Manhattan Transfer Is the Novel

Manhattan Transfer

Is the novel unified, or does it have too many characters and too many different stories? What unifying elements does the novel use? What is its aim?

This novel, "Manhattan Transfer" by John Dos Passos, is unified, but it a strangely convoluted way. The two real main characters, Ellen and Jimmy, are both introduced early in the novel (it begins with Ellen's birth, in fact), and the book follows them as they mature, engage in a relationship, marry, and then divorce. The unifying element of the novel would seem to be these two characters, but really, it is the city where they live - New York, and its affect on all the varied characters of the novel. The setting of the novel is almost like a character in itself, and it is the glue that holds all the characters together. Some live on Park Avenue and seem to have everything they need to be happy, while others are poor, desperate, and down on their luck.

They all mingle together in the city, and they all experience the city in different ways. Ellen becomes a successful actress but then turns to the publishing business in an attempt to be happy, while Jimmy becomes a journalist. They both illustrate some of the important careers in New York in the 1920s, while illustrating the glittering excitement and dark despair of the city, as well. Dos Passos often describes simple items in the city, such as, "An L. train roared above their heads leaving a humming rattle to fade among the girders after it had passed" (Dos Passos 39). or, "A steamroller was clattering back and forth over the freshly tarred metaling of the road at the cemetery gate. A smell of scorched grease and steam and hot paint came from it" (Dos Passos 112). The author knows the city and can portray it vividly, showing how it "works" and how it affects the people who live in it.

Another unifier in this novel is the use of newspapers and their headlines. They are woven throughout the novel as well, in an attempt to indicate the activities and occurrences of the day, but also to tie all the characters together. At one time or another, almost all of them are pictured reading a newspaper, and it is this news that helps tie in with the city, as well. They all want to know what is happening in the city where they live, because the city is real to them, a real character in the book that has to be understood and analyzed. For example, there are snippets of headlines in the book and in many of the introductions to chapters, such as, "SENATORS 8, GIANTS 2, DIVA RECOVERS PEARLS, $800,000 ROBBERY" (Dos Passos 169). These all give a feeling for the city, both good and bad, and help tie the book together.

The aim of the book seems to be to show life during the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties in New York, but really, it is a book about love, war, and capitalism, told in a unique and different manner. There seems to be little plot in the book, and using so many characters is confusing at times. However, in the end, when Jimmy renounces capitalism, it is easy to see that the ultimate purpose of the book was to show how American values were changing, and that might not be a good thing. Jimmy tells Congo near the end of the book, "If I thought it'd be any good to me I swear I've got the energy to sit up and make a million dollars. But I get no organic sensation out of that stuff any more" (Dos Passos 384). Jimmy has renounced success and capitalism, and leaves the city at the end of the book to take his chances somewhere else. In the end, Dos Passos shows that capitalism can kill people's souls, and that money should not matter, but it does.

4. "In America a fellow can get ahead. Birth doesn't matter, education doesn't matter. it's all getting ahead." How true is this statement of Congo? How does Congo get ahead in the end? What is the relation between his manner of success and his understanding of America?

In the beginning, Congo does not understand America; he is simply interested in women and getting off his ship. It is his shipmate, the cabinboy who says, "It's the coin they're after. They don't want to fight people; they want to do business with them" (Dos Passos 21). However, he soon learns about America, specifically what it means to be poor in America. He tells Emile and Marco, "It's the same all over the world, the police beating us up, rich people cheating us out of their starvation wages, and who's fault?" (Dos Passos 37). Out of all the book's characters, it seems as if Congo has the least drive and ambition, and yet he is one of few that gain the most in the novel, strictly by his own hard work and determination.

He seems to become more embittered about being poor as the book progresses, in fact, he says he wants to be an American citizen but will refuse to fight in the war because it is just a way to stop revolution of the working man around the world (Dos Passos 227). However, Congo does come to understand capitalism in America. He becomes a very successful bootlegger during Prohibition, a millionaire in fact. He succeeds while so many others in the novel fail, and this is part of his education about America. Coming from a foreign country, he has the ability to look at America with unclouded eyes, and he can see what works for people and what does not. He truly becomes reborn in America, taking on the name Armand Duval, and that is because of his success. Jimmy sums up Congo's success when he says, "The difference between you and me is that you're going up the social scale, Armand, and I'm going down'" (Dos Passos 383). This is true, and it is a theme of the novel, as well. Congo's success has made him a great man, who has not forgotten his roots or his friends. That cannot be said for all the characters in this dark novel, so Congo, one of the least promising characters early on, has learned his lessons about America very well, and has put them to very good use.

5. One character says, "I ain't a Jew no more. This isn't Russia." How does this statement illustrate the speaker's idea of America?