"It was a financial tragedy that sleep sobered Bolden up completely, that his mind on waking was clear as an empty road and he began to casually drink again although never hard now for he played in the evenings. He slept from 4 to 8. His day had begun at 7 when he walked the kids a mile to school buying them breakfast along the way at the fruit stands. A half hour's walk and another 30 minutes for them to sit on the embankment and eat a huge meal of fruit. He taught them all he was thinking of or had heard, all he knew at the moment, treating them as adults, joking and teasing them with tall tales which they learned to sift down to the real. He gave himself completely to them during the walk, no barriers as they walked down the washed empty streets one on either side, their thin cool hands each holding a finger of his. Eventually they knew the politics of the street better than their teachers and he in turn learned the new street songs from them. By 8 they were at school and he took a bus back to Canal, then walked towards first, greeting everybody on his way to the shop."(Ondaatje, 13)
In the first sentence, the reader can infer that Buddy used to have drinking problems, and that he's beginning to engage the habit again. “It was a financial tragedy” may lead up to the fact that alcohol is expensive and buddy was needing it (Ondaatje, 13). He's struggling with this. It says that Buddy sleeps from 4 to 8, possibly meaning that he doesn't get much sleep at night, probably because he's playing music. Buddy walks “the kids” a mile to school each day. He buys them breakfast at a fruit stand along the way. This portrays the lack of a maternal figure since its the mother who's usually in charge of these tasks. Buddy enjoyed teaching the kids the politics of the street, as well as learning street songs from them. In this paragraph, we are able to see a very dedicated father and friend. When it says, “he gave himself completely to them during the walk, no barriers as they walked down the washed empty streets one on either side, their thin cool hands each holding a finger of his”, may imply that he had a good relationship with the kids.(Ondaatje, 13) The last sentence makes the reader believe Buddy must have really enjoy walking with the kids since he took a bus back to Canal. By greeting everybody on the way we can infer he's a well-known, social man.
“Webb training in the police force, three years older, and Bolden a barber's apprentice emphasizing his ability to be an animated listener. Later on, after he moved, he continued listening at N. Joseph's Shaving Parlor. Here too he reacted excessively to the stories his clients in the chair told him, throwing himself into the situation, giving advice that was usually abstract and bad. The men who came into N. Joseph's were just as much in need of confession or a sense of proportion as a shave and Bolden freely gave bizarre advice just to see what would happen. He was therefore the perfect audience to these songs and pleas. Just take the money and put it on the roosters. Days later furious costumers would rush in demanding to speak to Bolden (who was then only twenty-four for goodness sake) and he would have to leave his customer and that man's flight of conversation, take the angered one into Joseph's small bathroom and instead of accepting the guilt quickly suggest variations. Five minutes later Bolden would be back shaving a neck and listening to other problems. He loved it. His mind became the street.” (Ondaatje, 42)
Bolden, after being an apprentice, moves into N. Josephs Parlor Shop. As an apprentice, he emphasized his ability to listen and by working at the parlor he was able to apply it. The reader can infer the type of lifestyle Bolden carries by reading that he listens to his customer's stories and puts himself in their position. By doing this, he may be looking to establish a more personal relationship with his customers or maybe he's lacking problems of his own and uses their issues for self-amusement. His advice was usually abstract or bad, probably meaning he had no real interest in his customer's problems, “The men who came into N. Joseph's were just as much in need of confession or a sense of proportion as a shave and Bolden freely gave bizzare advice just to see what would happen.”(Ondaatje, 42) This connection between confessing and shaving makes the reader understand that Bolden's real intentions for the job wern't to listen to problems, but to cut hair. Also that while one, the customer, was worried about his problems, the other, Bolden, worried about the hair. This established a relationship between both, making the customers feel like Bolden was the perfect audience. After a few days, when they came to speak to Bolden about his terrible advice, Bolden would just suggest some mends and other advice. This shows how humans are so self-inflicted that they are just searching for a way to solve their problems, or at least someone to do it for them, someone like Bolden. Even though Bolden wasn't the one with the problems, soon enough, his advice ran through town, “his mind became the street”, and he loved it. (Ondaatje, 42) This shows how empty Bolden must feel to spend time on other's problems, loving so, but not really putting much thought into it.
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