Joe 乔 Jimmy's oldest brother, Joe, was eleven when Jimmy was born. In his childhood years, Jimmy idolized Joe. He was the big brother who was admired, popular, who knew his way around and was successful with girls. Joe was the family playboy. He never studied, had many girl friends, was constantly dating and going to parties. Joe's frivolous ways were a source of anxiety for his parents, but for Jimmy they were the hallmark of the cool and smooth "operator" who knew how to get what he wanted and never failed in getting it. Joe was everything that his father was not in Jimmy's eyes. When Joe came into the room he was immediately the center of attention. When Joe went to a restaurant he knew how to get the best table. Joe was the slick manipulator who could get what he wanted out of people, particularly out of women. He could have any girl he wanted. Father was none of these things. Jimmy would tag after his older brother. He loved to be with him and recalled that on some occasions, Joe would take Jimmy out with him on his dates. They would share a fantasy game—namely, that Jimmy was Joe's son. Jimmy felt that he would much rather have had Joe for a father than his real father, who seemed so clumsy and weak. 吉米出生时，他的大哥乔已经十一岁了。在吉米的童年时期，他非常崇拜乔。乔是一个令人钦佩、备受欢迎的哥哥，他处世老练，在女孩中很吃得开。乔是家里的花花公子。他从不学习，女朋友众多，总是忙着约会和参加派对。乔这种轻浮的生活方式让父母感到焦虑，但在吉米看来，这却是他酷炫、游刃有余的“操盘手”标志，他知道如何得到自己想要的东西，并且总是能得偿所愿。在吉米眼中，乔拥有父亲身上所没有的一切。乔一走进房间，就会立即成为众人瞩目的焦点。乔去餐厅时，总能弄到最好的座位。乔是个狡黠的操纵者，能从别人那里，尤其是从女人那里，得到他想要的东西。他可以得到任何他想要的女孩。而父亲则完全不是这样。吉米总是跟在哥哥身后。他喜欢和哥哥在一起，还记得有几次，乔会带着吉米一起去约会。他们会玩一个幻想游戏，即假装吉米是乔的儿子。吉米觉得，他宁愿让乔做他的父亲，也不愿让那个看起来如此笨拙软弱的亲生父亲做他的父亲。 The contrast between his childhood fantasy ideal and the reality of Joe's adult life was difficult for Jimmy to accept. Joe married a rather ordinary girl and settled down to a rather humdrum, ordinary, if moderately successful, business career. He became an ordinary Joe, an idol with clay feet. Jimmy's fantasy was that marriage and the influence of Joe's wife were the responsible causes of this reversal. This reflected his feelings about the relationship between his mother and father. Jim had always felt that his father could have made it in big business if only he had been willing to take the big gamble, the risky investment that would have spelled the difference between ordinary moderate success and the big time. As he saw it, father never did this because Jimmy's mother would not allow it—that mother was the cautious and conservative one who held father down because she could not tolerate the idea of his becoming too successful or powerful. Jimmy saw women generally as powerful and controlling, as exercising a limiting and repressive and demanding influence on men. 吉米以接受他童年时的幻想理想与乔成年后的现实生活之间的巨大反差。乔娶了一个相当普通的女孩，过上了相当平淡无奇、虽说还算成功的商业生涯。他变成了一个平凡的乔，一个名不副实的偶像。吉米幻想，是婚姻和乔的妻子的影响导致了这种转变。这反映了他对父母关系的看法。吉米一直觉得，如果父亲愿意冒大险，进行风险投资，那么他本可以在大生意上取得成功，这样的投资本可以让他摆脱普通的、中等程度的成功，跻身更高层次。在吉米看来，父亲从未这样做，因为母亲不允许——母亲是个谨慎保守的人，她压制着父亲，因为她无法容忍父亲变得太成功或太有权力。吉米普遍认为女性强大且具有控制力，对男性施加限制、压抑和苛求的影响。