For bridge 3, we were put into groups of 3. I was partnered up with Rania and Nicho. In these groups we were sent to grand central station to interview people asking them a series of questions about why they where they that day and what grand central means to them. Overall my group managed to interview 16 people. Using there answers to our questions we merged the people who we thought were the most interesting in to one character and then embellished on the character to create a story about him. Our character is called George.
Character
George is a man in his early 30’s and he is of German heritage and has grown up in New York. Due to speaking both English and German as his first languages he has a speech impairment as he struggles to stick to one language when conversing, which is why he enjoys composing music (his career) as for him he uses composing as a way of conversing with people without having to use speech. His parents died a few years ago and left him their family brownstone house on the upper east side. Although he was left the brown stone house he was not left the family money, as that was in fact left to his maid (Myrtle) who still works for him. Though this is something he is not aware of as he was made to believe that the money had been given to charity when his parents died as that was what they said to tell him in their wills. The reason behind this is because his parents saw a huge potential in him and by not leaving him the money they thought it would mean he would get his life together and start working hard to live a long happy life, but unfortunately he does not seem to believe in himself. As he turns to alcohol and drugs to help each day pass, which does not let him focus on himself or his career of being a classical music composer. It also affected his appearance as although he is always wearing smart old fashioned clothes they are ripped, holey and dirty. His house is also just as run down as his appearance.
Portrait
He has scruffy thick uneven brown hair; it is uneven as he gets myrtle to cut it for him so that he doesn’t have to go somewhere to pay for it. He is a very tall, skinny and lanky man so therefore he comes off as very intimidating and often scary too when he is not sober. He is also relatively baby faced which contrasts greatly with the objects that he presents himself with. Despite his baby face he is still pretty ordinary looking so there is nothing very striking about the way that he looks other than his eyes. Georges narrow hooded eyes are a piercing grey and the whites of his eyes are quite yellowed. The color grey is used to symbolize his lack of emotion depth at the moment and the yellowed eyes are related to his drinking habits as he is now at risk for liver disease. His lips are very thin and typically dry and chapped. His eyebrows are fuller than usual and his bone structure is very soft. His fingers are also very long and narrow and his hands are rough. Hes approximately 6’2”, wears a suit size 40R, His pants have a 34” inseam, his chest is 32” inches as is his waist, and wears a size 10 shoe.
Object
George’s main objects are his trench coat, his pocket watch, and his briefcase which carries his musical scores or sheets that contain his music. George also wears worn down penny loafers as he is unwilling to spend his money on things such as clothes and anything else related to his physical presentation. Both the penny loafers and his trench coat are a prime example of Georges financial situation. The clothes are also dated as George is a rather old soul the way he presents himself represents that. Georges pocket watch is a symbol of George’s fear that he is losing time and the world seems to be happening around him at the moment. The pocket watch is also a symbol of George’s craft as it is a loose reference to the tempo of a song. The clean handkerchief that can always be found in George’s pocket shows Myrtle’s presence as she is always caring for him and cleaning it when needed. He often falls asleep in his clothes and he does so in his big green worn away velvet armchair in his library, this usually happens when he is drunk or high, which is the majority of the time. He also always carries around a pocket watch and a small oxford dictionary in his pockets of his beige trench coat. He also carries around a brown leather briefcase filled with his musical scores (music writing paper). Although it is not often that he opens his briefcase to work but he carries it around everywhere just in case he gets sudden inspiration and it is his life’s work that he is too scared to lose (emotional attachment after losing his parents so suddenly and is scared to loose anything else important to him). He will even carry it with him when he is going round the corner to collect something, there is never a minute it is out of his sight and the only person he allows to look after it other than himself is Myrtle.
Setting
Due to being an alcoholic, addict, and a composer consumed with self doubt, George spends most of his days either locking himself in his room trying to compose music in his Brownstone home in the Upper East Side of Manhattan left for him from his deceased parents. Although rarely or never satisfied with the music he composes, George sometimes leaves the house on a search for more alcohol or drugs. The home which was once a vibrant and lively home with wood and earthy finishings, has turned into a lonely, dull, and dark toxic environment absorbed by George’s exponentially growing sadness and anger. He spends his days looking out his bedroom window out onto the view of the east side of Central Park writing down different musical notes until he gets frustrated enough to indulge in more Whiskey from early morning till late at night. During moments where he yearns for comfort he wanders off to his library, sitting in his velvet armchair while listening to the works of his favorite composers while drunk (Verde, Mozart, Chopin, and Puccini). Intoxicated and in deep pain George tends to stumble down the stairs while yelling at old family portraits on the wall, until he makes his way to his kitchen knocking down utensils and furniture creating a mess for Myrtle to clean up after. Due to George’s outbursts while intoxicated, the house is kept in bad shape as a result of his habit of destruction.
Story
The broken bottles bang as Myrtle stocks the shelves. She hides the money. George slowly stumbles down the steps silently. “Good morning, George.” She says. “…Godomrongin.” George mutters after a moment of silence. George groans and Myrtle shuts the curtains because the piercing sunlight stung his marble-like eyes. Feet scatter scraping on shards of broken glass. “The hth ethe btharoom needs claening.” George exclaims as he excitedly explains how his expectorate is hardened in the bathroom sink. “Disgusting.” Myrtle mumbles but doesn’t make a mockery of him. After all, she always remembers the amount of c-notes left in her name. As well as the amenities left to the both of them, although quite antiquated.
Tick…tick…tick…shh…shh…shh. Myrtle steps on the undulated surface of the uncomfortable floor are unintentionally synchronized with the sound of George’s swinging pocket watch. “I pplan on wtirin al l day. Pealse do not bothre me.” George says. He grips his grubby briefcase and goes up to his room grabbing the rail on the way up.
It was clear to Myrtle that George couldn’t care for himself, and as she cautiously made her way over to the kitchen, she cleaned the floor of the cracked and shattered glass. She brushes her tangled hair away from her tired eyes, and turns to the doorway trying to see if Georges trench needs cleaning. George typically does not let Myrtle clean his coat. “Olny the hankdercheif.” Myrtle hears in the back of her mind. She stands and scurries over just to see how scuffed his coat is. She hears a scream. Myrtle runs rampantly up the rickety stairs to find george blankly staring at the wall. “Wha-” George grabs his briefcase and throws it at her before she can even ask what happened. “My msuiic, I need to foucus. Im runinning out of tiem.” George says. Myrtle gets up and gazes at the lines of dust that ran perpendicular to the lines of his musical scores.
“What have you gotten yourself into now?” Myrtle says with sorrow as the words scrape against her throat. It baffles her to behold just how bad Georges behavior is getting. Myrtle truly feels that she cannot trust him to be left to his own devices. However, she’s haunted by his demanding hollers and has always hoped that one day she could have a break. “George… mayb-” George screams again and Myrtle leaves. She jumps down each stair and justifies his behavior in her head. “He’s having a bad day. He’s always like this. He’s just working hard and so he’s stressed out.” Although, she’s quite aware of just how bad the situation is starting to seem. Myrtle decides to go buy groceries and she grabs a small stash of money and hurries out of the front door.
Having heard the front door being closed so gently by Myrtle, George knew that she had left the house and now he could do what he really wanted to do “weheres my boolming coaicnne!”… he shouts allowed in an attempted to wake himself up and remember where he had put it from the previous day. “Tis must abeen about…urg wehere awas I now yesterday” George says trying to recall where he was in this house the previous day. As his memory fails him due to being heavily dosed up on a concoction of both alcohol and drugs. He harshly grabs his music scores and a broken pencil and heads back downstairs to the kitchen. George enters the kitchen and has a sudden deja vu of the day before remembers he had spent almost the entire day in there yesterday and new that what he was looking for must be in there. “God danmn Mrtyrljn! She’s moving evryhng of mein! God hvans!” he shouts to himself in anger.
He angrily starts pushing everything on top of counters and onto the floor and while he does he seems a brown old yet very clean envelope, intrigued to what it is he slowly leans down whilst holding onto the kitchen table to pick it up. George sees that it is addresed to Myrtle but has little care for anyone in his life (including himself) so decides to open it. He pulls out piece of paper from the old envelope and first realises the date at the top of the paper…it was from a 5 years ago. Confused by this he carries on reading to realise that is is a copy of his father’s will but not the one he had seen… the front door makes a quiet rattle at the touch of keys being put into it, the door slowly creaked
open and Myrtle walks in.
“EXPAILN TIHS!!!’ George shouts. Not making sense of what is happening, Myrtle is taken off guard as George is screaming at the top of his lungs. She quickly pieces together his finding of the will written by his parents directed to her. The will that in fact grants Myrtle all their wealth. “THEHY LIE TO ME!! SYAYING TZHE MONEY GEOES TO CHAARTIY!”
“George, you must calm down and let me explain please.”
“EXPLIAN WHAT?! WHEIN YOU KNEW TIHS HWOLE TIEME!”
Unable to process what he’s just read George falls down to his knees screaming and cursing incoherently as he slowly begins to sob. Myrtle leans down and places her hand on the back of his neck beginning to stroke his back. “They did it because they believed in you George. They had faith in you and your music and knew you would be successful on your own.” George pushes away from Myrtle as he begins to sob into his hands. “This is not who you are George. I wish you could see in yourself what they saw in you.” Silent for the next few minutes to come, George finally gets up without muttering a word and walks up to his room till he slams the door shut and locks it.
The next three days pass by with George not stepping out of his room and Myrtle constantly knocking on his door without receiving any response other than him taking the food she leaves for him outside his bedroom door. Two days later he finally exits his room with his briefcase in hand while walking into his library. Hearing the sound of Verde play on the vinyl Myrtle quickly rushes up to the library to find George opening up his briefcase and taking out his musical scores. Stunned at his abrupt actions she begins to ask him why he’s making music for the first time in what feels like ages. However George ignores her and more days go on with him in the library composing still not uttering one word to her.
Distraught, confused, and lost, George has reached his breaking point and turns to the one thing he’s been pushing away the most – his music. Weeks go by with George stuck in the library with the sound of his pencil rubbing against sheet paper echoing from time to time as he plays all his favorite pieces created by his favorite composers. Scribbling note by note, he angrily asks himself if his parents did this because they couldn’t trust him with the money, but then slowly begins to ask himself if he could genuinely trust himself if he was given access to the money.
Without realizing, George has has managed to complete a piece for the first time in months due to his search for answers in his music. Looking over his musical score he is surprised to see that this is the first piece in years that he is proud of. It is in that moment that George understands why his parents wanted him to pursue his passion and not their money instead.
He hears Myrtle’s footsteps thumping up the stairs and does nothing but stare at her as she tries to talk to him until she turns around giving up on asking George for his forgiveness, Looking down at his handkerchief he pulls it out of his pocket while blurting out “Mrtyrljn”. Shocked, she turns around to see him offering her his handkerchief, his way of symbolizing a piece making offering. Gently smiling at her, he states “you neaed to claen for me now plaese.” Eagerly taking the handkerchief from his hands, Myrtle walks away twinkling with contentment.
