Daniel is a young man who is retarded or mentally handicapped. Since he was a teenager he has been obsessed with New York and its skyline. He dreams of living in a top level apartment because the skyscraper is what he admires the most about New York. Recently he assaulted a young girl. He was curious, and wanted to see her naked. Nothing happened, thought, because the girl resisted. But he was convicted and is now at a center where doctors examine him to find out if is it recommendable to let him live in a normal neighborhood.
             His mother visits him at the center. She is very concerned and has a hard time discussing the situation with Daniel. It is very shameful for Daniel to talk about the girl so instead he escapes into his fantasy world. After the visit Daniels mother is sitting in Daniels room in her house and has just received a letter from Daniels father who is in New York. She knows that everything he writes is fiction, and she wonders if our lives actually are controlled by our imagination.
             The main themes in the story is normality and escaping reality. I think most people have tried not wanting to accept the truth. But Daniel is not like most people, we are never told what exactly he is suffering from, but I assume he is mentally handicapped and psychotically paranoid. He has delusions and it is difficult for him to see the difference between the real world and his fantasies. Even though he is psychically grown up he isn't mentally matured. Since he was a teenager he has had an obsession with New York. But it is not New York as a city as such which is his obsession, it is the skyscrapers. Whenever reality hurts too much he imagines himself living in the top of a skyscraper. He thinks that when he is on top of a skyscraper, people in the city looks like ants. They are very small and they are not able to hurt him. I don't think he really wants to be a part of society, he
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