Bernard1 Essay, Research Paper
I. Bernard Malamud
Bernard Malamud (1914-1986) was born in Brooklyn, New York. From 1932 to 1936 he studied at the City
College of New
York, where he received his bachelor’s degree. From 1937 to 1938 he was a student at the Columbia
University. In 1942 he
received his Master’s degree.
From 1940 to 1948 he taught evening classes at the Erasmus High School, the same High School he went to
from 1928 to
1932. In 1943 his first two short stories were published in Threshold and American Preface. He began to teach
evening classes
at Harlem Evening High School in 1848, before he started to teach at the Oregon State College, Corvallis,
Oregon in 1949.
1950 was a highly successful year for Bernard Malamud. His stories appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, Partisan
Review and
Commentary. His first novel The Natural was published in 1952. Although this first novel is a fantasy about a
start baseball
player, most of his following writings are concerned with Jewish themes and reflect the sad, impoverish
Brooklyn scenes of his
own childhood. His second novel The Fixer (1966), which earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1967 is about the
suffering of a
Russian Jewish workman sentenced unjustly to prison. Thus it is an allegory of the Holocaust. The Tenants
(1971) deals with
inner-city tension and demonstrates how human beings can come to an affirmative life through suffering. His
last two novels are
Dublin’s Lives (1979) and God’s Grace (1982). But Malamud isn’t only famous for his novels. His short stories,
which mix his
compassion for Jewish life with subtle touches of wry humor, have earned him quite a lot of credit, too. These
short stories have
been collected in The Magic Barrel (1958), for which he received a National Book Award, Idiots First (1963)
and Rembrant’s
Hat (1971). He has also written a series of rather satirical stories about an rather unsuccessful Jewish artist,
Fidelman, which
were published in 1969. Today, Malamud is widely regarded as a leader of the post-World War II Jewish literary
renaissance.
Although most of his stories are about Jews, he is less concerned with being Jewish as with being human. Most
of his stories
are about individuals struggling to survive and these people are mostly symbolized by poor Jews. 1
His writing is influenced by existentialism. “For the existentialists neither universal systems of moral order nor
the influence of
society and social custom can provide meaning for an individual’s life; each person must find meaning himself.”
(Hershinow 13)
But this can only be achieved through love and compassion, not through reason. “As a writer influenced by
existentialism,
Malamud demonstrates an implicit respect for self. His protagonists characteristically transcend the disorder
that surrounds
them, finding meaning in the power of love and moral commitment.” (Hershinow 13) As many of his short
stories, “The Magic
Barrel” deals with this problem, too.
II. “The Magic Barrel”
II.1. Technical description
Although Malamud has written quite a lot of short stories, by many “The Magic Barrel” (1952) is considered to
be his
master-piece.
“The Magic Barrel” is written from a third person’s view. This narrator isn’t part of the story himself, nor do you
have the
feeling, that he knows more than the characters do. He never addresses the reader directly, so I think that it is
fair to say, that
we are dealing with a traditional narrator. But from the third part on, you get the feeling that the story is now
being written out
Leo point of view. Maybe its just the sympathy the writer has for Leo, but from that point on, only Leo emotions
and reactions
are described.
The story itself is subdivided into five, chronologically ordered parts. The time covered in each part ranges from
a few days
(part one) to several weeks (part three). The first part of “The Magic Barrel” takes place in February. (”Although
it was still
February, winter was on its last legs,…” (p.2541)). The last date given is March (”March came”(p.2548)). The
rest of the story
covers one or two weeks, but you can’t be absolutely sure about this, because no more exact dates are given.
The last scene
takes place in a spring night, so it might already be April. Nevertheless, it is obvious, that the story covers the
time from the end
of winter to the beginning of spring. This changing of the seasons is a very important symbol in “The Magic
Barrel”, because not
only nature finally awakes, but the same goes for Leo Finkle. The change he undergoes during these month will
be analyzed
more closely during the cause of this paper.
II.2 The story
“The Magic Barrel” is the story of the young rabbinical student Leo Finkle who tries to find himself a wife, but
because he can’t
one for himself, he answers an ad in the Forward2, for a marriage broker, Pinye Salzman (”commercial cupid”).
This marriage
broker shows him pictures of more or less suitable women, but when he finally meets one, it end in disaster.
Despite the fact
that Finkle doesn’t want to see Salzman anymore after this, Salzman leaves an envelope with pictures on Leo’s
table and
although he doesn’t want to open it, after about one month he can’t resist and starts to examine the photos.
One of these photos
grabs his attention, but Salzman refuses to introduce her to him. First of all, she is his daughter, Stella, and
second, “she is a wild
one – wild, without shame. This is not a bride for a rabbi.” (Barrel 2551) But in the end, Salzman gives in and in
the last scene,
Leo and Stella finally meet. The whole story covers about one and a half month in the life of Leo Finkle.
But lets start at the beginning. The first sentence does not only describe the setting and the main character,
Leo Finkle, but it
also introduces the main topic and tone. “Not long ago, there lived in uptown New York, in a small, almost
meager room,
though crowded with Books, Leo Finkle, a rabbinical student in the Yeshiva University.” It is obvious, that this is
a variation on
“Once upon an time…”.
But who is this Leo Finkle? After six years of studying at the Yeshiva University3 in New York, he is going to be
ordained in
June. He has spent most of these years for his studies. Actually, as Sandy Cohen puts it, “he has sacrificed too
much of life for
his studies” (Cohen 89). His eyes have become “heavy with learning” (Barrel 2542) and for these six years, he
has led an
ascetic life, with almost no social contacts, except for his parents (Barrel 2541). Leo is not the typical
rabbinical student. He
even seems to question why he has become one. He doesn’t consider himself to be a talented religious person
and he says that
he came to God not because he loved him, but because he did not love him. He may have been interested
passionately in
Jewish law since childhood, nonetheless, he is godless. “Finkle knows the word but not the spirit” (Richmann
119).
But why does he actually call in the marriage broker. At first it is not because he is desperately looking for love,
but because he
“had been advised by an acquaintance that he might find it easier to win himself a congregation if he were
married” (Barrel
2541). This is definitely not the most romantic reason for looking for a wife. Maybe therefore he keeps this
reason for himself
and he doesn’t even tell Salzman about it. Nevertheless, Salzman senses “a sort of apology” (Barrel 2541) when
Finkle tell him
his reasons for calling in his help and later on in the text, after Salzman has shown him his last picture, Leo
says: “But don’t you
think this girl believes in love?” (Barrel 2543) The real reason for finding a wife is just mentioned once, but it
plays an important
role, because you have to keep in mind, that until he has met the first prospect, this is his main motivation. As
Sheldon J.
Hershinow says: “A fear of life and love, not a pious sense of tradition has led Leo to the old matchmaker”
(Hershinow 130). It
is not until the disaster with the first prospect that “he gradually realized – with an emptiness that seized him
with six hands – that
he had called in the marriage broker to find a wife, because he was incapable of doing it himself” (Barrel 2547).
This point
definitely marks the most tragic moment in the story, because he realizes, what he truly is: “unloved and
loveless” (Barrel 2547).
He couldn’t love God, because he couldn’t love man.
The marriage broker, Pine Salzmann, is an interesting character, too. Smelling of his favorite food, fish, and
wearing an old hat
and an overcoat that doesn’t really fit him, “he appeared one night out of the dark fourth-floor hallway of the
graystone rooming
house where Finkle lived…” (Barrel 2541). This first appearance makes him look like a mystic person, maybe
sent by god, but
the rather comic description Malamud gives of him levels this out completely. Especially his eyes seem to be
very remarkable.
Although Finkle doesn’t really approve the rest of Salzman’s outer appearance, his “mild blue eyes … put Leo a
little at ease”
(Barrel 2541).
It is interesting to see, that all the appearances Salzman makes are unexpected. The times he comes to Finkle’s
room, he
appears out of nowhere, once they meet unexpectedly in a cafeteria and even when Finkle comes to his office to
see him,
Salzman isn’t there, but when Finkle returns home, Salzman is already waiting there for him. He always
appears when Leo
needs him and he seems to have almost magical powers. He travels “as if on the wings of the wind” (Barrel
2548) and his wife
says that his office is “in the air” (Barrel 2550). So I would agree with Kathleen G. Osbourn who says that he
might be an
angle. Of course, these descriptions are part of the whole comic tone of the story, as it is already apparent in
the first,
“fairy-taleish” sentence.
For years, he hasn’t been proud of his job anymore, but “later, however, he experienced a glow of pride in his
work” (Barrel
2541). In the same sentence it is said that he “heartily approved of Finkle. “It is hard to tell when he approved
of Finkle and
when his pride returned, but from their second meeting on, their relationship begins to grow, so this could be
the moment.
The second impression you get from Salzman is that of a typical salesman. After he has carefully selected six
women out of his
“much-handled card” (Barrel 2541), he tries to “sell” them like you would expect from somebody who sells used
cars and
Salzman’s “high-pressure sales techniques” (Hershinow 129) are quite comical. Once, he doesn’t tell Leo about
a lame leg and
another time he gives Leo a wrong age and he only tells him about the good sides of marrying that particular
woman. These
good sides are interesting, too. The money the father promises, a new dodge car, being “well-Americanized”, the
languages
they speak etc. They are all “wonderful opportunity(s)” (Barrel 2542). But Leo isn’t really impressed at all. Yet,
in the end,
Salzman manages to talk Leo into meeting the High school teacher Lily H. As I have already said, this meeting
ends in a
complete disaster.
Salzman’s language is also worth a notion. Malamud makes extensive use of Yiddish speech rhythms, by which
he creates
Salzman’s own colloquial style.4This special kind of language add up to the already quite comical appearance
of Pinye
Salzman.
On one hand, you could say that Salzman tries to sell these women like a normal product, but on they other
hand, you could
say that he tries to make them better than they are, because that’s really what he sees in people: just the good
things. The
narrator says that Salzman looked, “as if he had steadfastly waited that week at Miss Lily Hischorn’s side for a
telephone call
that never came” (Barrel 2547). Of course you can’t be sure about this, but I wouldn’t say that it is impossible,
because
Salzman’s relationship with his clients seems to be a very close one. Maybe that’s why he is so shocked when
the meeting with
Lily end in a fiasco. This shock is made transparent through the physical state Salzman is in. “A skeleton with
haunted eyes”,
looking with “the picture of frustrated expectancy” and “casually coughing” (Barrel 2547). His health seems to
be closely
connected to the success he has and this must mean that he is very taken up with his job, because otherwise it
wouldn’t affect
him in this way.
When Leo and Salzman first meet, it is apparent, that Leo feels very uncomfortable. Leo doesn’t offer Salzman
anything to
drink or eat, as you could have expected5 and it seems as if Leo gets more and more irritated during this first
meeting with
Salzman. Food seems to be the main motif that illustrates the relationship between the two main characters.
The second time
Salzman comes, he asks for “a sliced tomato” because, as he says, he must come back to his strength (Barrel
2544). But Leo
can’t give him one. After finishing his meal, Salzman ask for a cup of tea that Leo brewed “conscience-stricken”
(Barrel 2544)
and it is not after drinking this tea, “served with a chunk of lemon and two cubes of lump sugar, delighting
Salzman” (Barrel
2546) that the marriage broker’s “strength and good spirits were restored”. Salzman has provoked Leo to show
some warmth
and hospitality. The last time Salzman and Leo meet in Leo’s apartment, Leo fixes tea and a sardine sandwich
for Salzman
(Barrel 2550) without Salzman even asking for it. By this motif, Malamud shows that the relationship between
the two men has
steadily grown.
This is not the only time Salzman’s health is put to a test. Salzman left an envelope of pictures after he visited
Leo subsequent to
the fiasco with Lily Hirschorn. Leo refuses to open it, but after about one month, he can’t resist. “With a sudden
relentless
gesture he tore it open.” (Barrel 2549) Leo had made “plans for a more active social life” (Barrel 2548), but
either he didn’t put
his plans into action or they didn’t work out the way he wanted. “The days went by and no social life to speak of
developed
with a member of the opposite sex…” (Barrel 2548). Leo told Salzman that he wasn’t interested in an arranged
marriage
anymore and wanted to find love for himself.
Why then did he open the envelope? Perhaps he wasn’t so sure about what he had said anymore, or maybe he
discovered that
he wasn’t able to find love for himself, or perhaps he remembered Salzman’s words: “If you want love, this I can
find for you
also” (Barrel 2548). Whatever it was, the manila packet must have been prepared by Salzman in advance. I
guess that he
already sensed what would happen. Why else would he have prepared this special envelope. This would
consolidate the
possibility to see Salzman as a kind of guardian angle. Whatever his reason may have been, at first he is
disappointed about the
six photographs he finds in the envelope. To Leo all the women look like being “past their prime, all starved
behind bright
smiles, not a true personality in the lot. Life … had passed them by” (Barrel 2549) and that’s exactly what Leo
isn’t looking for.
He tries not to let life pass him by. That’s why he puts the pictures back into the envelope, just to discover
another picture in it.
It’s the picture of Salzman’s daughter, Stella, but Leo doesn’t know that yet. It is the picture of a girl “whose
face reflects youth
and age, a face that seems familiar to him” (Ochshorn 92). He is deeply moved by it. Especially they eyes have
a remarkable
effect on him. This is not the first time that eyes are mentioned in the story. When Leo meets Salzman’s wife,
her eyes will look
familiar to him, too. In the last part of the story, Leo will see, that Stella’s eyes are “clearly her father’s”(Barrel
2552).
Stella has, at least in Leo’s imagination, everything he is looking for. It isn’t her beauty, which isn’t
extraordinary, but “it was
something about her…” (Barrel 2549). Leo has the feeling that she had lived, “maybe regretted how she had