The Golden Age: 32. New York Summary & Analysis

Many years later, Elsa’s son Jack II visits Frank in New York. He’s always known about Frank; his mother talked about him frequently and showed old pictures of them together on the verandah of the Golden Age. He looks very different as an old man, much larger and more confident. He’s wearing elegant and bohemian clothes. He has a neat apartment which, to Jack, speaks of “work and solitude.”

As he notes that Jack II’s hair is the same color as Elsa’s, Frank is surprised to learn she’s named her son after her father. Jack tells him that Elsa has recently retired from medicine. He’s the youngest son and they’ve always been close, especially since they both love to read. The family lives by the beach, close to where Elsa grew up. Even though she can no longer walk or swim as she used to, Elsa is determined not to be carried or helped. She spends much of her time watching the ocean from a small tower her husband built for her. She’s very tough, and her sons call her E.B., the initials of her maiden name.

Jack II tells Frank that once he was running on the beach when he saw Elsa struggling up the dunes. He knew that he couldn’t help her or even acknowledge that he saw her, but by the time she reached the top, exhausted, he was near tears.

Frank has just published his latest book and was flattered to receive an interview request from an online Australian literary journal. As it turns out, the journal was founded by Jack II, who is also an admirer of Frank’s poetry. Frank has always sent copies of each collection to Elsa, although she rarely writes him.

Jack II asks what happened between Frank and Elsa. Frank says that he trained as a teacher and worked for a while in a remote part of Australia before moving to New York. Meanwhile, Elsa studied medicine in Adelaide and got married. Shortly after Frank moved to New York, both his parents died in quick succession, and were buried in Australia.

Next, Jack II asks about the title of Frank’s most recent collection, “The Golden Age.” He thinks this is a painful name for a book about children struggling with polio. Frank ignores this and instead announces he’s just published a book about Sullivan Backhouse, including all his poetry and an essay by Frank about their brief friendship and his introduction to his vocation. Frank says he’s still trying to finish “On My Last Day on Earth.”

Frank tells Jack II that “The Golden Age” is a kind of sequel to “The Trains,” his most famous poem. His last collection is both an “answer” and a “counter” to it.

Frank was inspired to write “The Golden Age” when he had to take charge of Edie, the daughter of a friend who was hospitalized for several months. At first he was annoyed to sacrifice his solitude and routine for a child, but soon discovered he loved taking care of her. The experience made him realize how easy it is to love children even if they’re not one’s own, and it reawakened his memories of the Golden Age and the unstinting affection of the staff there. He says that polio is like love: “years later, when you think you have recovered, it comes back.”

Soon, Jack II leaves to catch his plane. To Frank, his eyes look like Elsa’s, and Frank thinks there’s nothing he won’t learn to understand. Jack thinks that he won’t see Frank again; the old man looks very frail. Once Jack leaves the building, Frank hurries the window to watch his gold hair disappear into the crowd outside.