Joe Gould’s Secret

Joseph Mitchell describes Joe Gould as a lost soul, who travels from one location to the next in search of a warm bed, and a meal.  At first Mitchell’s descriptions of Gould as being a carefree but gaunt little man make him seem apprehensive towards Gould.  Gould refuses to put his name to any property because he refuses to be tied down.  Gould states that even if the Chrysler building were to be presented to him he’d run in the opposite direction because he wouldn’t own it, it own him.  He seems to be a wanderer, like the wind he never roots himself in any specific location for fear of being tied down.  Gould has a hard time fitting into any labels, because in his home of Massachusetts he’s called a Yankee, but in New York City he’s labeled as a Bohemian.  Perhaps, this is where Mitchell saw similarities between himself and Gould, because Mitchell had to flee his hometown since he couldn’t fit in with his family members, just like Gould left his family of affluence in Massachusetts because he couldn’t be what they wanted him to be.