This novel satirizes elements of academia that are arguably still problems in many institutions, but none come through quite as clearly as the competitive nature of tenure at a university. Dixon is a man with many flaws who makes mistakes constantly, which stands at odds with his desire to have tenure, but as he approaches tenure, he comments more and more on hypocrisy. Is he the only flawed person on the faculty? Hardly. Many of these people struggle with their identity while projecting confidence.
The question on the table is about validation. The university has an official feeling that makes tenure feel like personal accomplishment. But, at the same institution where Dixon writes about the humanities, he attempts to violate the humanity of Margaret by sexually assaulting her in his drunken stupor. His drunkenness is a sign of his frustration and his urgent need to be understood, and the reader should wonder if this is perhaps a sign for a deeper need for approval.
Given that satirical lens, the prospect of academy seems less official than the professors want to admit. They hope for establishment, and the university has that for them, and tenure means stability, typically speaking. But that is most attractive to those people for whom stability and accomplishment mean the most. The joke is that perhaps the most competent people are those who do not compete. The aggressiveness of the whole academic endeavor is brought under an interrogation light of comedy.
