An American Tragedy

Asa talks frequently of God providing or perhaps his wealthy brother, Samuel, giving him some money one day. Elvira grew up on a farm and got “the virus of Evangelism” (5) when she married Asa. The family moves so frequently that their children have virtually no education. They live in a dreary set of rooms and mission halls that are so ugly they depress Clyde. The decaying walls are covered in brassy plaques of Bible scriptures. Clyde wants to escape that life with a job, but “true to the standard of the American youth, or the general American attitude toward life, he felt himself above the type of labor which was purely manual” (5). Clyde is handsome, but most girls dislike his shabby clothes.

Esta’s conventional morality is no protection when she encounters a man who promises to marry her and support her financially. She runs away with him. Elvira tells the children to say that Esta has gone to stay with relatives, a lie designed to stifle gossip.

Clyde gets an unskilled cleaning job at the soda fountain counter in a drugstore connected to a theater. Clyde looks at young women primping in the mirror before heading to see a movie and well-dressed young men who look like their lives are perfect. He envies the men and feels attracted to the women. When he looks at himself in the mirror, he sees that he is “not so bad-looking” (6). Only poverty prevents him from being like the young people whom he sees at work. Clyde gets a job at the Green-Davison Hotel as a bellhop after flattering the manager about how fancy the hotel is. Clyde is too ignorant to recognize that the overdone décor isn’t classy. Clyde realizes that compliments and reasonably good looks can get him where he wants to be.

Clyde is pleased with the salary (plus tips) that he earns. The bellhop uniform is the nicest outfit that he has ever owned. He later learns that he is expected to give his superiors kickbacks if he wants access to high tippers. The manager tells Clyde that there are just a few rules: be on time, don’t wear the provided uniform off-premise, and don’t flirt with the clientele. Oscar, an experienced bellhop, tells Clyde the other rules: move quickly, act at ease, wait for tips if no one seems forthcoming, and copy what others do. Clyde’s schedule allows him to skip meals at home and church on Sundays as long as he lies to his parents about start and stop times. Clyde tells his parents that his salary is lower than it actually is.

Asa and Elvira don’t consider the implications of allowing their naïve teenager to work in a hotel. Clyde feels like someone when he puts on the pillbox hat that is part of his uniform. He soon learns his duties and much more. Flattery increases his tips. Drinking is fun instead of being the misery and ugliness promised in the scriptures that his parents post on the mission walls. The patrons at the hotel seem happy, and it is money that makes them so. Clyde’s parents tell the family they will move to Denver. Clyde tells them that he intends to stay in Kansas City.

Clyde’s fellow bellhops brag about sex with the guests. They tell Clyde a story about one woman who lived on room service with a man who later abandoned her, leaving her to pay the bill herself. Clyde watches as people in the hotel tea-room find lovers or clients for sex work. These people don’t look miserable at all. Clyde wants to be more like his peers and the guests. He starts by buying new clothes.

Elvira wonders how Clyde can afford these clothes, given how small she believes his salary is. Clyde tells her that he bought the clothes on credit and ignores her when she warns him about the danger of debt. Clyde resolves to go out with his coworkers the next time they have a night out.

The night out with his fellow bellhops finally happens. Clyde drinks alcohol for the first time at a mid-range restaurant, the fanciest place that he has ever eaten. The staff treat the boys as welcome guests. Clyde is disgusted, then intrigued, when he hears the others talk about their past exploits in a brothel. The bellhops then head to the brothel.

At the brothel, the scantily clad women unnerve Clyde. One of the women approaches him and tells him a sad story about being new to sex work and being unable to go back home as a result. She says that Clyde is more refined than the other boys. She says all this, the narrator notes, to get Clyde to spend money on expensive drinks; Clyde feels guilty because his family needs that money. Clyde goes upstairs with the woman, who disrobes in front of a mirror as Clyde watches her. He sees her as both beautiful and wicked. They have sex.