Chapter 12 Summary

The narrator describes his best days and worst days in the hotel. His best day is the day he works on the fourth floor, polishing silver with one of the waiters. His worst day is washing up in the dining room: thirteen continuous hours of washing dishes.

The narrator comments on the hilarity of the differences between the dining room and the kitchen, merely divided by a single wall. The dining room is all clean tablecloths, shining silverware and fresh flowers. The kitchen is filthy, with sawdust and rotten vegetables covering the floor. It smells of sweat, and the employees continually swear at each other. But the waiters glide effortlessly between the two worlds.

Chapter 12 Analysis

The wall between the kitchen and dining room symbolizes the vast difference between the two classes. We have not seen intimately into the upper classes in this...