Middle-Class life in America

The hierarchical organization of life in America; the distinction is made several times in the novel about social status. Harry and his friends are on their way upward. Harry's friends, and Harry as well, did not go to college, although their children are all either there or heading there. They come from parents who were less affluent and less prestigious than themselves. Harry's father, for example, was a linotype operator. However, Harry and his friends have not achieved, and will not achieve, the status of the factory owners or their lawyers, or even of the bankers. Upward movement can be noted in Harry's feeling about the Fosnachts who represent the Angstrom's old circle (Ollie Fosnacht is a clerk in a music store) and the Murketts who represent the new (Webb is a roofing contractor). An interesting side note is that Nelson is friends with Billy...