Jake and Mamie SO deserved one another
I like to think that a couple of years later, Jake cheated on her like he cheated on his first wife.
And she started throwing in his face how she lost her life savings in order to get him divorced.
Yep.
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MovieChat Forums > Hester Street (1975) Discussion > Jake and Mamie SO deserved one another
Their wedding day set the tone when they took the train instead of a cab to City Hall: "after all...two nickels is two nickels..."
She probably was never going to let him forget what she gave up to marry him.
English/History MA: Symbolism rules. "Loyaulte me lie...Richard III
They didn't take a carriage nor the train. They walked to City Hall to save the two (actually four counting the return trip) nickles.
I think Mamie gets a bit of a bum rap. She emigrated to the U.S. by herself, worked hard, shared a bed with two of her landlady's daughters and managed to save $ 365 over seven years — not an easy thing considering the value of a dollar then and the fact that the U.S. was in a depression for most of the 1890s.
When she found out that Jake was married, she even cancelled the $ 25 loan to Jake for the furniture in order to keep her distance from him.
When Jake decided to divorce Gitl, Mamie willingly gave up her savings for him and as they headed for their wedding, she already had practical plans to save up their nickles again.
She was warm to Joey and presumably would make a wonderful mother and hard-working wife as well... and would probably do her best to keep him in line in the future.