Apartments and Offices

The apartments and offices that Frank and Alan live and work in symbolize status. Early on in the story, the narrator says, "in those days they were living in apartments with funny furniture and on Sundays sleeping until noon," describing their lives as low-level lawyers at their firm (125). After they start their own firm, their lifestyle changes: "In place of ruin there were new offices overlooking Bryant Park, which from above seemed like a garden above a dark chateau, young clients, opera tickets, dinners in apartments with divorced hostesses, surrendered apartments with books and big tiled kitchens" (128). After they settle the Hardmann Roe case, they fulfill the destiny they always wanted, thanks to their fathers – a life of wealth and privilege complete with luxurious living and working spaces.

Hardmann Roe

The Hardmann Roe case symbolizes Frank and Alan's professional partnership. This is the case...