四十二。他的年龄已经震惊了他多年了，每次他坐着如此震惊，试图弄清楚他二十多岁的那个年轻，苗条的男人的变成了什么，整整一年都经过了一遍，必须记录下来，这是一个不断增长的总和他无法与自己的自我形象相处。在他的眼中，他仍然看到自己年轻，当他在照片中看到自己通常倒塌的照片...有人拿走了我实际的身体状态并替代了这一点时，他不时思考。哦，好吧，所以了。
(Forty-two. His age had astounded him for years, and each time that he had sat so astounded, trying to figure out what had become of the young, slim man in his twenties, a whole additional year slipped by and had to be recorded, a continually growing sum which he could not reconcile with his self-image. He still saw himself, in his mind's eye, as youthful, and when he caught sight of himself in photographs he usually collapsed ... Somebody took my actual physical presence away and substituted this, he had thought from time to time. Oh well, so it went.)
角色反映了他的自我认知与实际年龄之间的脱节，现在已经四十二。当他努力应对时间的流逝以及它似乎从他身上滑落的速度时，他感到很困惑。每年过去了，他越来越多地认识到，他无法与仍然居住在脑海中的充满活力的形象保持一致。这种损失感使他震惊和困惑，因为他试图理解时间对他的变化。
当他在照片中瞥见自己时，他的年轻精神与外表之间的对比震惊了。想法质疑这种转变是如何发生的，导致他幽默地想知道某人是否已经夺走了他年轻的自我并用他当前的形式取代了它。尽管生活带来了不可避免的变化，但他似乎辞去了时间流和衰老的现实，并以辞职感接受了。