Character Analysis
Finally! We've been waiting to run into someone with one of those British aristocratic hyphenated names. Christine's Uncle Julius, a wealthy arts patron, is a fairly soft-spoken man, but we realize quickly that he's a pretty cool dude. At least our friend Jim Dixon does when he realizes that Julius can get him and their entire group full pints of beer at the Summer Ball. Jim likes Julius because he seems to hold himself at arm's length from all the phony stuff going on around him, despite being rich and sought-after. But he seems to be watching and listening carefully.
Our suspicions of Gore-Urquhart's coolness get confirmed toward the end of the story. He encourages Jim right before the lecture and seems to understand Jim's feelings about the ridiculousness of the whole effort. Impressed by Jim's cynicism and refusal to buy into the snobby academic atmosphere, he calls Jim after he gets the ax from the college and offers him the job that Bertrand has been gunning for.
Now, we already love the old guy for swooping in and saving Jim like this; but the reason he gives for doing it make us like him even more.
"I knew young Welch was no good as soon as I set eyes on him. Like his pictures. It's a great pity he's managed to get my niece tied up with him, a great pity." (23.81)
And we're all like, Yes yes! Thank God someone else in this book feels the way we (and Jim) do. But it's not just a matter of thinking that Bertrand is a fake. When he explains to Jim why he's giving him a job, Gore-Urquhart says:
"I think you'll do the job all right, Dixon. It's not that you've got the qualifications, for this or any other work, but there are plenty who have. You haven't got the disqualifications, though, and that's much rarer." (23.81)
Or in other words: Listen kid, you're not the sharpest tack in the box, but I just can't stand being surrounded by self-promoting phonies anymore.