Bonfire of the Vanities: Jimmy's Epiphany

            After finishing “After the Race,” I noticed that this story ends much like “Araby.” The main characters of both stories suddenly realize the hopelessness of their actions. While the boy in “Araby” sees himself as fooled by his own vanity, Jimmy Doyle, the main character of “After the Race,” also recognizes his own social failure.

            The narrator presents Jimmy as a young man of “new money” who, much like Willie Loman of Death of a Salesman, equates success with financial prosperity and being well liked, as the author writes, “Ségouin had the unmistakable air of wealth. Jimmy set out to translate into days’ work that lordly car in which he sat” (32). Jimmy looks up to the Frenchman, as Ségouin is a very popular and presumably powerful man who owns a number of hotels. However, even at this stage the reader can notice Jimmy’s inferiority and separation from the other men as Jimmy “[translates] into days’ work” the value of the car, which Ségouin has and disregards.

            At the end of the story, Jimmy is caught up in trying to fit in with his new friends. He drinks and tries to have a good time. Although drunk, he still naively plays cards with the other men, squandering his money. After his loss, Jimmy is weighed down with regret, but presumably tells himself he will change later: “He knew that he would regret in the morning but at present he was glad of the rest, glad of the dark stupor that would cover his folly” (35). The desire for status and wealth, seen at the beginning of the story is contrasted with Jimmy’s despair at the end. Jimmy avoids the reality of his social failure, but knows that he will face regret the next day. His epiphany is ironic, as the next day has already come, and he has no chance to experience his desired “rest” and “dark stupor that [will] cover his folly.”