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. 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.
Approximate Word count = 4627
Approximate Pages = 18.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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