...Dan...
...middle-class Jewish onlys with a hard-wired success wish...
Our main character, the writen representation of Paul Kafka, has a background similar to Margot’s, or so he says in the excerpt Window Glass: “Margot and I were from the same background, both middle-class Jewish onlys with a hard-wired success wish. My dad had made it out of Opa and Oma's teetering little house in downtown Poughkeepsie to a golfer's split-level in Brentwood”
When Margot shares her sexual tendencies with Dan he confesses: “I did startle them when I started taking modern dance five days a week freshman year. I made the switch after I realized that if I trained as hard as I could and didn't injure my knees or shins again, I might be the seventh fastest sprinter on the JV squad. Over the phone, Brenda said she loved dance. Dad was silent, but I could hear him wondering if his great nightmare, the Gay Son, was about to be visited upon him”
In Behind Einstein we find out that Dan’s
mother is dead: “Mom had
followed my progress through life with earnest, but in no way anxious, interest.
None of this surprised me. I'd known it already, the night Dad picked me up from
Onkel John and Tante Clara's in Schenectady. For two weeks I'd been staying in
the attic room with Curt, going to school with him and Mina. Onkel John had
given me two dollars allowance, even though all I did was make my bed and help
clear the table. Dad didn't drive up to their house until almost ten o'clock at
night. He helped me pack my duffle bag and held my hand all the way home in the
car, driving with his left hand the way he always had when he wanted to play
with Mom's hair. I didn't have to ask him where she was. I knew I wasn't going
to see her anymore, but I also knew that I'd never be without her.”
Dan lets Bou know about the death of his mother un Boutique Mademoiselle: “My father was a doctor, I told you, and when you didn't ask what kind, I had that sinking feeling that always comes before I talk about Mom”
©Image from http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2195/2068717078_c0b6af5fc6.jpg (30/11/08)