Wharton casts her satire toward the newly rich denizens of the Emporium Hotel. Wharton writes that Mrs. Hatch’s daily life was a “jumble of futile activities” that, to Lily, has no rhyme or reason.
Because of Mrs. Hatch’s unfamiliarity with the manners and customs of the New York social elite, Lily underestimates her as ignorant of social convention. In fact, Mrs. Hatch will eventually turn on Lily in much the same fashion as Bertha.
The narrator views the meeting between Selden and Lily as a lost opportunity for both characters. Had either of them risen above their social training to express their feelings, the narrator believes their differences could be put aside. Selden also displays his blinkered and superficial view of the world when he castigates Lily for working for Mrs. Hatch, which he calls “unconsciously placed in a false position.” Wharton uses Lily’s resolve to stay with Mrs. Hatch to display Lily’s recognition of the hypocrisy of a social class that exiles its own but presumes to tell the exiled what they must do afterward.
Selden’s conversation with Lily has served to do more harm than good in that his approach caused Lily to stiffen her resolve rather than see the wisdom of his message. The narrator states that Lily stayed in the employ of Mrs. Hatch several weeks beyond the time she should have left simply as a resistance to Selden’s advice. However, Lily’s attitudes toward the wealthy social class are becoming drastically altered, which she reveals when she tells Rosedale that she feels Van Osburgh “is not in the least too good for” Mrs. Hatch. Recognizing that her decision to quit the job was based more on her fear of societal opinion than on more practical financial concerns, Lily realizes that there was no real need to leave Mrs. Hatch.
