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Summary
I. Rejoicing City That Dwelt Carelessly
Captain James Merivale has returned home from the war. He stops at the barbershop before visiting his family. His father, Uncle Jeff passed away during the influenza pandemic. His mother and sister are happy to see him, and James seems to have enjoyed the war on some level.
Anna Cohen is out with a boy. She complains about how her mother is always picking on her and breaks away from the boy and runs up to her apartment. She wakes her mother and tells her she’s just gotten up for a drink of water. Anna sings the songs that she heard that night softly to herself as she gets into bed.
Ellen and Jimmy are married and returning from the war with baby Martin. They are greeted by friends, the Hildebrands, who offer contraband alcohol since Prohibition has begun. Ellen is now going by the name Helena and the five of them spend the day in the Hildebrands’ apartment.
George Baldwin walks along Madison Avenue thinking through his options. He could go home to his cozy library, he could visit his mistress Nevada and hear the City Hall gossip, although he knows he needs to break it off with her. Or he could go see his angry wife. George is frustrated with himself for being in this position. He stops and orders flowers to be delivered to Ellen, who he knows is now married with a baby. George sends a note with genuine sounding well wishes.
Joe O’Keefe and Dutch Robertson arrive home in New York from the war. As their transport ship moves up the river, they take in the bustling city.
Jimmy and Ellen have dinner with the Merivales. They discuss post-war plans. Jimmy shares that although he has written some articles about the war, no one seems to want to print them, as his opinions are not popular. Jimmy, Ellen, and James talk about where they were on Armistice Night.
Joe O’Keefe is busy building solidarity among war veterans. He tells a large group of men that they went and fought in the war and that they came home to no jobs, so they deserve bonuses. When speaking to a smaller group, he gets agreement that the vets have to set up a committee and raise money for the bonus campaign. After the meeting, Joe goes to see a doctor for injections to control the syphilis he contracted during the war.
George is out with Gus and a man named Densch. Gus is trying to convince George to run for political office. Densch makes the case that America is going through a tumultuous time and needs people like George. Gus assures George that he will have no trouble getting elected.
Outside, a ferry boat full is leaving the immigrant station at Ellis Island. It is full of communists that are being deported. As the ferry fades into the distance, the passengers sing the anthem of the communist movement.
II. Nickelodeon
Ruth is leaving a doctor’s office after an X-ray treatment for an unnamed ailment. She is frustrated by how fast her money disappears. Not wanting to go back to Sunderland’s yet, Ruth stops at a café for tea and runs into an old boyfriend, Billy. She shares that she has had a run of bad luck, and he wishes she would stop going for X-ray treatments. He has heard they have been linked to cancer cases. Ruth assures him that cancer only results when X-rays are used improperly. Later, on her way home, Ruth rubs her throbbing throat and wonders if she is making a mistake.
Dutch Robertson is sitting on a bench for work in the want ads. While there are plenty of ads, none of the opportunities seem like a good fit to him. His girlfriend Francie arrives. They have no money and have to be very resourceful when they go out. They decide to use the last of Francie’s money to go to a Chinese restaurant and dance hall but are thrown out because Dutch is wearing a khaki shirt. Dutch promises Francie that he will make something of himself, and they will get married. He recounts how he went AWOL while overseas and tells Francie that this proves that he has is capable of doing something with his life.
Jimmy and Ellen are going out for dinner. Jimmy is upset that Ellen is taking an editorial job and wishes she could continue acting. Jimmy is not currently working, and Ellen says there’s no choice as they need the money. Their relationship is already strained, and Jimmy doesn’t feel that he’s good enough for Ellen. They go to a speakeasy where Congo works. They learn the Frenchman has become a bootlegger. Jimmy and Ellen drink so that they don’t have to think about their unhappiness.
Anna Cohen is working as a taxi dancer. She dances with an endless stream of strangers, deflecting their advances.
Analysis
This section of the book flashes forward to the Post-World War I era. Avoiding any depiction of the war in real time, it is only mentioned in a general way by a few characters. Many of them have socialist sympathies, and so the characters do not feel the rush of patriotism that infused the country after the war. Instead, the focus is on their struggle to find their way after coming home. Some characters, mostly women, didn’t go to war but still struggle to make their way in the city as they did before. These chapters emphasize the fact that not even a worldwide conflict can change the daily toil that characters endure at the hands of the city. It also has not changed the fact that they will not be confined by moral standards imposed on them by society. They do what they have to do to survive. They have the same problems, and they address them with the same vices. Although prohibition is now in effect in New York, this does not stem any of the characters’ alcohol habits. It merely drives them underground. And by the end of “Nickelodeon,” some of the characters have taken desperate measures to get by.
Anna Cohen represents the struggle of the working class in New York. While the labor class is often depicted in a sympathetic way, and capitalism is attacked, the city is just as cold and unforgiving towards this group as it is towards the upper class. Even the people who build the city up are torn down by it. Anna is a young girl who is pushed around by everyone, particularly employers. Although she initially seems timid, she shows signs of resisting the patriarchy as well as rampant capitalism from her first appearance. However, she does hamper her own desire for independence when she repeatedly makes herself subservient to boyfriends. By the end of “Nickelodeon,” she is working as a taxi dancer, a kind of benign precursor to her days as a prostitute. She takes the job because there is a strike in the garment district where she is a seamstress. This makes her union job incapable of protecting her against the ills of another workplace, as she is forced to tolerate the unwanted advances of her dance partners. She mentions absentmindedly to one of her clients that she is tired. While she is still a young person, Anna is already worn out by New York.
In his one reprieve from New York City, Jimmy feels a unique happiness. He relives it in a series of flashbacks that, ironically, take place in Europe during World War I. Amid the carnage of the war, Jimmy is content for the first time since his first appearance in the book. When the couple returns to New York after the war, Jimmy is surprised to be happy to see the city. Part of him wished he would never be back. Ellen, on the other hand, always knew she would return. Unlike Jimmy, she belongs in the city. The happiness does not last for Jimmy, however. Ellen has to work to make ends meet, causing resentment for Jimmy. Ellen is instantly more successful in the industry where Jimmy has never found his place or any financial success. Even with Ellen working they struggle financially, a situation to which Ellen is not accustomed and which makes Jimmy bitter.
During one particular low point after the couple returns to New York, Jimmy revisits the joy he felt in Europe in a series of flashbacks. Jimmy’s happiness resulted from the fact that he and Ellen were on equal footing while the war was going on. There was no financial or social discrepancy as there is in the city. The war put a temporary end to these superficial divisions. Since returning, their relationship is tense, giving Jimmy more fuel for his dislike of New York. Now, going home to their shared apartment feels heavy and oppressive for both of them. The marriage is a product of bad choices on both their parts. Ellen was looking for a father for Martin. Jimmy thought he could make Ellen happy, but Ellen is used to a lifestyle that Jimmy cannot achieve in New York. In marrying Ellen, Jimmy thinks that he has finally achieved some kind of success, but this is only the case when they are away from New York.
As returning veterans, Joe O’Keefe and Dutch Robertson want to make something of themselves, and the implication is that the city should welcome them with open arms. They risked their lives for their country, and they should be appreciated and given a fair chance. However, the men do not receive the welcome that they anticipate. Joe is quickly discouraged when he cannot deliver for his fellow veterans in the form of a union bonus. Joe has good intentions, but the politics of the city and a lack of resources make his work impossible. Dutch Robertson, coming back to the city during a labor strike, has a hard time finding work. He does not return from Europe as a triumphant veteran, but as someone who must go straight back to pounding the pavement in search of work. His unforgiving life in the city hardens him more by the day. Soon he will find himself with no options and will feel forced into a life a crime.
