Dicembre 2016 e ditoriale

83

E

SAMI DI

S

TATO

2016

Nuova Secondaria - n. 4 2016 - Anno XXXIV - ISSN 1828-4582

Lines 9-10 (“and the elevator sank and sank”) introduce

Wilhelm’s arrival at the lobby. Although there is no ques-

tion about this detail, the candidate may well perceive that

the use of the verb “sink” associated with its repetition

may symbolize Wilhelm’s own sinking into a state of mis-

ery. This seems to contrast sharply with the fact that “the

great dark-red uneven carpet that covered the lobby bil-

lowed toward Wilhelm’s feet” (ll.10-11), as if he were a

celebrity. “Then the smooth door opened“ (l.10), and a

description of the lobby follows (ll.11-12) with a simile,

i.e. “French drapes like sails”, which seems to anticipate

the idea of voyage conveyed by the “pigeon about to light

on the great chain” (l.13) and its “wings beating

strongly”  (l.14). The candidate is not required to interpret

these images, but the symbol of the pigeon is certainly a

powerful one and may well arouse a number of associa-

tions, among which the idea of messages traditionally car-

ried by pigeons and at the same time the bird’s connection

to the idea of home. On the one hand, the candidates may

hypothesize that the former interpretation is plausible

when, in the next paragraph, they discover that Wilhelm

is waiting for news that might be disastrous (“he sensed

that a huge trouble long presaged but till now formless

was due. Before evening he’d know”, ll.29-30). They

might even form a relationship between the trouble an-

nounced by the pigeon and the Life-in-Death status

caused by the albatross in Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient

Mariner (1798), a relationship reinforced by the simile of

the drapes as sails. On the other hand, the candidates

may inquire into Wilhelm’s dwelling at a hotel. Why is he

living there? Why does he notice that the pigeon beats its

wings strongly? What does it mean to him? Desire for

freedom? The excerpt offers no complete answers – the

candidates can make hypotheses but will have to read the

whole novella – hopefully, they will.

5. Who are the guests at the Hotel Gloriana?

The guests are elderly, already retired people.

The candidates should have no problem in detecting the

answer (ll. 15-17).

6. Why does Wilhelm feel out of place there?

Wilhelm feels out of place because he is younger.

This is an easy answer too. The candidates will re-read the

passage they have already identified to understand who

Wilhelm is and find confirmation of their hypothesis:

“Wilhelm felt out of place. He was comparatively young”

(l.20). Although the sentences are not connected by a

cause-effect connector, the candidates will benefit from

identifying the lexical cohesion of antonymy between

“young” and “past the age of retirement” (l.15) or “vast

population of old men and women” (l.16).

7. What do the hotel guests do after breakfast?

After breakfast the hotel guests do not have much to do but

pass the time. They sit in the lobby to chat and read the

papers.

The answer clearly emerges at lines 22-23. However, this

passage conveys more than this. It shows a piece of urban

landscape, a sketch of a bit of the New York in the Fifties,

“the shops and cafeterias, the dime stores, the tearooms, the

bakeries, the beauty parlors, the reading rooms and club

rooms”  (ll. 18-19). As Cynthia Ozich put it: “Bellow’s

Broadway uptown (…) is nearly intact: the hurrying anony-

mous lives, the choked and throbbing urban air, the heavy

sunlight that makes you feel “like a drunkard”. (1996: x).

8. What has Wilhelm done in the last months?

In the last months, as he is unemployed, Wilhelm has kept

himself busy with getting up early, having breakfast with

his father, and getting out. He has kept on deceiving oth-

ers and, especially, himself, into believing that he has

business to attend to.

The answer is to be found at lines 24-28. The candidate

might notice the tone of bitter irony conveyed by Wilhelm

leading a life similar to the elderly people at the Gloriana

among whom he feels out of place.

9. What does Rubin look like?

Rubin is a man who works at a newsstand whose eyes lack

expression, as their lids look old and wriggled. He wears

smart clothes and the cuffs of his designer-shirt are in

sharp contrast to his small hairy hands.

Lines 32-35 dwell on describing Rubin: a man who gives

elegant appearance a great importance, in contrast to his

ordinary occupation. The duality of reality-appearance

could draw the candidates’ attention to the same behav-

iour in Wilhelm and encourage them to theorize some par-

allelism between the two New-Yorkers and their obses-

sion with appearing better off than they actually are. The

candidates should be well used to interpreting character

description symbolically and they may associate Rubin’s

description to Thomas Gradgrind’s in Dickens’ Hard

Times (1854): a man devoted to materialism who wants

to appear solemn and dignified, but who is portrayed as

having grotesque features and gestures foreseeing his

complete failure.

10. Why do Rubin and Wilhelm gaze at the Hotel Anso-

nia?

Rubin and Wilhelm gaze at the Hotel Ansonia because it

is a symbol of grandeur, since its architectural features are

extravagant and fascinating, its colour varying from mar-

ble white to slate black. Today it looks like a reflection of

itself, white above and dark distorted caves below, which

seems to reflect the characters’ own dual situation: their

dreams and hopes, their faith in the American dream ver-

sus their ordinary, if not miserable, everyday life.

04_Layout 1  25/10/16  10:53  Pagina 83

---