the spread of electricity, automobiles, and household appliances, but insists that finance was the engine of growth. He details his March 1922 purchases that pushed United Steel to a record high, a move the New York Times called a “mysterious movement.” Bevel boasts of informal advisory roles with President Harding and later tax cuts that reduced the top marginal rate from 77% to 22%. The chapter ends with a brief, tender passage about life in the new East 87th Street home before Mildred’s exhaustion—the first symptom of her illness—begins to shadow their happiness.

Key Events

Post‑WWI economic context: Europe indebted, America prosperous.
Rise of electricity, automobiles, and household appliances.
Finance industry becomes the largest sector: Dow Jones rises from 67 (1921) to over 200 (1927).
Bevel’s market intervention in late March 1922, buying into auto, rail, rubber, and steel stocks.
United Steel common stock hits a record 97⅝ dollars on April 3, 1922.
Bevel advises President Harding on monetary and trade policies.
Top marginal income tax rate slashed from 77% to 22% by 1929.
Mildred begins showing signs of exhaustion, foreshadowing her later illness.

Character Development

Andrew Bevel: Reinforces his self‑image as the unseen architect of national prosperity. He portrays himself as apolitical yet influential, a man who acts out of duty rather than ambition. His narrative carefully omits any mention of speculation or risk, presenting his trades as patriotic acts. The brief domestic scene humanizes him slightly but is undercut by the chapter’s overwhelming self‑aggrandizement.
Mildred Bevel: Appears only in the closing lines, where her exhaustion is noted. Even in this memoir focused on Bevel’s triumphs, she is reduced to a footnote—a prelude to her later disappearance from the story.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

American Exceptionalism: Bevel treats the 1920s boom as the natural fulfillment of a national destiny, contrasting a debt‑ridden Old World with a vibrant New World.
The Invisible Hand vs. The Visible Financier: While the chapter celebrates free markets, Bevel’s own intervention in 1922 contradicts laissez‑faire ideology. He positions himself as the hidden hand that actually steers the economy.
Numerical Progress: The chapter is saturated with statistics (stock prices, tax rates, automobile registrations). These numbers become rhetorical weapons, used to lend an aura of objective truth to Bevel’s self‑serving story.
Erasure of Pain: Mildred’s illness is mentioned almost as an afterthought, symbolizing how Bevel’s narrative of success stamps out any complexity or suffering.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 20 is the core of Bevel’s memoir within the novel. It gives readers a direct, unfiltered version of the financier’s life story, complete with his justifications for vast wealth and influence. The chapter’s celebratory tone will be critically examined later in the novel, as other perspectives reveal what Bevel leaves out—especially the human cost of his schemes and the true nature of his marriage. It also marks the first explicit sign of Mildred’s decline, a thread that will eventually unravel the entire family saga.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Bevel explain the cause of the 1920s boom, and what does his explanation reveal about his worldview?
Bevel attributes the boom primarily to low interest rates, high investment, and supportive tax policies—but he also insists that his own market purchases in March 1922 “restored confidence” and triggered the rally. This reveals his belief that individual financial genius (his own) can steer a whole economy. He dismisses the idea of a speculative bubble, calling the period instead a foundation for “great abundance.”

2. What role does Mildred play in this chapter, and why might the author choose to include her here?
Mildred appears only briefly, suffering from exhaustion that will later be diagnosed as a serious illness. By placing her at the very end of a chapter full of economic boasts, the author underscores how Bevel’s memoir marginalizes her life and health. Her mild symptom is the first crack in the perfect image Bevel tries to construct.

3. Bevel claims he “always avoided politics” yet advised President Harding. How does this contradiction serve his self‑image?
The contradiction allows Bevel to present himself as a disinterested patriot rather than a power‑seeker. By framing his advice as “informal counsel” given only when asked, he can take credit for the Roaring Twenties while maintaining an aura of humble duty. This rhetorical move helps him deflect any accusation of corruption or undue influence.