Character Analysis
Just who is this Dr. Tamkin, really?
Is he a medical doctor? A psychiatrist? A psychologist? A scam artist who bought his credentials from a shady degree mill? An accomplished businessman? A philosopher of the human soul? A tinker, a tailor, a candlestick maker? Unfortunately for Tommy Wilhelm, no one seems to know for sure.
Tamkin's clothes and physical appearance don't give much away, and Wilhelm just can't figure him out. He reckons:
A man of fifty has supported himself for at least thirty years. You could be sure that Tamkin had never worked in a factory or office. How did he make it? His taste in clothes was horrible, but he didn't buy cheap things. He wore corduroy or velvet shirts from Clyde's, painted neckties, striped socks. There was a slightly acid or pasty smell about his person; for a doctor, he didn't bathe much. (5.36)
So Tamkin is a tacky dresser and he smells. What else do we know about the mysterious Dr. T?
Wilhelm's father, Dr. Adler, suspects that Tamkin bought his degree "from a Los Angeles correspondence school" (2.84). Remember: this is way before distance learning was a thing, so knowing that a man custom-ordered his credentials through the mail wouldn't exactly inspire confidence.
As Dr. Adler says, Tamkin is the kind of guy who "gives the impression of knowing something about chemistry, and things like hypnotism" (2.84). In fact, he's the kind of guy who gives the impression of knowing something about a lot of things, like father-son relationships, English poetry, and, oh yeah: the lard market.
Whenever Wilhelm spends time with Tamkin, he has the infuriating suspicion that Tamkin just makes stuff up as he goes along. On top of that, Tamkin seems to love one-upmanship too. If Wilhelm complains about his relationship with his father, Tamkin will tell him about a family with even more exciting troubles. If Wilhelm complains about his relationship with his wife, Tamkin will tell stories about his own wife—a woman Wilhelm doesn't really believe in at all:
Liar! Wilhelm inwardly called him. Nasty lies. He invented a woman and killed her off and then called himself a healer, and made himself so earnest he looked like a bad-natured sheep. He's a puffed-up little bogus and humbug with smelly feet. A doctor! A doctor would wash himself. He believes he's making a terrific impression, and he practically invites you to take off your hat when he talks about himself; and he thinks he has an imagination, but he hasn't, neither is he smart. (6.34)
Shmoopers, if all that your friends and business associates can think to say of you is that you're a velvet-wearing, puffed-up little humbug with smelly feet, you ain't got it so good.
Then again, as much as Wilhelm despises Tamkin in his moments of rage and anxiety, he also finds Tamkin's charm and conversation irresistible. After all, Tamkin is the only person in Wilhelm's life who likes to talk about the deeper things, like the human soul and the endless injustice of the world. And somehow—weirdly, wondrously, totally inexplicably—Tamkin inspires confidence too. When it comes right down to it, Tamkin's positive attitude and self-assurance always make Wilhelm feel that things might turn out well after all.
Tamkin is a swindler for sure, but he's also the one man in the world who shows Wilhelm some pity and sympathizes with his troubles, and lets Wilhelm feel like his own failures and shortcomings aren't all that different from anyone else's. Sure, he loses all of Wilhelm's money by investing it in lard, then disappears faster than you can say Rachmaninoff. You win some, you lose some, amirite?