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"Good gracious!" From under the blanket that was wrapped round the baby she produced a brownpaper package…. "Two quarts of our special cognac… gout famille ‘Erf… and I’ve got another quart in a hotwaterbottle under my waistband…. That’s why I look as if I was going to have another baby."
The Hildebrands began hooting with laughter.
In "THIRD SECTION: I Rejoicing City That Dwelt Carelessly," Jimmy and Ellen, who is now going by the name Helena in an attempt at reinvention, return to New York from Europe after World War I during Prohibition. Their friends, the Hildebrands, meet the newly married couple. Throughout the book, several characters have alcohol addictions, the most tragic being Stan. Here, Ellen uses Stan’s baby to hide the alcohol she brought home. This scene highlights the hedonism that runs through the book. Alcohol is ubiquitous in Manhattan, Prohibition notwithstanding. It is used to escape the coldness of the city, and the financially unstable characters often use their last pennies to buy alcohol. As Ellen shares the cognac, Bob Hildebrand jokes that the hard part about Prohibition is looking sober. This statement illustrates that the characters will follow their lesser instincts regardless of circumstances or consequences. They will continue to numb their feelings and forget bad decisions regardless of any manufactured sanctions on their behavior.
