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Big Joe Brady’s restaurant symbolizes the relationship between Jimmy and Bob and, more broadly, the way that time can impact a relationship. At least initially, the restaurant seems to represent the past, present, and future of Jimmy and Bob’s friendship, since it is the last place they saw each other as well as the place they promised to see each other next. However, when they arrive there 20 years later, they not only find that the restaurant is gone, but also that they’ve both changed beyond recognition. While Bob has led a life of crime, Jimmy has become a police officer and, accordingly, is forced to arrest his old best friend. Just like the shuttered restaurant, then, their friendship does not truly exist in the present—only in the past.
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Big Joe Brady’s Restaurant Symbol Timeline in After Twenty Years
The timeline below shows where the symbol Big Joe Brady’s Restaurant appears in After Twenty Years. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
After Twenty Years
...appointment 20 years ago to meet someone at that spot, which used to be called Big Joe Brady’s Restaurant.
(full context)
...jaw, intelligent eyes, and white scar. He explains that 20 years ago he dined at Big Joe Brady’s with an old friend, Jimmy Wells, who he had grown up with. They were raised...
(full context)
