Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow
"Billy Bathgate" is a historical novel by E.L. Doctorow, set against the backdrop of the Great Depression in 1930s New York City. The story follows the life of fifteen-year-old Billy Bathgate, who becomes involved with the notorious gangster Dutch Schultz after a chance encounter. Initially drawn by the allure of gang life, Billy quickly learns that the glamorous surface hides a world filled with violence and brutality, as he witnesses Dutch's psychopathic tendencies firsthand.
As Billy becomes a protégé of Otto "Abbadabba" Berman, he navigates the complexities of loyalty and betrayal within the criminal underworld. The narrative explores themes of ambition, survival, and the impact of organized crime on individuals and communities. With Dutch's criminal empire in decline, the plot thickens as Billy engages in a dangerous relationship with Dutch's girlfriend, Drew Preston, which complicates his ties to the gang.
The story culminates in a series of violent events, including the murder of Dutch's associates, leading to Billy's escape and eventual emergence as a figure seeking a new life. Ultimately, "Billy Bathgate" provides a poignant exploration of the choices one makes in desperate times and the search for identity amid chaos and moral ambiguity.
On this Page
Billy Bathgate by E. L. Doctorow
First published: 1989
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Historical realism
Time of plot: 1934-1935
Locale: Bronx, New York City, Onondaga, and Saratoga Springs, New York; Newark, New Jersey
Principal characters
Billy Bathgate , a teenager living in the BronxMary Behan , his motherOtto “Abbadabba” Berman , numbers runner in the Schultz mobDixie Davis , a lawyer working for the Schultz mobThomas E. Dewey , a public prosecutorArnold Garbage , an orphan friend of BillyIrving , Dutch Schulz’s right-hand manMichael “Mickey” O’Hanley , a former prizefighter and a driver for SchultzDrew “Mrs.” Preston , a society “girl” who has relationships with Dutch Schultz, Bo Weinberg, and BillyRebecca , an orphaned friend of BillyLulu Rosenkrantz , an enforcer for the Schultz mobDutch Schultz (Arthur Flegenheimer) , a psychotic gangster and former bootleggerBo Weinberg , a hit man for the Schultz gang
The Story:
One summer day in the middle of the Great Depression, the fifteen-year-old Billy Bathgate and his friends are socializing in front of a warehouse in the Bronx. The building belongs to Arthur Flegenheimer, better known as Dutch Schultz, a local boy who became a gangster by bootlegging alcohol during Prohibition. Dutch and his associates park in front of the warehouse, and the gangster notices Billy juggling across the street. Dutch calls Billy over and gives him ten dollars, saying he is a capable boy.
Billy parlays this brief introduction into a place, albeit a minor one, in Dutch’s gang. He is taken under the wing of Otto “Abbadabba” Berman, the financial planner of the outfit, who makes Billy his protégé. Billy, a teen whose friends are orphans, whose father is missing, and whose mother is an eccentric, has experienced a difficult childhood. In addition to this background, the scarcity of money and opportunity helps motivate him to join the Schultz gang.
As he becomes more familiar with Dutch himself, Billy realizes that this initially glamorous figure is really a psychotic killer, capable of violent mood swings and outbursts of uncontrolled savagery. One day not long after Billy begins to associate with the mob, he witnesses Dutch beat a city inspector to death for little more than showing up at one of his establishments at the wrong time.
Dutch Schultz and his associates are in many ways past their prime by the time Billy meets them. A major player during the bootlegging days of the previous decade, by the mid-1930’s Dutch has become an increasingly minor figure in New York’s underworld. He is under indictment for tax evasion and is being sought by the Internal Revenue Service. Much of the story takes place in Onandaga, New York, the upstate venue that Schultz has finagled for his trial.
The Schultz gang moves to the small, economically depressed town of Onandaga and spends some weeks spreading largess and earning goodwill among the local population. Dutch has brought along his new girlfriend, Drew Preston, a socialite he took away from his hit man, Bo Weinberg, after killing him. During their residence, Drew poses as Billy’s nanny, so the pair spends a lot of time together, a situation that leads them to begin a sexual relationship. This relationship places the couple in some danger if Dutch should find out. As the time for the trial to begin approaches, Dutch sends Billy and Drew to the horse races at Saratoga Springs to provide an excuse for them to leave town, reducing any distractions from the trial.
In Saratoga, Billy effects a reunion between Drew and her husband to protect her from Dutch, and he returns to the Bronx to await the outcome of the trial. As a result of the goodwill he purchased in town, the jury acquits Dutch. He returns to New York City a free man.
When Dutch arrives back in New York, he discovers that the Sicilian mafia has assumed control of the city’s organized crime structures and illegal trades. Dutch does not understand how this happened, and he is unwilling to tolerate the takeover. At the same time, district attorney and future presidential candidate Thomas Dewey begins to investigate Dutch’s activities, forcing what is left of his gang to go into hiding. They move into a second-rate hotel in Newark, New Jersey.
Dutch asks Billy to run errands for him to maintain his declining connections in the city, while his associates are scattered or killed by the newly powerful mafia. Dutch and his closest associates meet nightly in a restaurant to eat and make their plans to regain the power they have lost. One night when Billy is in the restroom, all of the gang is murdered in the restaurant’s back room. Billy escapes out the narrow bathroom window but only after he has been told the combination of the gang’s safe back at the hotel. Loaded with a bag full of cash, Billy returns to the Bronx.
Billy is questioned by the Sicilians about Dutch’s missing money but tells them nothing, emphasizing a naivete that is not entirely feigned. His deathbed vigil at Dutch’s hospital room is his last act of loyalty to the man he has so ardently followed throughout the narrative.
Later, Billy discovers a barrel of cash in one of Dutch’s warehouses and begins a business with one of his old orphan friends. The money also allows him to get a better apartment for his mother and himself. One day, a baby arrives, his child by Drew Preston and a harbinger of a future less violent than the past.
Bibliography
Bloom, Harold, ed. E. L. Doctorow. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2002. A general collection of essays on Doctorow covering the breadth of his work.
Doctorow, E. L. Conversations with E. L. Doctorow. Edited by Christopher D. Morris. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999. This collection of interviews with Doctorow covers his writing career. Chapter 3 focuses on Billy Bathgate.
Fowler, Douglas. Understanding E. L. Doctorow. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1992. Puts forth an explication of Doctrow’s major fiction.
Harter, Carol C., and James R. Thompson. E. L. Doctorow. Boston: Twayne, 1990. A concise general overview of Doctrow’s work and career.
Levine, Paul. E. L. Doctorow. New York: Methuen, 1985. A short overview of Doctorow’s life and writing.
Morris, Christopher D. Models of Misrepresentation: On the Fiction of E. L. Doctorow. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1991. Takes a broad approach to Doctorow’s work. Chapter 10 focuses on Billy Bathgate.
Siegel, Ben, ed. Critical Essays on E. L. Doctorow. New York: G. K. Hall, 2000. This collection covers a variety of approaches to Doctorow’s fiction.
Tokarczyk, Michelle M. E. L. Doctorow’s Skeptical Commitment. New York: Peter Lang, 2000. A generous discussion of the role of history in Doctorow’s novels.
Williams, John. Fiction as False Document: The Reception of E. L. Doctorow in the Postmodern Age. Columbia, S.C.: Camden House, 1996. Applies a comprehensive, theoretical examination of Doctorow’s novels with only a brief mention of Billy Bathgate.