Manhattan Transfer · Chapter
IV: Skyscraper explained
Jimmy Herf, having quit his newspaper job, wanders through New York City on a spring morning, experiencing a mix of exhilaration and existential dread.
What happens
Jimmy Herf, having quit his newspaper job, wanders through New York City on a spring morning, experiencing a mix of exhilaration and existential dread. He observes the city's advertisements and violence, contemplates killing Ellen, and later sits in Washington Square, reflecting on his lost youth. The chapter also follows Anna Cohen and Elmer discussing the strike and their dreams, and Alice Sheffield urging Jimmy to help her husband Roy find work. The chapter ends with a tense scene between Dutch Robertson and Frances Hildebrand in a park.
Themes in this chapter
Urban Alienation
Jimmy Herf wanders through a city of advertisements and violence, feeling disconnected and contemplating murder, while the legless man on Fourteenth Street is ignored by passersby.
Identity and Self-Destruction
Jimmy's thoughts of buying a gun and killing Ellie, his fantasy of being deported, and his sense of losing his twenties reflect a crisis of identity and self-destructive impulses.
Social Class and Inequality
Anna and Elmer discuss the strike and the worker's struggle, contrasting with the wealthy characters and the violent destruction of property in Goldstein's shop.
Modernity and Technology
The skyscraper, dirigible, and advertisements represent modern urban life, while Jimmy's hallucinatory experience of the city's mechanical and commercial rhythms highlights technology's impact.
Characters to notice
- Jimmy Herf
Quits his job at the Pulitzer Building, wanders the city, contemplates violence, and reflects on his lost youth.
- Anna Cohen
Discusses the strike with Elmer, expresses frustration with her mother and desire for a better life.
- Elmer
Talks with Anna about the strike and the importance of education for the working class.
- Alice Sheffield
Asks Jimmy to help her husband Roy find a job, expressing frustration with his inactivity.
- Roy Sheffield
Mentioned as being unemployed and reading papers with an 'adenoid expression.'
- Martin Schiff
Joins Jimmy, Alice, and Roy at the restaurant.
- Dutch Robertson
In a tense scene with Frances, brandishes a pistol and complains about being watched.
- Frances Hildebrand
Whimpers and expresses fear and desperation while with Dutch in the park.
Key passages
“He dropped sickeningly fortyfour stories, crashed. And suppose I bought a gun and killed Ellie, would I meet the demands of April sitting in the deathhouse writing a poem about my mother to be published in the Evening Graphic?”
Jimmy imagines falling from a skyscraper and then considers murdering Ellen, wondering if he would become a sensationalized criminal poet.
This passage captures Jimmy's violent fantasies and his ironic view of media sensationalism.
“In Yonkers I buried my boyhood, in Marseilles with the wind in my face I dumped my calf years into the harbor. Where in New York shall I bury my twenties?”
Jimmy reflects on leaving his past behind in different cities and wonders where he will lose his current decade of life.
This shows Jimmy's sense of dislocation and the passage of time.
“But Anna the strike is the worker's great opportunity, the worker's university. It gives you a chance to study and read and go to the Public Library.”
Elmer tells Anna that the strike is an educational opportunity for workers to improve themselves.
This highlights the idealistic view of labor activism as a path to self-improvement.
