Pnin's party is similar to many other components of the story in that the reader sees it as a disappointment, though Pnin does not realize it immediately. The guests don't all get along terribly well and the Clements get extremely bored. He is insulted more than once in cruel ways, once in front of him and again as his guests are leaving (though he may not have been able to hear it). The night grows even worse as he discovers he is about to be fired. I believe that Nabokov purposefully almost broke the glass bowl only so he could give it back and regain the trust of the reader.