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I agree- his relationship with Maud and her family show this transition especially in chapter 45 when he describes Selena's musical serenade. While in the moment of her performance, he actually took the time to listen, admire, and be moved by her which is something he would not have done in part 1. He wouldn't even let his son Billie jam with the guys in the bar for fear of having the spotlight on someone other than himself.

I think there should have been a third part between 'Part 1' and 'Part 2.' The transformation of the main character is the main driving point of the book...and it happens mostly "off page" during a time skip.

There was more development in part two. I felt like part one was more about setting the sense and showing how awful he was at the beginning

I think it depends on how you look at it. If you look at it like he was developing in his career and life goals and he fell from his status in the second half, the author is right. However, I agree that looking at it from a moral standpoint, he was a bit on the declining side of a human and then developed in part two.

I could connect deeply to Hiram's character in part two of this book. Hence to me, that was the section of this book were his character was developed.