Time and Again

From January 4 to January 21, Si lives in the Dakota apartment as if it is 1882. He receives period-appropriate groceries from a delivery boy, reads the 1882 newspaper, and avoids looking out the windows where he might see modern-day cars and streetlights. At one point, Rube visits him, and they chat for a while.

Though Si is grateful for the company, Rube’s departure triggers a moment of frustration. Si is tired of the isolation. He is frustrated that the experiment does not seem to be working and feels ridiculous in his play-acting. For a long moment, the narrator says, he “just [stands] in what ha[s] become not clothes but a tiresome costume, fiercely aware of the real New York City all around” (106). The feeling passes quickly, however, and he continues as he was.

Then, on January 21, it snows, shutting off the streetlights and thus perfecting the illusion of being in the past. Si feels this is his best chance. Rossoff visits to hypnotize Si. He tells him that it is January 1882, he has no knowledge of the present, and he should take a 20-minute walk before returning home and going to sleep. Si does so, enjoying a short walk alone in the dark and the snow.