Theme Of Jake Lounging In Mrs Tinkham

Jake is as alone at the beginning of his journey as he is at the end, but I would not say that he is lonely. The image that I am referring to is Jake lounging in Mrs. Tinkham’s shop while he ponders his next endeavor. In more ways than this, Jake’s position and station in life at the end of his journey are very similar to the beginning; Jake has roughly sixty pounds to his name, no home, and Mrs. Tinkham is still concerned with her cat’s romantic life. The most noticeable difference between the commencement and conclusion, however, is that Jake has suffered an incredible amount of loss. Finn, Jake’s most loyal comrade and distant cousin, departed with little notice for a bar in Ireland, while Hugo the philosopher, very unceremoniously deserts …show more content…
On the night of the pub crawl through London -- a time of apprehension for Jake because his estranged friend Hugo had abruptly hung up the phone on his first conversation with Jake in a great deal of time -- Finn, Dave, and Lefty are there to admit Jake in their revelries and in doing so, give their approval to Jake regardless of Hugo’s disposition. As a consequence of this, Jake relaxes and loses his inhibitions, at least around this crew. For instance, in the presence of his cheerful colleagues, Jake decides to profess his love for Anna in a letter, “...I could think of nothing to say to her except I love you, which I wrote several times over, badly. Then I added, You are beautiful, and sealed the letter. I put it well into the mouth of the box and let it go…” (102-103). During their last encounter, Jake and Anna discussed the meaning of the word love, and even though Anna decided that love “means very little” (40), Jake’s act signifies an attempt to convey his emotions using the emphasis on repeating “I love you.” Back to my original point, Jake felt comfortable enough with Finn, Dave, and Lefty to take this risk; they are his safety net. Still, Jake’s publically nude swimming session is the purest example of the approval that Jake derives from this group. Indeed, before undressing, Jake concedes his insecurity, stating that, “My heart was beating violently. I began to undress too. Already Finn was standing pale and naked with his feet in the water. He was thrusting aside the flotsam with his foot and walking slowly down the steps. The water reached to his knees, to his buttocks, and then with a soft splash he was away…” (106). Jake’s heart pounding is the adrenaline rush that a person feels before they are about to do something deviant with their really good friends and everyone is waiting to see who will dare to go first. Jake feels the risk here; in