50 pages • 1 hour read
Stephanie DanlerSweetbitter
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context: Bildungsroman
Sweetbitter is a bildungsroman. It is a female coming-of-age story in which the main protagonist, Tess, forms her identity and changes with time and experience.
A bildungsroman is a type of novel in which the main character undergoes significant moral and psychological development as they come of age. Sweetbitter is a bildungsroman because Tess’s morals, identity, and psychology develop throughout the story. She starts off as a young, naïve girl eager to throw herself into life’s experiences. At the start of the story, Tess is easily influenced by others because she doesn’t have autonomy. Working at the restaurant, however, toughens Tess up, and engaging in emotionally toxic relationships with both Simone and Jake teaches Tess what she doesn’t want out of life. At the end of the novel, Tess has developed into a wiser, more mature, more confident young woman with a strong sense of self.
The bildungsroman is a popular genre. Many classic examples of canonical literature are studies on an individual’s growth. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (1951) is a bildungsroman about a boy who walks around New York City and develops critical opinions about his identity and his society. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847) is a bildungsroman about a young English woman whose life’s twists and turns teach her independence, resilience, and change her perspective on what true love can be. Danler has said that she had wanted Sweetbitter to be her response to the bildungsroman The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (1881), in which a young American woman travels to Europe, learns about the world, but is defeated by her own naivete. Sweetbitter combats this unhappy ending by allowing Tess a new beginning.
The American classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) is also a bildungsroman. In this novel, a young girl named Scout has a transformative year learning about the ugly truth of institutionalized, rampant, and violent racism in her hometown. As in To Kill a Mockingbird, the bildungsroman is about an individual character’s growth, but it is also a reflection of the influence society has—for better or worse—on the individual.
Cultural Context: New York City Restaurants
New York City is a metropolis known for many things, including its vibrant food culture. New York City is home to some of the best restaurants in the world, and food of every culture can be found there. It is a cosmopolitan city in which food and restaurant culture informs economy, tourism, and identity. However, there is a hierarchy within the business, which is reflected in Sweetbitter. In this novel, Tess works at an elite fine-dining restaurant that provides ambience and experience. It serves some of the city’s wealthiest, so servers like Simone are not typical servers. They are knowledgeable, extremely experienced, well-educated people who put on the performance of food service. At elite New York restaurants like this, staff members can make real salaries and have health insurance. Not every person who works in a restaurant can work in the type of restaurant featured in Sweetbitter. Tess’s hiring gives her the illusion that she is special.
Stories about the behind-the-scenes action of elite restaurants are a source of cultural entertainment and interest. Anthony Bourdain’s memoir Kitchen Confidential (2000) is a humorous and brutally honest exposé of the work, dedication, talent, and grit it requires to work in New York City’s finest restaurants.
Sweetbitter builds off of the concept of Bourdain’s memoir and highlights the highs and lows of working in an elite restaurant in New York City as a young woman. The female experience in any workplace is different, but in this novel, it is also sexualized. Despite the challenges, Tess is eager to be a part of the restaurant. In working at an elite restaurant, servers themselves glimpse elite status. They are in close proximity to powerful people, and they are exposed to exciting opportunities that can be life-changing. But, as is seen with Simone, sometimes these elite restaurants become exclusive places for the staff as well—Simone stays so long at this workplace and places much of her identity in her work. She becomes too overqualified to work in any other restaurant, keeping her stuck in the restaurant in the novel.
