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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.
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