Buddy's Day

It seems like Buddy, just like any other guy, wasn't really satisfied with his life. Ondaatje describes Bolden's daily routines:

"It was a financial tragedy that sleep sobered Bolden up completely, that his mind on waking was clear as an empty road and he began to casually drink again although never hard now for he played in the evenings. He slept from 4 till 8. His day had begun at 7 when he walked the kids a mile to school buying them breakfast along the way at the fruit stands. A half hour's walk and another 30 minutes for them to sit on the embankment and eat the huge meal of fruit." (177)

First of all, Bolden worked as a barber after left his kids at school until his nap at four. His life seems to be very decent, but his "financial tragedy" of spending his money on alcohol implies his wanting to forget reality. Even his everlasting 4-hour nap shows signs of dissatisfaction of the world. And once he does finally wake up, he goes out in the evening to let out all his emotions by playing his cornet. Obviously, he doesn't seem to like his job as a barber much because it's not even mentioned in this passage about his daily routine. Yes, it feels like as if Bolden is some kind of an emo that hates his job, but no. As we keep reading, it can be noticed that the second half of this paragraph is dedicated to his lovely kids. Clearly, Bolden values his kids with great importance. I don't know about other people, but in my personal opinion, waking up every day before seven just to spend about two hours walking a mile and buying food for someone else is not a very easy task. But, "his day had begun at 7" tells us that Bolden thought of his morning with his children as something positive, something that sparked up his will to keep up and survive throughout the day. Of course, Bolden's current anxiety slowly keeps on building up throughout the novel which probably is the reason he eventually leads to his insanity, but for now, he still has at least a bit of hope, not to live, but to survive.