Tommy Wilhelm Timeline and Summary

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• On a hazy autumn morning, Wilhelm takes an elevator down to the lobby of the Hotel Gloriana.
• In the hotel lobby, he stops and chats with Rubin, "the man at the newsstand" (1.4).
• Over the course of his conversation with Rubin, Wilhelm muses over earlier conversations with his business associate (i.e., con artist friend), Dr. Tamkin.
• Wilhelm also reflects on recent conversations with his father, Dr. Adler, and thinks back to the decision he made as a young man to drop out of college and move to Los Angeles to be an actor.
• Wilhelm leaves Rubin's newsstand, and stops at the front desk on his way to the dining hall, where he plans to meet his father for breakfast.
• At the front desk, Wilhelm picks up the day's mail. As he looks at it, he recalls other recent conversations with his father.
• Wilhelm sees that the mail includes a letter from his wife, Margaret. She's sent him more bills to be paid.
• After fuming for a few seconds about his wife's demands for money, Wilhelm heads into the dining hall to meet his father. He finds him sitting at his usual table, with another man.
• As Wilhelm joins his father at the table, Dr. Adler introduces him to Mr. Perls, another resident of the Hotel Gloriana.
• Wilhelm, Dr. Adler, and Mr. Perls make small talk as Wilhelm drinks Coca Cola and sneaks pills. Most of their discussion revolves around Wilhelm's career—and the fact that he recently left his job.
• Soon, the conversation turns to Wilhelm's business associate, Dr. Tamkin. Dr. Adler and Mr. Perls laugh about the tall tales that Tamkin peddles, and Wilhelm gets more and more anxious. Turns out, he gave Tamkin a power of attorney over the last of his savings just four days ago, and all of his money now rides on the success of the commodities market.
• Mr. Perls soon leaves the table, and Wilhelm sits alone with his father.
• Wilhelm eats nervously, and goes through huge amounts of coffee and food.
• Dr. Adler tries to make small talk with his son, but Wilhelm soon turns the conversation back to his financial and family troubles.
• As Wilhelm tries to make his father understand the situations with his wife and former employers, both men grow more and more frustrated. Wilhelm wants his father's sympathy and help, but Dr. Adler wants to be left alone.
• Soon, Wilhelm comes right out and asks for his father's help. Dr. Adler refuses, and the two men argue.
• Wilhelm storms out of the dining hall, and heads back into the hotel lobby.
• As Wilhelm makes his way to the telephones, Tamkin appears. His arrival prompts Wilhelm to think back to the morning, four days ago, when he gave Tamkin a power of attorney over the last of his savings, and let him speculate with it in the commodities market.
• Although Wilhelm wants to head straight to the brokerage office, Tamkin insists on having some breakfast first.
• After making sure that Dr. Adler isn't still in the dining hall, Wilhelm heads back inside with Tamkin, and drinks more coffee as Tamkin sits and eats.
• As Tamkin eats his breakfast, he talks to Wilhelm about family conflicts, psychology, and his extraordinary past. Wilhelm isn't sure how much to believe.
• Finally Tamkin finishes eating, and the two men get ready to leave. As they pass through the lobby, Wilhelm leaves a note for his father, asking him to carry his rent for the month.
• Wilhelm and Tamkin leave the Hotel Gloriana and walk out into the sunshine. As they head towards the brokerage office, Tamkin gives Wilhelm a poem to read. Wilhelm can't make heads or tales of it, and rages inwardly against Tamkin's posturing and pretentiousness.
• Wilhelm and Tamkin head into the brokerage office, and Tamkin finds them some seats. They continue to chat, and Tamkin assures Wilhelm that their money (mostly, it's Wilhelm's money) will be alright.
• Soon, Tamkin gets up to interact with the other regulars, and Wilhelm sits alone by himself.
• As Wilhelm sits, he muses over Tamkin and his strange ways, and tries to figure him out. Soon, his thoughts turn back to his own troubles, and his sense of isolation in the city.
• Wilhelm remembers a moment, not long ago, when he experienced a strange revelation while walking through a tunnel beneath Times Square. For an instant, he sensed the total connectedness of humankind, and felt that the masses of people around him were his brothers and sisters.
• It didn't last long.
• Wilhelm's musings in the brokerage office are often interrupted by Mr. Rappaport, a regular with poor eyesight who can't see the numbers on the boards very well.
• Soon, Tamkin reappears to tell Wilhelm that things are looking up: the prices of lard and December rye (the commodities Tamkin purchased with Wilhelm's savings) are doing okay; lard is holding steady, and rye is on the rise.
• Wilhelm tries to convince Tamkin to put in a selling order now, while they can. He's worried that the prices of lard and December rye will dip back down again, and would rather get out with a small loss rather than risking it all.
• Tamkin refuses.
• As Wilhelm gets more and more agitated by Tamkin's pseudo-psychological reasons for refusing to sell, Tamkin gives him some mental exercises to calm him down.
• Wilhelm doesn't do the exercises, but for a few minutes he gets lost in a pleasant memory of a happier time, early in his marriage to Margaret.
• At Tamkin's insistence, the two men leave the brokerage office to get lunch. They head to a nearby cafeteria, and Tamkin gets a great big meal. Wilhelm gets some yogurt and crackers and tea.
• As Tamkin eats, the two men talk about their families. Wilhelm still isn't sure how much he can believe about Tamkin.
• When Tamkin finally finishes eating, Wilhelm insists that they head back to the brokerage office right away.
• As they walk, an elderly busker with a fiddle points his fiddle bow menacingly at Wilhelm, and shouts, "You!" (6.58). Wilhelm finds this creepy.
• Before Wilhelm can enter the brokerage office, he's stopped by Mr. Rappaport, who insists that Wilhelm escort him to a nearby cigar store. Mr. Rappaport seems to be afraid of ruffians and youths.
• Wilhelm tries to refuse, but Tamkin insists that he go.
• Anxiously, Wilhelm escorts Mr. Rappaport to the cigar store and back, listening to him tell stories about Teddy Roosevelt as they go.
• When they get back to the brokerage office, Wilhelm can't believe the numbers he sees on the board. The price of lard has plummeted, and the December rye is back where it started.
• Wilhelm does the math, and realizes that he's been wiped out. His entire investment has been lost.
• Frantically, Wilhelm looks around for Tamkin, but doesn't see him anywhere. He even barges into the men's bathroom, but Tamkin is nowhere to be found.
• Wilhelm rushes back to the Hotel Gloriana, and heads up to Tamkin's room. Tamkin isn't there, but the room is being cleaned by a concierge, so Wilhelm goes in.
• He takes a quick look through Tamkin's things, then uses the phone to call down to the lobby. Tamkin isn't there.
• Wilhelm decides to find his father instead, and by placing a call to the baths downstairs, figures out where he his.
• Wilhelm heads down to the baths, and eventually finds his father. Dr. Adler is lying naked on a massage table, waiting for the massage therapist to start.
• Dr. Adler tells Wilhelm that he got his note, and that he won't pay his rent. He says he had no idea that things were so bad, and can't understand how Wilhelm let them get that way.
• Wilhelm admits that he hasn't made good decisions lately (or ever), and begs his father for help.
• Dr. Adler refuses, and gets more and more angry as Wilhelm gets more and more desperate.
• Eventually, Dr. Adler shouts at Wilhelm to go away, and Wilhelm does.
• Back in the hotel lobby, Wilhelm is given a message from his wife, telling him to call her immediately.
• Wilhelm finds a payphone and dials Margaret's number. When she picks up, she complains about the postdated check he sent her the week before.
• Wilhelm tells Margaret that his money is gone, and tries to convince her to get a job of her own.
• Margaret refuses. As Wilhelm gets upset, Margaret gets cold and harsh with him. Eventually, she hangs up, and Wilhelm tries to tear the payphone from the wall.
• Wilhelm rushes out of the hotel lobby. Out on the street, he looks around frantically, and thinks he sees Tamkin a few yards away.
• Wilhelm storms in that direction, but gets caught up in a crowd of mourners who are waiting to enter a funeral parlor.
• Along with the others, Wilhelm is herded into the funeral parlor, and finds himself waiting in line. Since it's nice and cool, he decides to stay.
• When Wilhelm finally finds himself in front of the dead man's coffin, the sight overwhelms him. He begins to weep, and is soon sobbing uncontrollably.
• Wilhelm moves off to the side to let the other mourners pass through, and his crying gets out of control.
• As he wails and sobs, the other mourners look on with curiosity and pity.
• Alone in the crowd, Wilhelm lets his tears wash over him, and sinks down into the depths of his sorrow.