The Arrow of Gold · Chapter
I explained
The narrator, known as 'Young Ulysses,' sits alone in a café on the Cannebière during carnival, feeling detached from the festivities.
What happens
The narrator, known as 'Young Ulysses,' sits alone in a café on the Cannebière during carnival, feeling detached from the festivities. He reflects on his recent return from a second West Indies voyage and his lack of interest in the political intrigue surrounding Don Carlos. He is joined by Mills and Captain Blunt, an elegant but insomniac man. After a brief encounter with a masked girl, the three men decide to leave the café and go to Blunt's rooms for a private supper, marking the beginning of a significant acquaintance.
Themes in this chapter
Identity and Self-Discovery
The narrator reflects on his own youth and lack of maturity despite his experiences, and his nickname 'Young Ulysses' suggests a journey of self-discovery that is just beginning.
Fate and Chance
The narrator's chance meeting with Mills and Captain Blunt in the café, and the decision to go to Blunt's rooms, feels like a significant, perhaps fated, turn in his life, marking the end of a previous existence.
Characters to notice
- Young Ulysses
The narrator, recently returned from his second West Indies voyage, feeling young, unthinking, and infinitely receptive. He is known by the nickname 'Young Ulysses' and is part of a bohemian circle.
- Mills
A burly, well-connected, and rustic man who is perfectly insular. He is a senior figure who attracts the narrator's interest and is quiet and immovable in his habits.
- Captain Blunt
An eminently elegant man with a clear-cut, thin, suntanned face and mobile black eyes. He is a sufferer of insomnia and is not perfectly French, with a personality that is not sufficiently professional for an officer.
- Prax
A sculptor who leads the narrator's bohemian circle. He appears in a medieval Faust costume and invites the narrator to a supper, but is dismissed.
Key passages
“These are like the last hours of a previous existence.”
This moment feels like the final moments before a major life change.
The narrator senses that meeting this woman will fundamentally alter his life.
“I was as young as before. Inconceivably young—still beautifully unthinking—infinitely receptive.”
I felt just as youthful as ever, remarkably naive and completely open to new experiences.
The narrator emphasizes his state of mind before the events of the story unfold.