Billy Bathgate
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Billy Bathgate is a 1989 novel by author E.L. Doctorow that won the 1990 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and was the runner up for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize [1]. The story is told in the first person by Billy "Bathgate" Behan, a fifteen year old boy who first becomes the gofer and then surrogate son of mobster Dutch Schultz. The book explores the question of self determination versus fate, the futility of sex without love, moral relativism, and the romanticzation of the Mafia in American pop culture.
A 1991 film based on the novel starred Loren Dean as Billy, Dustin Hoffman as Schultz, Steven Hill as Otto Berman, Nicole Kidman as Drew and Bruce Willis as Bo.
[edit] Plot summary
Note: While the first fourth of the book is told in a heavily non-linear fashion for narrative purposes, the below summary has events arranged in internal chronological order.
The story is told from the point of view of the title character, Billy "Bathgate" Behan, a fifteen-year-old boy from Bathgate Avenue in The Bronx. Lacking much of a formal education, Billy spends most of his time on the streets as a member of an informal street gang, whose criminal activities--if they exist at all--are petty at best. Billy's father left his mother when Billy was still a young child, resulting in Billy's mother descending first into debillitating grief and then into insanity; although she manages to hold down a job at a laundromat, she spends all of her free time in the tenement she shares with Billy, lighting prayer candles, hoarding garbage, and desecrating objects which remind her of Billy's father (she has nailed his suits to the floor in place of rugs). Billy fears that his mother will one day be taken from him, and attempts to get her to adjust her behavior, an endeavor which proves fruitless.
One day, Billy and his gang decide to keep watch outside of a building rumored to be a hideout for gangster Dutch Schultz, currently in hiding from the federal government, in the hope that they will catch a glimpse of him. Because of the impoverished nature of the neighborhood the boys live in, they see looking up to sports stars as role models as a futile endeavor, and so instead treat local mobsters such as Schultz as their celebrities. As it so happens, Schultz does indeed make an appearance with a small cadre of bodyguards. Attempting to impress Schultz, Billy begins juggling a number of objects from the ground, including rotten fruit and stones; his ambidexterity and coordination does indeed impress Schultz, who personally approaches Billy to compliment him as a "capable boy" before giving him $10 and disappearing into his hideout. Billy takes Schultz's sudden appearance as a divine sign, and resolves to join Schultz's gang. He uses the $10 to first purchase a handgun from his best friend, Arnold, an overweight boy who makes a living peddling discarded items he's found in the garbage and on the sidewalks, then buys a round of sex with Becky, a local teen prostitute who is the closest thing Billy has to a girlfriend.
Sometime after first being spotted by Schultz, Billy tracks down Schultz's main office, located on the top floor of a derelict building. Noticing that Schultz's loansharks gain entrance to the building by carrying large paper grocery bags clandestinely filled with money, Billy decides to disguise himself and sneak inside; unable to find any grocery bags laying around, he purchases a bag of cupcakes and takes them into Schultz's office, where they are confiscated by one of Schultz's men. Billy realizes that he had not thought the plan out and does not know what to do next; he's nearly killed by Schultz's bodyguard, a massive man named Lulu Rosenkrantz, but just as Rosenkrantz is about to accost Billy, Schultz appears from a back room haranguing his lawyer. In the middle of his tirade, Schultz sees the cupcakes and absentmindedly helps himself to one of them. Rosenkrantz and Schultz's men take this as an indication that Billy was acting on orders from Schultz, and so all go back to their business; Schultz's accountant, Otto Berman, who acts as Schultz's right hand man, sees the entire situation unfold and immediately realizes what really happened. He approaches Billy and designates him the gang gofer.
Under Berman's tutelage, Billy begins to flourish; his competence in going on food runs for the gang leads to him being promoted to a runner, someone who collects money for the mob from non-hostile parties. In the process, Berman--who demonstrates a genius level understanding of mathematics, algebra, and accounting, and is able to decipher personal information about people by having them figure out algebraic equations in which the variables represent such important numbers to them as birthdates and street addresses--begins to instruct Billy on the business side of gangsterdom, which Berman likens to a business in which the universe and, ultimately, people's fates, are dictated by numbers. Billy begins to develop an avuncular relationship with Berman, who starts the process of more thoroughly inducting Billy into the Mafia life by arranging for him to witness the murder of a member of the window washer's union, after which he takes Billy out for coffee with the admonishion, "Nobody dies who hasn't sinned."
Meanwhile, Schultz and his lawyer, Dixie, are in the process of arranging Schultz's surrender to the U.S. Government; Schultz has been indicted in absentia on charges of income tax evasion, and feels that he can escape prison if he can make it a condition of his surrender that he be tried in a venue other than New York City, where the citizenry are familiar with his reputation as a bootlegger during the prohibition. One day, Schultz recognizes Billy as the boy he gave $10 to and designates him the gang's "good luck charm." Sometime later, Schultz sends for Billy to come with Berman to his hideout--in fact, the home of the mother of Schultz's primary henchman, Irving--and spends the rest of the day regaling Billy with stories of his own youth as a street hoodlum. Billy's views on modern youth, and their inherant failings as criminals, impresses Schultz, who begins to develop an almost paternal relationship with the boy.
Shortly thereafter, Berman severs Billy's ties from the gang and gives him a job at The Embassy Club, a former speakeasy turned nightclub which Schultz uses as a front organization. He spends his days living in the club's basement and his nights waiting tables, not daring to question why he has suddenly been placed into a legitimate occupation. It is during his tenure at the Embassy Club that Billy witnesses his first instance of up-close and personal violence, when a fire inspector arrives one morning to claim a bribe from Schultz, and Schultz repsonds by tackling the man and strangling him to death on the dance floor. Horrified at the sudden and unprovoked outburst, Billy begins to question Schultz's mental stability as he and Irving break the corpse's spine, stuff it into a trash can, and pay a garbage collector to dispose of it in the local landfill.
Shortly thereafter, the reason for Billy's being at the club become clear when he notes that one of the club's regulars is Bo Weinberg, one of Schultz's chief lieutenants, and Bo's fiancee, a socialite named Lola. The day after Billy meets Weinberg, Berman reveals to Billy that he has been placed in the club as a spy, and that he is to observe whoever sits nearest the door whenever Weinberg is in the club. Billy notes that Weinberg's appearances coincide with those of an obese Italian man in a porkpie hat who habitually lights cigarettes using restaurant matchbooks; Billy steals one of the matchbooks one night and presents it to Schultz and Berman, who recognize it as coming from a front organization owned by an Italian mob family. Apparently, someone within the Schultz gang had been attempting to turn traitor, and Schultz wanted it confirmed that the perpatrator was in fact Bo. Safe in this knowledge, Berman and Schultz begin planning something; Berman fires Billy from the club, but gives him a hefty severance pay, instructing him to use it to buy a suit, leather dress shoes with laces, a pair of fake eyeglasses, a suitcase, and an intellectual book; at the last minute, Berman hands Billy more cash and tells him to use it to buy his mother something.
The next day, Billy and his mother go clothes shopping; while they wait for his suit to be tailored, the two dine at a coffee shop, and Billy notes that the exposure to polite society seems to have a positive effect on his mother. That night, Billy throws a party for the children at the orphanage where Becky lives, bringing in kegs of Schultz's beer and hiring Arnold to play music on one of his pilfered victrolas. After the party has died down, Becky comes onto Billy and the two have sex without Billy having to pay; he takes this as a sign that the two are now officially an item and begins making plans to turn her into his moll, envisioning them as a gangland couple.
The next day, while out for a walk, Billy spots a newspaper reporting the brutal, broad-daylight razor-blade murder of one of Schultz's rivals. A horrified Billy returns home, fearing now more than ever that life as a mobster has begun to take its toll on Schultz, and that during his time on the lam, Schultz has begun to go insane. Shortly thereafter, a police car pulls up out front; Billy initially fears that he has been identified as a member of the Schultz gang, but instead the cop turns out to be on the take, and reveals that he's been ordered to tell Billy to get his suit and valise and come with him. Billy is taken along as Schultz and Irving kidnap Bo Weinberg and Lola from the embassy club and then take them out on a tugboat on the East River. Lola is imprisoned below deck while Bo is beaten, tied to a chair, and has his feet encased in a block of cement. Bo attempts first to reason with Schultz to release Lola, then attempts to engage Schultz in a war of words, but Schultz remains eerily calm, slowly lighting a cigar and informing Bo that he is now beyond the point of anger. Schultz has Lola brought above deck and uses her presence to torment Bo before taking her below deck to confer. Irving and Billy are left to guard Bo; Bo begs Irving to shoot him in order to spare him the agony of drowning, but Irving sadly informs him that he cannot disobey Schultz's orders. Irving, to spare himself facing his conflicting loyalties to Bo and Schultz, goes above deck and converses with the tugboat captain. Left alone with Billy, Bo gathers his strength, singing Bye Bye Blackbird before engaging Billy in conversation. Billy tries to relate to Bo as if he himself were a gangster, but Bo if offended that a boy would talk as if he were a man and chides Billy for speaking derisively of dead mobsters. Bo cryptically announces that he is responsible for the deaths of Schultz, Berman, Irving, and Lulu, then asks Billy to go check on Lola. Billy goes below deck, where Schultz is chastising her for associating herself with mobsters. Billy returns above deck, where Bo makes Billy promise to protect Lola and save her from Schultz. Billy is surprised at himself when he agrees, considering it the first merciful act or oath of his life. Seconds later, Schultz returns above deck; he, Irving, and Billy wheel Bo to the edge of the tugboat, and Schultz kicks him over, drowning him.
The boat returns to shore. Billy, Schultz, Lola, and Irving load into a car and drive to Lola's apartment; Billy is confused when Lola and Schultz begin joking and sharing stories on the way there. Billy is sent upstairs with Lola to retrieve her things; the doorman refers to her as "Ms. Drew," revealing that Lola is a pseudonym she uses when seducing mobsters for vicarious thrills. Upstairs, Billy finds Drew's husband, Harvey, masturbating a frat boy on the couch; he quickly learns that Harvey married Drew in order to cover up his homosexuality, and that Drew married Harvey for his money. Drew casually strips naked in front of Billy, takes a show, and then dresses in front of him, before the pair head back downstairs. Billy falls asleep in the front seat of Schultz's car as it drives them up towards Onondaga, where Schultz has successfully arranged for his trial to be held, as Drew and Schultz drink wine and flirt in the back seat.
Billy, Irving, Drew, and Schultz arrive in Onondaga the next afternoon, followed shortly by Berman and Lulu. Schultz and Berman buy a floor in the town hotel, with suites for Billy, Irving, Lulu, Drew, and himself, and a pair of rooms for Berman to use as a bedroom and office, respectively. As Schultz sets about sequestering himself in his own room with Drew for several days of uninterrupted marathon sex, Berman gives Lulu, Irving, and Billy large sums of money and sends them around town to spend it. The sudden influx of cash into the dying community gets the attention of the citizenry, and they flock to the hotel to speak with Berman and Schultz about getting loans and financial assistance. This segues into the second part of Schultz's plan; one morning a few days into their stay in Onondaga, Berman awakens Billy and instructs him to put on his suit and fake glasses and come downstairs with his book. Billy, realizing he forgot to buy a book, steals the hotel's Gideon Bible and meets Schultz and Drew in the lobby. Together, the trio goes to the town bank, where Schultz identifies himself by his real name, Arthur Flegenheimer, and claims to be an unjustly persecuted entrapeneur. He claims that Billy is his apprentice, and that Drew is the boy's governess, before depositing a massive amount of cash into a checking account. Before they leave, the bank manager asks to see what book Billy is reading, and, seeing that it is a Holy Bible, expresses his admiration for Schultz's concern with the boy's education. Schultz is initially confused with this unrehearsed part of the plan, but when he realizes that it was Billy's doing, congratulates the boy for his intuition and enrolls Billy in the town Sunday School. Signing his registration papers, Billy absentmindedly writes down his last name as Bathgate, later realizing that by assuming this alias he has acknowledged his indoctrination into gangsterdom.
With his time divided between shopping around town, going to church, and otherwise living the life of a tourist, Billy begins to question whether the glamor of being a mobster is really what newspapers and movies make it out to be. His thoughts wandering, he finds himself increasingly fantasizing about Drew, who seems to have forgotten Bo and has gleefully thrown herself into the role of Schultz's moll, buying him things from mail order catalogues and instructing him in such aspects of high society life as horse riding and fine dining. Meanwhile, Drew has also happily assumed the role of Billy's governess, reinventing his wardrobe to make him appear more as a collegiate than a mobster and otherwise doting on him. These developments in Drew's personality worry Berman, whom Billy overhears one night arguing with Schultz over Drew's burgeoning role within the gang. Lulu, Irving, and the rest of Schultz's men in New York have gotten wise to Schultz's fondness for Drew, and are worried that he may shift loyalties and allow her to destroy the gang. Schultz assures Berman that such a thing will not happen, but otherwise denies Berman's requests to obtain pornography for Lulu and Irving or allow them to visit a nearby whorehouse to work out their frustrations. As compensation, though, he does consent to Berman arranging for them to go on target practice with the local police chief, and the next morning, Berman takes Billy, Lulu, and Irving out to an abandoned barn which acts as the Onondaga Police Department's firing range. Billy and Berman smoke while Lulu and Irving practice; after a while Berman enters the barn then exits holding a pair of targets, one of them shot into small pieces, the other filled with precise, assassain-like holes in key places such as the shoulders, heart, and forehead. Billy quickly guesses that the shredded target was Lulu's and that the precisely shot one belonged to Irving. Berman uses this opportunity to fully reveal his philosophy on Mafia life to Billy, explaining that the days of "robber baron" type mafioso are coming to an end, and that the organization is slowly shifting from being about brute force and murder to being about business dealings and cooperations between rival organizations for shared control of America's criminal enterprises. Berman then presents Billy with the pistol he purchased from Arnold--which Berman clandestinely stole and had oiled and maintenanced in the middle of the night--and tells him that Irving will begin instructing him on how to properly fire a gun.
A few nights later, Schultz's lawyer Dixie arrives, followed by Julie Martin, a gigantic, morbidly obese mafioso who works for Schultz extorting Bronx restaurant owners. In the middle of the night, Billy hears Julie arguing with Schultz in his bedroom; a gunshot goes off, followed shortly by Lulu knocking on Billy's door. Lulu takes Billy into Schultz's room, where Julie is sprawled out dead on the coffee table and Dixie is cowering in the corner. Schultz explains to Billy that Julie confessed to stealing a large sum of money from him; Berman arrives, and instructs Billy, Irving, and Lulu in disposing of Julie's corpse. In the middle of bringing the body downstairs, Billy runs into Drew, who also heard the gunshot and has come frightened out of her bedroom. Billy takes her back to bed, kissing her before leaving to help finish getting rid of Julie.
With Schultz's trial quickly approaching, he begins buying back the people of Onondaga's farms for them from the local bank and calling bingo at church socials, all in the effort of poisoning the jury pool against the prosecution. One night, dining with the town's priest, Schultz first discusses buying the church a new roof and then declares that he wishes to convert from Judaism to Catholocism.
