Manhattan Transfer · Chapter
Tracks explained
The chapter interweaves multiple vignettes: a tense family dinner at the Merivales' where anti-immigrant sentiments are aired and Uncle Jeff's drunken brother Joe arrives; Jimmy Herf's childhood memory of bullying a boy thought to be Jewish
What happens
The chapter interweaves multiple vignettes: a tense family dinner at the Merivales' where anti-immigrant sentiments are aired and Uncle Jeff's drunken brother Joe arrives; Jimmy Herf's childhood memory of bullying a boy thought to be Jewish; Emile Rigaud's awkward romantic advances toward Madame Rigaud, who rebuffs him; George Baldwin's clandestine meeting with his lover Nellie; and Ed Thatcher's late-night struggle over whether to gamble on a risky stock tip, torn between ambition and caution.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Inequality
The Merivale dinner conversation reveals deep class and ethnic prejudices, while Ed Thatcher's financial gamble reflects the precariousness of middle-class life.
Illusion and Performance
Baldwin and Nellie's secret affair requires constant pretense; Emile's romantic overtures are a performance that Madame Rigaud sees through.
American Dream and Ambition
Ed Thatcher's internal conflict between safe work and risky investment embodies the lure of quick wealth and the American Dream's darker side.
Characters to notice
- Jimmy Herf
Present at the Merivale family dinner, recalling childhood bullying of a boy named Iky; later retreats to his room in anger after seeing his drunken uncle.
- Emily Merivale
Hosts the family dinner, attempts to manage the arrival of her drunken brother-in-law Joe.
- Emile Rigaud
Works in Madame Rigaud's shop, tries to woo her with talk of history and literature but is rejected.
- Madame Rigaud
Runs her delicatessen, laughs off Emile's advances, declares she will never trust a man again.
- George Baldwin
Works alone in his office on a Sunday, meets his lover Nellie and kisses her, troubled by the secrecy.
- Ed Thatcher
Works late at his office, resists a colleague's stock tip but fantasizes about wealth and success.
Key passages
“The trouble with the people of this country is this, Mr. Merivale … The people of this country are too tolerant. There’s no other country in the world where they’d allow it. … After all we built up this country and then we allow a lot of foreigners, the scum of Europe, the offscourings of Polish ghettos to come and run it for us.”
Mr. Wilkinson complains that Americans are too tolerant, allowing immigrants from Europe to take over the country they built.
Reflects nativist and anti-immigrant attitudes common in the early 1900s.
“I hate them. I hate them. … Then gulping a dry sob he turned out the light and slipped into bed between the shiverycold sheets.”
Jimmy Herf, after seeing his drunken uncle, goes to his room and shouts that he hates his family before crying and going to bed.
Shows Jimmy's emotional turmoil and alienation from his family.
“History and literature! … A lot of good that’ll do us.”
Madame Rigaud dismisses Emile's talk of history and literature as useless.
Highlights her pragmatic, cynical view of romance and intellectualism.
“Take a plunge, take a plunge … they’re all crooks and gamblers anyway … take a plunge and come up with your hands full, pockets full, bankaccount full, vaults full of money.”
Ed Thatcher imagines taking a risky financial gamble that could make him rich, despite knowing the market is corrupt.
Captures the temptation of speculation and the American Dream's promise of wealth.
