Al Smith’s rootedness in his neighborhood differed starkly from Moses’ restlessness.

Evidence

The two men made an odd pair as they walked through the winding, narrow streets of the Lower East Side in the twilight, one of them tall, slim, handsome and aristocratic in bearing, the other, short, potbellied, florid. The taller man, striding out with long, springing steps, continually had to shorten his stride to let the other, who walked with a slow, extremely pigeontoed gait, catch up. Their progress was further slowed by Smith’s popularity. He seemed to know almost every man and woman who passed, and when one of them stopped to chat, he would stop, too, and talk with him without appearance of impatience while his companion would stride restlessly in little circles, or, trying desperately to stand still and listen politely, would nervously clench and unclench his fists. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 487

Categorization

• DEFINE: Caro physically embodies the two men’s characters through gait, stride, and crowd behavior — showing rather than telling their political temperaments.
• XREF: connects to: Moses and Smith grew up in opposite social worlds — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 495

Broader Connections

• Moses and Smith grew up in opposite social worlds #expands (0.85) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 495