Billy Bathgate

A detailed Summary of Billy Bathgate

Billy Bathgate, is a book of a young boy's transition into manhood. It is an amazingly well-written book that intrigued me the entire way through. It starts out in Billy's hometown, the Bronx of New York in the twenties; a time of social unrest and prohibition.

The apartment building Billy lives in is not the epitome of cleanliness. The streets are littered with papers and loud noises of the trains that go by every hour. Rundown little bungalows and an occasional three-story fake brick building separate the boatyards and factories in Billy's neighborhood. Across the street from Billy's apartement building is an orphanage which he visits often because of a girl, Rebecca who he screws two times for a dollar.

His mother works at a laundromat, washing clothes for a company and has been driven insane by the poverty she lives in. She doesn't really take care of Billy and in essence he learns how to survive in the Bronx with the street smarts he has taught himself. He knows that he has something special; a desire to work and be prosperous that many of the other younger boys do not. He acts older than his age and maybe that is why he catches the eye of Dutch who also lived in the neighborhood and is now rich.

Dutch, is in a lot of trouble with the law for tax evasion and so he decides that he wants to go to the country and be seen by the court up there. The whole gang travels up there, Billy with the excitement of adventure and responsibility in his head for he is assigned to watch over Miss Drew. Billy is in awe of the flourishings of the hotel, a room to himself and a sink and basin in the room as well. Miss Drew and Billy passed the days getting to know each other and Billy found out how to treat a lady like how she should be treated.

Dutch, was a man of self-confidence and ignorance. He didn't like to listen to anyone else or be addressed like he was one of the lowly gain positions. Even when Berman or Irving were giving him good advice, Dutch told them to shut up or they would be dead. He was an ignorant man and I'm sure that he could have avoided his fate if he had listened to someone else other than himself. He like to be in control and treat his woman like play objects. He could have really cared less about what Miss Drew was doing while she was with Billy as long as she came back to him at night. He didn't like to be told what to do and that is probably why he was the leader instead of Mr. Berman, who had a lot more of the qualifications to be one.

Billy, is a boy with a strong character and self-confidence. He dreams of being in Dutch's gang and because he is such a determined boy his dream comes true. Unlike any of the other boy's that live in the Bronx, Billy has something special; a determination that what he wants will happen. From when he joins the gang as a young man, until the end when he is delivered a son, Billy has gone through some very important stages in changing from a young boy to a man. He has learned responsibility, common sense and numbers from Berman, and how to love a woman and treat her right from Miss Drew. In the beginning, Billy thought that women were only good for one thing. He never knew that he could have such strong feelings and close attachment to them; to risk his job for Miss Drew's safety shows how unselfish he was. When Mr. Berman gave him his first paycheck, Billy went home and took his mother shopping and sneaks some money into her purse. He felt that he was indebted to her fo!

s, Mr. Berman; the mastermind behind all of Dutch's money making schemes. Mr. Berman also is intrigued with the courage that Billy has and addresses him. He sends Billy off on his first errand to get coffee.

mob that has one of their main warehouses located in the Bronx. All the boy's here wish they could become like Dutch; as someone that rose from this dirty place and made a place in the world for themselves. One day, Billy was juggling on the train tracks when he hears someone yell, "Hey, boy!" He is motioned to come over to Dutch who hands him ten dollars and compliments him on his juggling. This is where the fire in Billy is sparked and he becomes determined to join Dutch's gang. After following and watching around the neighborhood, Billy finds out about another wareh

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2033
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English