The Tenant

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of emotional abuse, illness, and death.

Blake’s brownstone in Manhattan symbolizes the life that he has always dreamed of having. After growing up in a working-class household, Blake was the first person in his family to go to college. He then worked for Coble & Roy for 10 years, doing whatever he needed to do to climb the ladder, noting how many “enemies” he made as he leaves his office for the final time. In Blake’s eyes, the brownstone that he purchases—which he could only afford by withdrawing from his retirement account—is the quintessential home to signify his newly earned wealth and social status, and its presence as a motif is significant both to the plot and to the theme of The Hollow Signs of Success.

The brownstone is central to the plot because Whitney’s arrival as the titular tenant is the novel’s inciting incident. The need to rent part of his home is not only an embarrassment for Blake, as he can no longer afford it on his own, but it also symbolizes a breach in his life. Once Whitney arrives, his life continues to collapse, but despite everything that he goes through, Blake repeatedly decides to let Whitney stay, valuing the prestige of the brownstone over his own mental health and safety.