New Jersey

New Jersey occupies a pivotal place in Noah Calhoun's life as the site of his long employment at a scrap yard, the place where he earned the money that later allowed him to purchase and restore the plantation house in New Bern. It was there that he worked for Morris Goldman, a Jewish scrap-metal dealer who became a mentor and surrogate family, and there that Noah received the windfall that changed his circumstances after the war.

Employment and Economic Transformation

After leaving New Bern because the Great Depression made earning a living there almost impossible, Noah moved to New Jersey after hearing that the economy was not so bad there. He found a job in a scrap yard, separating scrap metal from everything else. The owner, Morris Goldman, was intent on collecting as much scrap metal as he could, convinced that a war would start in Europe and that America would be dragged in again. Noah worked hard, not only to keep his mind off Allie during the day but because his father had taught him: "Give a day's work for a day's pay. Anything less is stealing." That attitude pleased Goldman, who told Noah, "It's a shame you aren't Jewish, you're such a fine boy in so many other ways"—the best compliment Goldman could give. Over the next eight years, the company grew and Noah was promoted. By 1940 he had mastered the business and was running the entire operation, brokering deals and managing a staff of thirty. The yard had become the largest scrap-metal dealer on the east coast.

Relationship with Morris Goldman and the Windfall

In December 1941, when Noah was twenty-six, the war began, just as Goldman had predicted. Noah walked into Goldman's office the following month and informed him of his intent to enlist. While in training camp, he received a letter from Goldman thanking him for his work, together with a copy of a certificate entitling him to a small percentage of the scrap yard if it was ever sold. "I couldn't have done it without you," the letter said. "You're the finest young man who ever worked for me, even if you aren't Jewish." Just before Noah was discharged from the army, he received a letter from a lawyer in New Jersey representing Morris Goldman. Upon meeting the lawyer, he found out that Goldman had died a year earlier and his estate had been liquidated. The business had been sold, and Noah was given a cheque for almost seventy thousand dollars. This money allowed him to return to New Bern and buy the plantation-style house he had dreamed of owning since the summer of 1932.

Significance in Noah's Life

New Jersey represents the period of Noah's life when he was separated from Allie and from his home, a time of hard work and emotional isolation. During those years he dated a few women, including a waitress with deep blue eyes and silky black hair with whom he had a two-year relationship, but he never came to feel the same way about her as he did about Allie. She told him once, "I wish I could give you what you're looking for, but I don't know what it is. There's a part of you that you keep closed off from everyone, including me. It's as if your mind is on someone else." The state is thus the setting for Noah's economic rise and his continued emotional attachment to a lost love, a combination that ultimately made possible his return to New Bern and his reunion with Allie.