It all starts with Harry Trellman, an entrepreneur from Chicago, who at the beginning of the story narrates his life in a nutshell. He is a smart man, who was esoteric when comes to analyzing people. He starts out by saying that he was put into an orphanage, and how he had an Asian expression on his face. He said he was put into an orphanage because his mother had a disease of the joints that sent her to the sanitarium. He said he had a round head, hair worn as long as the orphanage allowed a pair of flat black eyes, and a wide mouth with a sizable lip. He then meets a rich elderly man named Sigmund Adletsky at a party thrown by someone named Frances Jellicoe.
Sigmund Adletsky invited Harry to his penthouse office suite. He told Harry that he wanted him to be his braintrust, meaning he wanted someone who had intellect that he could converse freely with. So Harry Trellman go aquainted with Sigmund Adletsky for a few years, and came to the point where he was reaquainted with his long lost love. Harry was reaquainted with his long lost love Amy Wustrin.
He got reaquainted with her under the circumstances that he ran into her downtown. She was an interior decorator, and Sigmund Adletsky was using her to appraise the furniture at this duplex he was going to buy. She brings up that she has to go change her dead husbands grave from the spot it is in. Later on, Harry Trellman goes with her to carry out the task, they have a deep conversation, and at the very end he asks her to marry him.
Harry Trellman in the actual is an anylitical introvert. In the story he comes up with theories of what people may be thinking at a particular time, but he never discloses his feelings to other people and he admits to sinking his feelings into his face. He says “My thinking had from the beginning came between us, referring to his previous relationship with Amy Wustrin. He also says “I looked so curiously self-contained.
” meaining he never disclosed his feelings. In the story his long lost love Amy Wustrin criticizes his personality. She says “You never let on to more than one-tenth of what you really think or know. “Towards the end of the story he begins to slightly disclose his true feelings and thought to Amy Wustrin. Harry Trellman is just like any other made when it comes to women, he had a hard time expressing how he felt.
The story takes place in Chicago. I assume that there are a lot of jewish and polish people there based on what I’ve seen on Saturday night Live. When they do the skit with four polish people talking about the Chicago Bears. The man named Sigmund Adletsky in the story also tipped me off that there may be polish people in the story because “Adletsky” is polish.
I also assume that Chicago is a place filled with a lot of people. In the story Harry Trellman, during one of his narratives says, “The man threat in a place like Chicago is emptiness-human gaps and breaks, a sort of spiritual ozone that smells like bleach. “Coming form experience I can easily relate to Harry Trellman. Like him I to like to analyze things and I rarely ever disclose my true feelings.
I’ve been friends with girls for a long time, but I could never let them know that I liked them. Harry had a hard time disclosing his feelings to Amy and he carried the feeling with him for forty years. Psychologically I think that the introvert aspect of his persona is the impediment that kept him from disclosing his feelings. I feel that introverts are known for using defense mechanisms to keep them from disclosing their feelings. His defense mechanisms was discussing other people rather than himself.
In the story Amy Wustrin reminisces about all the times Jay Wustrin cheated on her. Jay says that he was sexually liberated. This kind of logic was sophistry to me because if your in love with someone instant gratification from other people doesn’t apply, simply because of the fact that it is instant gratification. I do agree with what the author is trying to say at the end of the story. He is saying instead of prolonging the inevitable just take you chance at love.
Meaning that if Harry had just disclosed his feelings to Amy Wustrin they both wouldn’t have never had to go through an emotional demise. Harry wouldn’t have a heart wrenching nostalgia for Amy. Amy would have never had to put up with a cheating husband. In a book I read called fast times at richmond high, a boy liked this girl and the didn’t hook up till the end.
During the movie she was looking for love in all the wrong places. She was having sex with men trying to find love, and ended up getting impregnated and then getting an abortion. The boy thought that she was really nice, but thought that wouldn’t be interested in him. She found out the hard way that sex doesn’t make someone love you.
All the he had to do was explain this to her earlier then she never would have acted out like she did. So all of the emotional pain could have been eliminated if the two of them were informed right. I feel that Harry Trellman was an anylitical introvert and that kept him from finding love from anyone. I made this assumption based on what Harry said “My theorizing had from the beginning come between us”. He also said “I looked so curiously self contained. “I thought that chicago compiled of jewish and polish people.
And according to the text there was a man named Hesininger ( jewish) and Adletsky (polish)Bibliography:
