The Floating Opera

On June 21st, 1937, Todd wakes up early in the morning in his room at the Dorset Hotel. His prostate acted up during the night, and he slept poorly. He enjoys some early-morning rye, a habit he picked up in college. Todd’s room is disheveled, with baskets full of notes for his novel, and blueprints scattered on the floor for a boat he’s building. Todd insists any organization, even if it appears disheveled, still counts. Todd is not a bohemian, however; he isn’t enthusiastic about art and enjoys expensive things. Going about his morning routine, he is struck by an urge to end his life: “It was some moment during the performance of this ritual—the instant when the cold water met my face seems a probable one—that all things in heaven and earth came clear to me, and I realized that this day I would make my last; I would destroy myself on this day” (11). This brings Todd joy and energy, and he leaves his room to mingle with other residents of the hotel.

Todd has coffee with two elderly men. Capt. Osborn Jones is a former oyster dredger with arthritis, and Mister Haecker is a retired high school principal. Capt. Osborn smacks his own leg with his cane, trying to wake it up. Failing, he pours hot coffee on the leg to shock it to life. Capt. Osborn curses at his leg; he wants his body to die all at once, not slowly and piece-by-piece. Haecker tries to lighten Capt. Osborn’s mood by reading a quote from Cicero about enjoying the late stages of life. Capt. Osborn sees his point, but admits he would trade an arm to be in his forties again. Capt. Osborn succumbs to a coughing fit, and Todd leaves to fetch his rye, which he gives to Capt. Osborn daily to help with the man’s congestion.

Todd jubilantly traverses the hotel’s halls. The thought of suicide continues to entice him. Throughout his life, Todd has adopted several philosophies, but each one felt like a mask. They would help guide his life for a while, but eventually he’d find faults with them and need to find a new one. Suicide is final, the last stance to take in life. Todd reaches his room and pours a glass of rye for Todd. Before he leaves, a woman stirs in his bed: Jane Mack. Jane falls back asleep, and Todd admires her beauty. Todd drinks the rye meant for Osborn while he stares at Jane. 

Before returning to give Capt. Osborn his rye, Todd goes into detail about his affair with Jane. She is the wife of Harrison Mack, Todd’s good friend. Harrison knows about the affair, which has gone on for years. Todd met Harrison in 1925 at college. Todd practices a life of saintly hermitage—staying quiet and mysterious at parties. Enticed, Harrison approaches Todd, and the two connect. Todd learns Harrison is well-off, the heir to a successful pickle company. To his father’s chagrin, Harrison is wrapped up in Communist ideology and spends most of his time helping labor movements. Todd and Harrison argue about their differing life philosophies, but neither changes their view. They graduate and go their separate ways. Todd moves back home and works for his father’s law firm. Later, Todd’s father hangs himself, and Todd takes on his clients, sells the family home, and moves into the Dorset Hotel. Steadily, Todd abandons his saintliness and adopts a cynical attitude.

In 1932, Harrison visits Todd’s law firm. He has lost his passion for organizing and doesn’t think workers are worth saving from exploitation. He is working for his father now. He bought a house nearby, and he invites Todd over to meet his wife. Todd agrees and discovers Harrison bought his deceased father’s home. Todd meets Jane and becomes infatuated with her, but he values his friendship with Harrison and vows to never ruin it over this attraction. The three become good friends. During a vacation at the Mack’s summer cottage, Harrison leaves to get ice. Todd wakes up from a nap to find Jane naked in bed with him. Todd embraces Jane, and they have intercourse. After, he’s overcome with guilt, but Jane clarifies that Harrison knows and even encouraged the two to sleep together. The couple see most societal rules as arbitrary and don’t see why Jane can’t sleep with Todd. Todd feels awkward around Harrison, but his friend insists it’s okay. Todd tells Harrison he was a virgin, which delights Harrison. Periodically, Jane and Todd sleep together. At times, Todd senses Harrison becoming uncomfortable, but the tension never lasts long.

At the Dorset Hotel one day, Jane confesses she loves Todd. She loves Harrison too, and contemplates whether love is a natural bodily function, or a societal convention: “Is this thing a fact of nature, like thirst, or purely a human and civilized invention?” (36). Todd, on the other hand, is more interested in Harrison and Jane’s relationship dynamics than pondering the true nature of love. The affair continues, and Harrison invites Todd to live with him and Jane. Feeling the situation is getting out of hand, Todd acts out. He embarrasses Harrison in front of a Black client. At lunch together, Todd reveals he wasn’t a virgin. Harrison, hurt, wonders if Todd believes in love, or friendship. Todd cynically replies: “’Everything is ridiculous,’” (42). Harrison storms out of their lunch, furious. Todd goes home, wondering if Jane will be there. She isn’t, confirming that Todd has hurt his friends. 

Todd promises to explain to the reader how Harrison and Jane came back into his life later. He returns to Capt. Osborn and Haecker and gives Capt. Osborn the rye. Todd senses something odd about Haecker’s behavior: “I believe I suspected just then that for some reason or other this June 21 or 22 was going to be as momentous a day for him as for me” (43). Todd offers to help Capt. Osborn down the stairs. Todd is patient while helping Capt. Osborn, who suddenly confesses he has heard Todd and Jane making love for years. Capt. Osborn laments his behavior and promises to stop. They also discuss Haecker’s optimism about getting old. Both men disagree, and Capt. Osborn reiterates that he would rather be capable and dumb than to feel half-dead.

Todd and Capt. Osborn reach the ground floor of the hotel. Capt. Osborn goes to sit in the sun with his friends and Todd feels genuine love for the old man: “I loved him, if I loved anyone, I think; death for him would be the hyphenated break in a rambling, illiterate monologue, a good way for it to be if you’re most people” (47). Capt. Osborn’s body is deteriorating, and he complains incessantly, but Todd finds the man’s honesty makes him endearing and pitiless. Haecker, on the other hand, has a hard time making friends because of his formalities and sensitivities.

Todd returns to the front desk. He is cordial and friendly with the manager, Jerry Hogey, who allows Jane to visit Todd despite hotel policy. Todd writes a note to Jane and gives it to Jerry to hold onto. After, he writes a check to the Dorset Hotel so that he can stay for another day, a habit he has practiced for years. 

The hotel offers rates for long-term stays, but Todd prefers to pay each day. He claims his behavior isn’t out of eccentricity or logic but sentimentality for his chronic illness: “I have an excellent reason for doing so, but it is a raison de coeur, if I may say so—a reason of the heart and not of the head” (49). Since 1919, Todd has lived every moment, every heartbeat, knowing it might be his last. He considers the millions of times his heart has beat, and the countless days and actions that might have been his end. Even now, that question continues to pester him.

Todd insists he isn’t trying to be cheap. He’s not trying to prepare for death, either, like an elderly neighbor he knows who sleeps fully dressed, her hands folded neatly. Todd pays his rent daily to remind himself of the finitude of his life, that any plans he makes could be for nothing:

No, I pay my buck-fifty every morning to remind myself—should I ever forget!—that I’m renting another day from eternity, remitting the interest on borrowed time, leasing my bed on the chance I may live to sleep on it once more, for at least the beginning of another night. It helps me maintain a correct perspective, reminds me that long-range plans, even short-rang plans, have, for me at least, no value. (50)

Todd knows every day could be his last, but he can’t live his life without long-term goals. When he works on his novel, referring to it as his Inquiry, he recognizes he might never finish it. Regardless, his nightly routine of writing helps him feel outside of himself, his broken body, and time. Each day, Todd begins with cynicism, paying his rent and reminding himself of his mortality. Each night, he temporarily detaches himself from his chronic illness through writing.