Short Fiction · Chapter
XIX: A Soft Job explained
Following his release from the hospital, the narrator is advised by Dr.
What happens
Following his release from the hospital, the narrator is advised by Dr. Pearson to leave journalism for a calmer profession. He becomes a ticket agent at Grand Central Station, where his imaginative and individualistic approach to the job leads to unconventional interactions with customers, including a widow he convinces to travel alone to Ardsley and a memorable encounter with Nora Bayes.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Media and Business
The narrator's absurd and inefficient methods as a ticket agent satirize the bureaucratic and nonsensical rules of corporate employment.
Disillusionment and Failure
The narrator's attempt to find a 'calm' job leads to a farcical situation, reflecting a sense of disillusionment with conventional paths to stability.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Elliott
The narrator, now a ticket agent, applies his imaginative methods to his new job.
- Ella
Mentioned as Nora Bayes, a customer at the ticket window.
Key passages
“The calmest, most leisurely calling I can think of, replied the doctor, is that of a ticket agent in a large railroad terminal.”
The doctor suggested that the most relaxing job he could imagine was working as a ticket seller at a major train station.
The doctor's advice sets the stage for the narrator's new, supposedly low-stress career.
“But after that, my natural imaginativeness and individuality overcame my sense of duty and I proceeded to revolutionize the ticket selling industry.”
However, my creative and independent nature soon took over, and I began to completely change how tickets were sold.
The narrator's personality clashes with the mundane rules of his new job.
“This struck me as so comical that I hurried up to the athletic field of the University of Columbia and watched some of the men practice broad jumping.”
I found this so funny that I immediately went to watch college athletes practice long jumps.
The narrator's reaction to Nora Bayes' joke highlights his preference for amusement over work.