New York, New York, by Peter Cunningham
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Who was the generous uncle and what made his character memorable?
My uncle was a kind and generous man. Widowed around the time I was born, he was my godfather, and most years gave me a gleaming new bicycle for my birthday. He was prominent in the Waterford livestock trade and lived in a fine house. Always impeccably dressed, he wore a Homburg hat, the same as Antony Eden, as he liked to remind us. He could tell the weight of a man to within a few pounds by looking at him. A skill necessary for success in the livestock trade. Especially when buying pigs. Each year he took off on holidays, on his own. To London, where he went to the pictures every night. and to New York, where he visited his cousin, a Jesuit priest in Fordham University. I remember the excitement when the telegram was delivered telling us when my uncle's liner, the Queen Elizabeth, or the Queen Mary, would arrive into Southampton.
He saw us as his family and visited almost every day.
What were the uncle’s favorite sayings and why did they matter to the family?
Usually at lunchtime, with a gift of bananas. He was also there at Christmas and on other important occasions. He had a few standard sayings. Willful waste makes woeful want, he would proclaim, if he saw food, such as bread crusts being thrown out. He had grown up in a world where every last thing, from eggshells to potato peelings, had been kept in a bucket and fed to pigs.
How did the uncle’s voyage on the Queen Mary lead to a new friendship?
Darn, darn. was not a cowboy expletive from the Wild West, but an exhortation to mend rather than replace. If someone were to say I met so and so yesterday. He's really a very nice man. My uncle would unfailingly retort The nicest man I ever met stole my watch. The other adults present would look knowingly at each other and roll their eyes. I could tell that my uncle's sayings irritated them, for they had heard them over and over again for years, and But I was curious and wanted to know more about the theft of the watch. So one day, when we were alone, I asked him It was summer and my uncle was on board the Queen Mary, on the way to New York, he told me. He didn't say so specifically, but I imagine he was travelling first class because he described dinners during the seven day crossing, when wine was served by white jacketed stewards, and the captain came to join the table.
Early into the voyage, my uncle made the acquaintance of a most charming man, also travelling alone. This gentleman, another widower, the same age as my uncle, was from London. Where he too was in business. I formed the impression of someone as well dressed as my uncle, equally successful, well mannered, interesting and urbane.
Why did the English gentleman ask to borrow the uncle’s gold pocket watch?
The two men took to walking the decks of the great ship together, morning and evening. The Englishman was most solicitous, complimenting my uncle on his tailor, his linen, even on his beautiful gold pocket watch, a family heirloom moored across my uncle's midriff by a golden fob chain, and housed in a pocket of his waistcoat. His new friend sympathized with him on his bereavement. And though he too had lost his wife, seemed to relegate his own loss to a secondary position. They discussed the politics of the troubled world and found that their views on most things were in alignment. They spoke of their plans for the future. The Englishman was extremely excited about seeing New York for the first time, and
And my uncle, an old New York hand, was able to give him tips on where to go and what to see. On the final night of the voyage, after dinner, the two men took their cigars and brandies out on deck. My uncle was pleased to have made a new friend, especially someone from London who he could look forward to seeing again on future trips to that city. They arranged to have breakfast the next morning when they would exchange addresses. This most charming man then asked my uncle a favour.
What happened to the Englishman after the watch was lent and why couldn’t the uncle find him?
He very much wanted to be up next day at the crack of dawn so as not to miss the Statue of Liberty as the ship came into harbour. But because his own wristwatch was no longer working, wondered if he might borrow my uncle's pocket watch. So that when he awoke he would know when to go out on deck. My uncle unhesitatingly handed over his gold watch. The following morning, in the dining room for breakfast, my uncle delayed ordering until his new friend appeared.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Who was the generous uncle and what made his character memorable?
0:00–1:04
2
What were the uncle’s favorite sayings and why did they matter to the family?
1:04–1:34
3
How did the uncle’s voyage on the Queen Mary lead to a new friendship?
1:34–3:03
4
Why did the English gentleman ask to borrow the uncle’s gold pocket watch?
3:03–4:23
5
What happened to the Englishman after the watch was lent and why couldn’t the uncle find him?
4:23–5:43
6
How does the narrator connect the lost watch to his own view of the New York skyline?
5:43–5:54