Bud Korpenning in Manhattan Transfer
Commentary n°4= ''The rain had stopped...on a man's wedding day'' p.118-120 section 1 Chapter 5
Introduction
The extract corresponds to the final pages of the first section,chapter 5 entitled Steamroller. It deals with the character of Bud Korpenning that we already met on the opening pages of chapter 1 ferryslip ,and that we find again in the first section's closure.
Previously in the chapter, we learned that Bud sleeps on a cot surrounded by other men.The place appears to be a homeless shelter.But he is restless and unable to sleep. So he engages in conversation with a bum. He tells him the story about why he left home. His father whipped him regularly with a light chain until Bud ran away at thirteen. He is now twenty-five. Before he ran away from upstate, he killed his father and took ten dollars from a large roll of bills and then set off to the big city to never be found.The bum expresses interest in going back upstate and taking back the large roll of bills. Bud makes a deal with him and leaves the shelter to eat, following the advice of the bum worried about him. After eating, he walks to the Brooklyn Bridge, but haunted by men in derbies , he jumps off the bridge with the last fantasy about being a rich city alderman. Finally, the captain McAvoy of the tugboat Prudence witnesses the incident and Bud's body is fished out from the water.
We can ask ourselves what are the circumstances that led Bud to commit a suicide and what it foreshadowed for the rest of the novel.
What this extract displays is Bud's despair in this destructive city.Through this extract we are going to discover his attitude and the atmosphere before he commits a suicide as an innocent victim of the city.
I.Bud's despair
a) His attitude
Following the advice of the bum who is worried about his situation,Bud goes for a walk and spending his last dollars into a good meal ''in the lunchroom in Chatham Square'' on l.3. On l.5 , he is ''waited long for his order'',''he felt cool,
Introduction
The extract corresponds to the final pages of the first section,chapter 5 entitled Steamroller. It deals with the character of Bud Korpenning that we already met on the opening pages of chapter 1 ferryslip ,and that we find again in the first section's closure.
Previously in the chapter, we learned that Bud sleeps on a cot surrounded by other men.The place appears to be a homeless shelter.But he is restless and unable to sleep. So he engages in conversation with a bum. He tells him the story about why he left home. His father whipped him regularly with a light chain until Bud ran away at thirteen. He is now twenty-five. Before he ran away from upstate, he killed his father and took ten dollars from a large roll of bills and then set off to the big city to never be found.The bum expresses interest in going back upstate and taking back the large roll of bills. Bud makes a deal with him and leaves the shelter to eat, following the advice of the bum worried about him. After eating, he walks to the Brooklyn Bridge, but haunted by men in derbies , he jumps off the bridge with the last fantasy about being a rich city alderman. Finally, the captain McAvoy of the tugboat Prudence witnesses the incident and Bud's body is fished out from the water.
We can ask ourselves what are the circumstances that led Bud to commit a suicide and what it foreshadowed for the rest of the novel.
What this extract displays is Bud's despair in this destructive city.Through this extract we are going to discover his attitude and the atmosphere before he commits a suicide as an innocent victim of the city.
I.Bud's despair
a) His attitude
Following the advice of the bum who is worried about his situation,Bud goes for a walk and spending his last dollars into a good meal ''in the lunchroom in Chatham Square'' on l.3. On l.5 , he is ''waited long for his order'',''he felt cool,