38 pages • 1 hour read
Walter MosleyThe Last Days of Ptolemy Grey
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Ptolemy’s Apartment
Ptolemy’s apartment is a mess. It can be seen as a metaphor for his state of mind. It also symbolizes the transformative power of love. At the beginning of the novel, Ptolemy is a hoarder. He never throws anything away and has lost his capacity to distinguish treasure from trash. Large parts of his flat are uninhabitable because they are overcrowded with junk, memorabilia, and bugs.
Robyn’s arrival heralds a change in both Ptolemy’s physical surroundings and in his state of mind. She fearlessly tackles the daunting task of cleaning up his non-functioning bathroom. On her first day, she gets the water running again. Repairing the apartment’s plumbing has a salutary effect on Ptolemy as well. He begins to feel hopeful.
Ptolemy is even more daunted by the bedroom than by the bathroom: “The bedroom was dark, as it had been years before when he closed it up in order to forget about his life with Sensia. She was dead and buried but that room had been her memorial” (77-78). Significantly, it is Ptolemy and not Robyn who initially tries to clean the room. Even though Ptolemy doesn’t want to face the mess that’s waiting for him inside, he is more fearful of never seeing Robyn again. For that reason alone, he summons the courage to use an old ice hook to pull the giant tarp off the bed.
When Robyn returns, she takes on the even more unpleasant task of removing all the dead insects from the bed. Bit by bit, she brings the apartment back into a habitable state. She is also wise and caring enough to include Ptolemy in her project. She doesn’t throw out anything that he considers valuable. The two of them work as a team to restore the living space. In the process, they restore some of Ptolemy’s mental function and forge a lasting emotional bond.
The Devil Doctor
Ptolemy often addresses Dr. Ruben as “Satan.” He makes frequent references to hell when describing the doctor or his medicines. Ptolemy feels that he has made a deal with the devil in exchange for restored cognitive function.
Ruben is a shady physician who performs illegal experiments on human subjects. In exchange for his miracle medicine, he demands Ptolemy’s cadaver for dissection after Ptolemy’s death. As Ptolemy says: “I know the Devil when I see him. You don’t need no college degree to see evil in front’a yo’ nose. Man play with life have crossed ovah. That’s a fact” (190).
Ruben exploits Ptolemy’s vulnerability. The doctor preys on mentally weak senior citizens in the early stages of dementia, knowing that most would give their lives for even a short period of mental clarity. However, like Satan, Ruben honors the terms of his bargains. He will take Ptolemy’s remains, but before that, he will grant what Ptolemy wants most—control of his faculties. In this sense, he is the answer to a prayer. Ptolemy remembers Coydog’s paradoxical view of Satan: “‘‘Devil a angel just like all the rest,’ Coydog had told him more than once. ‘Devil came to the Lord and demanded more. His wings was singed an’ he was th’ow’d down, but he still a angel, and you got to give him his due’” (129).
Since Ruben is giving Ptolemy what he wants most, one wonders why Ptolemy is so quick to blame the physician. Ptolemy himself is not guiltless in their bargain. Part of the reason why he wants his memory back is to seek out Reggie’s killer. Ptolemy fully intends to kill the man who murdered his caregiver. Ruben has simply given him the means, and the temptation is too great for Ptolemy to resist. By shifting the blame to Ruben, Ptolemy isn’t required to examine his own role in the transaction too closely.
Gold Coins
Even when experiencing dementia, Ptolemy is haunted by the memory of the gold coins that Coydog stole eighty-five years earlier. At the time, Coydog charged Ptolemy with the responsibility of recovering the cache and using it to help poor Black people achieve better lives. The coins symbolize heroism; it took bravery for Coydog to steal them from the rich white man who profited from slavery to buy them.
Ptolemy goes back to Mississippi to recover the coins at the age of seventeen, but balks at the rest of his mission. Instead, he hides the coins inside his apartment: “He knew the gold was there, coins that went back all the way to the Civil War and before, some used, some like new. But it wasn’t his treasure. He was just the guardian, obeying a long-ago command from Coy the thief, martyr, and partisan” (164).
Ptolemy hesitates and nearly loses his chance to do anything. He waits until his memory is gone, perhaps hoping that he will never have to act. Coydog still haunts his dreams even after dementia sets in, and Ptolemy can no longer remember where the coins are hidden.
Ptolemy decides to fulfill his mission once his memory is restored. This is in large part because of Robyn’s positive influence. He plans to transfer the coins to a secure location and legally puts Robyn in charge of selling them in line with Coydog’s original intentions. Aside from making the life of the poor easier, the coins function as bait to trap a killer.
Vengeance might not seem befitting of a hero. However, Ptolemy is ensuring the safety of Reggie’s children. In this sense, Ptolemy is dispensing justice; he can go to his grave knowing that he finally kept his long-ago promise to his mentor.
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By Walter Mosley
