Gimple The Fool Essay, Research Paper
Is Gimpel a Fool? In Gimpel the Fool, the main character, Gimpel, developed into a very strong person mainly because of the way people treated him. He begins as a strong person, but grows stronger and stronger as his life continues. Everybody in Gimpel s town thinks he is a gullible fool, but they re the fools. When people tell him outrageous things, he doesn t always believe them. What he does believe is that nothing is impossible. When they tell him things that seem false, he thinks they are lies but he acts like he believes anyway. It s like he s trying to keep them entertained or happy. It s like they are all children and he s the parent trying to keep them satisfied. When the townspeople try to get Gimpel to marry a whore, he figures that it couldn t hurt to marry her. He probably thought he would have a good connection since she was an orphan also. When she cheats on him, he tries to convince himself that she is a good person and would not do such a thing. It shows that he tries to see the good in all the people, even the bad ones. He also made a commitment to this woman for his life, and even when she cheats repeatedly, he sticks with her. He loves her for her good and not her flaws. When Elka had her children, Gimpel loves them like his own. He knows that they are not his, obviously, but he doesn t let that child grow up without love. He probably knows what it s like to not be loved because he is an orphan. He doesn t want that child to go through the pains he went through just because his mother wasn t perfect. He is an extremely strong person for not hating this child or neglecting it. Most people would hate the child knowing it was not theirs, but Gimpel is different. He has compassion for all people, and it doesn t matter how others perceive them. When Gimpel urinates in the bread, and then he buries is because of self-guilt, he shows strong conscience. This is a good thing. Not everyone has a conscience at all, and Gimpel has a tremendous one. This shows no matter what people do to Gimpel that he has no revenge-type doings. He does consider it, but he doesn t go through with it. This is also true with his so-called children. He could try to get revenge by just leaving them and walking out, but he doesn t. He leaves, but he does leave them money. Gimpel also begins off in the beginning of the story as a baker. People come in and make fun of him every day, but he stays there and doesn t quit. Later in the story it says that he owns his own bakery. People also think of him as a rich man at that time. This shows how strong he had to be to put up year by year with people constantly coming in and teasing him. Gimpel is also a big guy and he had a lot of self-control to not just smack somebody after they said something sarcastic or stupid to him. This shows how strong Gimpel grew throughout his years.