Jacob's Room

While travelling by train through the “heart of Italy” (135), Jacob compares the countryside to lines of Italian poetry. In his mind, he imagines himself speaking effusively to Bonamy about all the wonders he saw in Athens and Rome. He has been struck by the differences in cultures and people glimpsed during his travels. 

Arriving in Greece, he struggles to find his hotel and then debates how to enjoy his first evening. Jacob has long been obsessed with “the Greek spirit” (137); many boys of his generation inherited this obsession from their governesses. Jacob is dismayed by this particular thought. His mind turns to Clara Durrant, whom he left back in London along with Pilchard the American.

While reading a newspaper, Jacob thinks about his place in society. The women who know Jacob believe that he has matured. Bonamy, meanwhile, is convinced that he will fall in love with a Greek woman “with a straight nose” (139). Bonamy receives a letter from Jacob, prompting him to think about his friend’s character. They once seemed so alike, but that is no longer the case. Bonamy suspects that his friend is led into “absurd predicaments” (140) because he is too much of a romantic.

In Olympia, Jacob is pleased to be “alone” (140) and away from England. He is pleased to be “cut off from the whole thing” (140). As he walks the coastline, over the steep hills, he thinks back to the vacations he took as a child. A wealthy couple named Evan and Sandra Williams are staying in the same hotel as Jacob. Evan is an unsatisfied politician; Sandra is bored in her marriage. When they speak to Jacob, he tells them that he plans to climb the nearby mountain. This plan delights them. When they learn from the waiter that Jacob has set off on his hike, Sandra notes how “very English” (143) Jacob seems. On the mountain, Jacob lies down. He cannot remember ever being quite so happy.

Jacob dines with Evan and Sandra. Their conversation involves literature; when Jacob writes to Bonamy, he describes his fear that he feels the need to read a collection by Anton Chekov, a “cursed book” (144) that Sandra praised. Sitting among the Greek ruins, smoking his pipe, Jacob is struck by a feeling of terrible melancholy. His thoughts are filled with Sandra. Whenever Sandra talks about Jacob, Evan feels a pang of jealousy. Nonetheless, he asks Jacob whether he would like to travel with the couple to Corinth. Jacob accepts the invitation. Writing to Bonamy, he reaffirms his fondness for Greece.

While exploring the ancient Greek ruins together, Jacob and Sandra develop a bond. In his letters to Bonamy, Jacob cannot describe this bond to his friend. He would like to visit Athens, but this means leaving Sandra and Evan. He cannot bear the thought of not being near Sandra; Jacob worries that he is in love with a married woman. 

Jacob goes to Athens anyway, where he writes about the ancient culture that—for so much of his life—he has admired from far away. In spite of the cultural wonders, he feels “profoundly morose” (149) without Sandra. At night, he lies awake, thinking of her. When he climbs a hill to read a book among the ruins, he cannot concentrate on the pages. All he can think about is Sandra. He blames a passing group of women for his lack of focus.

Bonamy and Clara meet to discuss Jacob. Bonamy begins to suspect that Clara has been in love with Jacob for a long time; Bonamy also has a deep love for Jacob, though he would never reveal as much. Bonamy says that there is nothing he can do. As he returns home, he ponders the question of whether his friend could ever fall in love with Clara. Their meetings lead people to gossip that Bonamy and Clara are dating.

In Athens, Jacob spends his time alone. In a busy square, Sandra spots Jacob and calls out to him. In Britain, Mrs. Durrant is one of many people worried that war is about to break out. While she talks about the threat posed by Germany, Jacob reunites with Evan and Sandra in Athens. When they dine together, however, Sandra reveals that she and Evan will travel to Constantinople the following day. They will leave early in the morning.

After dinner, Jacob and Sandra walk by moonlight to the Acropolis; Evan stays behind to smoke a cigarette and Sandra claims that he is “happier alone” (157). Jacob and Sandra talk about love. They talk about their futures. They talk about other people. Sandra asks Jacob to write to her; she makes him promise to do so. When they return to London, they agree, they will meet up. Jacob gifts her his poetry anthology. The next day, Sandra finds it on her dressing table. The narrator takes a view of the various sites around London as “the old pageant of armies” (164) begins to form: World War I is imminent.

By the time he returns to Britain, Jacob is tanned and lean. Bonamy meets Jacob in Hyde Park. Clara still loves Jacob and Bonamy is bitter about this. He struggles to hide this bitterness from Jacob; he is also annoyed at how indifferent Jacob seems to their reunion. As they talk about Athens, Jacob reveals that he also traveled to Constantinople with Sandra and Evan. When Bonamy suggests that Jacob is in love, Jacob’s cheeks redden.

Clara is walking her dog, accompanied by a male friend named Bowley. He loves Clara “as everybody must” (167) and he is surprised when Clara mentions to him that her mother is scared of imminent war. Clara often thinks of Jacob. When she sees a rider thrown from a horse, Bowley comforts her. Florinda is now pregnant. She meets Nick Bramham, mentioning that she has seen a man who looks just like Jacob. She and Bramham have “a bargain between them” (170).

In Hyde Park, Jacob draws pictures of the Greek ruins in the dust on the ground. He has a letter from Sandra, which he re-reads. The letter describes a moment of unrequited potential during their moonlit walk around the Acropolis. When Jacob rides the bus, he cannot find his ticket. The bus conductor fines him. 

Fanny Elmer walks around London while reflecting on the collection of postcards she received from Jacob while he was abroad. Fanny often thinks of Jacob. She writes to him, both letters and poems. These are “never posted” (171), however. As she takes a bus toward Hyde Park, the traffic stops. There is a parade marching through the streets. Soon, everyone is talking about politics and war. The country is now at war as the “course of history” (173) seems to be in flux; word of this spreads quickly through London. Walking along the street, Mr. Floyd spots Jacob and calls out. Jacob cannot hear Mr. Floyd. He walks by; the moment is gone.

Clara and her mother ride in a car to the opera. They may arrive late as another parade has halted traffic. Clara spots Jacob through the window, but Mrs. Durrant does not see him. As the sun sets, ushering night over Athens and England, Betty Flanders convinces herself that the sound of the sea is actually the sound of gunfire. She thinks of her husband Seabrook and her brother Morty; the former is dead, the latter is “lost” (177). Betty worries that her sons will go to fight for Britain. She thinks about the chickens in her yard and the community in her town.

Bonamy enters Jacob’s room. He is shocked to find letters everywhere, almost as though Jacob expected to return soon. He finds bills for hunting whips. He finds a letter from Sandra. Outside, the cars drive past in the street. Bonamy leans from the window and calls Jacob’s name. Amid “such confusion” (179), Betty enters her son’s room. She asks Bonamy what she should do with her dead son’s shoes.