The Golden Notebook

Anna’s telephone rings as she is putting Janet to bed. On the line is Molly, looking for Tommy. He had decided to visit his father, Richard, at his office but has not returned. Molly is worried, given Tommy’s increasingly anxious state of mind; she has found books on mental health in his room. Before Anna has a chance to reflect on Tommy’s whereabouts, she receives another call from Molly: Tommy has been to see Richard’s current wife, Marion, who everyone believes is drinking too much. Again, before Anna has time to react, there are footsteps on the stairs, and Tommy comes into her rooms.

They have an increasingly tension-filled discussion about what he is doing and what he needs. He questions her about her notebooks. Anna feels afraid, as if Tommy’s hysteria is affecting her. He reads some of what she has written in her notebooks, which makes her extremely uncomfortable, but she does not stop him. He wonders how Anna can keep on living, even as she records such brutality and disintegration. Her answers do not satisfy him, so he asks her again, warning her: “I’m going to give you another chance, Anna” (275). She tries to explain that she continues to believe that something positive will happen, even amidst all of the chaos, but she realizes how trite this sounds.