Devin Harkins I didn’t realize how complex The Magic Barrel really was until we had a class discussion on it. When I first read the story I just thought it was a comical play on the Old World ideas of dating in the New World. Once we went more in depth with the discussion and I reread it on my own, I noticed a couple things that really jumped from the page. It was interesting that the author set it up as a fairytale love story. I would say that Leo was cast as the lost hero, looking for someone or something to complete him. Salzman most resembled a ‘fairy-god-father-like’ character, one who specialized in love/matchmaking. Stella seemed to play the ‘damsel in distress’ and Leo had to ‘save’ her in some way. At the beginning of the story Leo seemed very focus on his studies and hopes to be a Rabbi. He also wished to get married because it was the practical thing to do at his age and he wanted to be looked up to by the community and in order to accomplish that he needed a respectful woman to help him. As the story went on Leo slowly migrated farther and farther from his religious calling and realized that being a Rabbi was not something he really wanted for himself. He winced and corrected everyone who did call him a Rabbi, which is an obvious sign that he was not pleased to think of himself that way. Leo became so lost after his first date Salzman set up that he became physically ill. Slazman didn’t even recognize him when they bumped into each other later in the story because Leo has lost weight, had sunken eyes, and even cut his beard. Salzman was captured as this Old World idea tying to succeed in the New World. Matchmaking worked in the Old World because all marriages were arranged by the parents and it was looked upon as an honor. Although in the 1950’s in America this idea of arranged married was slowly becoming extinct and so was Salzman’s career. Even though Salzman lied and schemed behind Leo’s back, it was only to get Leo to see that the girls were worth meeting and shouldn’t have been written off as quickly as Leo did. Once Leo saw Stella’s photograph it was like love at first sight. He felt compelled for some unknown reason to get in contact with her at any cost. Salzman said she was unfit for Leo and that she was a lost soul. Leo responded by saying that he could help her and ‘save’ her as if she was a damsel in distress. He didn’t list to Salzman and insisted that they meet because his love or want to meet Stella was so strong. With the end of the story I feel that the author lets the reader take the ‘happily ever after’ into their own hands and make each individuals own spin on the ending.
I had the same reaction that Devin had. At first I just thought it was just Old World adjusting to New World. When I first read the story, I guess because it was written in the 50’s, fairy tale did not pop up to my attention. After the class discussion I realize that this was some sort of a real life fairy tale but I don’t see Leo as the hero but that he also is in distress. To me the fairy tale is Leo being the lost “prince” in the search of love and himself, Salzman the fairy godfather/matchmaker who helps his godchild find himself by throwing at him obstacles to teach him a lesson and go towards what he really wants, Stella the lost “soon to princess”, and the happily ever after – both finding one another to go forward in finding their identity and adjusting to the New World. They both needed each other and are the perfect match, that’s why I believe that the other highly qualified females that Salzman introduced Leo to did not capture his attention. But on the hunt of finding his princess, he was finding himself – accepting that Rabbi was not for him. Towards the end, the story did say that he looked different – “with wisdom in his eyes”. I believe that the wisdom in his eyes did not come from his studies as a Rabbi but coming closer to know what he wants in life. The story also introduce how marriage is now changing from just partnership to searching one to love.
I like how you actually set the characters into their fair-tale love story place. I agree that Leo is the "lost prince" type character looking to fill a void in his life. At first I think he tries to fill it with religion because he says he got into it not because of his love for god but his lack of love for god. He soon decided that religion is not the thing he is looking for to fill that missing puzzle piece. He instead decides it is love. The matchmaking doesn't go so well for him until Salzman's daughter. He needs spontaneity. Salzman acts as his fairy godfather and sets him up with what he needs to find love, and even he benefits because he is somewhat reconnected with his daughter. I like what you said about how Leo thinks he can "save her" when in fact she is saving him. She shows him how to live and that maybe religion is not always the answer. I like what you said about how the author lets the reader decide if it’s happily ever after. I did not think of it that way at first but now I think the same.
I agree with the fact that there is much underneath the surface to try to understand in this story and it completely changes what someone believes this story is about. On the surface yes, it just seemed like a story trying to show the difference between old world dating and new world dating but when I dug deeper I was overwhelmed with the feeling that this a story about having a crisis of identity and the struggle to find out what that identity is. Leo at first thinks his life is meant for religion, so he is studying to become a rabbi until he realizes he needs a wife to be a have a successful congregation. But while Leo is in search of this wife, everything he did from that point on made him feel that he was doing the wrong thing with his life and really all he wants is a romantic love with the woman he marries. And I feel as though the “unknown” reason why Leo was compelled so strongly to meet Salzman’s daughter, Stella, is that in her eyes and face Leo can see that she doesn’t know her identity just as much as he doesn’t. That in itself causes Leo to fall in love with Stella at first sight of her photograph.
Erika Halburian I really enjoyed the magic barrel because I liked how Leo Finkle changed completely by the end of the story. “Finkle, after six years of studying, was to be ordained in June and had been advised by an acquaintance that he might find it easier to win himself a congregation if he were married” (273). Leo was looking for a wife to improve his image not looking for love. One of the elements that made this story so great was that within a few pages Leo was a completely different man. He fell in love with Salzman’s daughter while also finding himself at the same time. Leo fell in love with an atypical girl for a rabbi to marry. Stella smoked and wore red shoes, which were typically worn by prostitutes or promiscuous women. By going on a date with Lilly, Leo realized why he truly studied to become a rabbi, “that I came to God not because I loved Him, but because I did not” (279). By the end of the story Leo Finkle was in love with Stella and his beard was cut leading the readers to believe he is now reformed. It was interesting how the mystical matchmaker helped Leo find his true love that turned out to be the matchmaker’s own daughter. The story mixed different elements together that helped make it so great. The storybook feel to the story told the reader that it was magical hence the title “The Magic Barrel”. The story line has one that relates to many well know love stories. Leo saw Stella’s picture and instantly was enamored by her. He wasn’t looking for love but it seemed fate had brought them together. The sales man played the magical role because the author gave him subtle mystical qualities. “The marriage broker appeared haggard, and transparent to the point of vanishing”(283). Lastly, I liked how Leo’s changes throughout the story also signified the changes within the Jewish religion/culture. Matchmakers used to be the way Jewish men and women would meet. In Leo’s time the reasoning for the matchmakers to look haggard was because he was no longer needed by the new generation. Most of the girls in Salzman’s inventory were given to him by their parents, the older generation. It’s interesting how today matchmakers a making a comeback. Today we have Internet matchmaking sites and there are even reality TV shows with matchmakers setting people up. The story also portrayed how the culture was changing because Jewish couples began marrying for love instead of marrying for a partnership.
I agree, I really liked how Leo was able to grow through the course of the story. Although he was looking for a wife for the wrong reasons, he ends up picking a woman for the right reasons. The matchmaker even tells Leo that on paper all the women he has found would be perfect, but Leo goes for the complete opposite. I also agree that the storybook feel was good and that the reader can draw connections from fairy tales to this story. This story also draws upon history of the Jewish culture, with a young scholar studying to be a rabbi and the matchmaker setting up people. There is also that theme of divide between Jewish parents and their children. Stella rebels against her father and the kind of old way of life, which in turn angers Salzman. In a sense at the end Leo too kind of rebels against the old customs when he goes on the date with Stella. Instead of finding a woman to fit his needs, he finds one for love. Finally I thought the point that you made about matchmakers making a come back was really interesting. You are completely right with the online dating sites and television shows the media in a way has taken over the role as matchmaker for many people in our society. I liked this story and hope things work out with Stella and Leo, but if not I am sure Salzman has more women in his magic barrel.
Chynna Humphrey I found “The Magic Barrel” to be one of the more interesting reads that we have been assigned thus far in this class. I’d have to agree with Devin in that I didn’t truly comprehend how complex the story is until we discussed it in class. My first time reading through it, I simply thought it was a funny little story about a man struggling with finding a woman and keeping up with his rabbi studies. However, after further discussion in class and rereading it, I have found that the author brilliantly creates this fairytale-type love story about a Jewish man internally struggling with old world versus new world definitions of love. In doing so, Leo questions the path he has chosen to take in life because in his quest to find a wife, he begins to question his religiousness and devotion to God. Lily, the first woman that Salzman sets Leo up on a date with is intrigued by Leo’s aspirations of becoming a rabbi. Out of curiosity, she asks what inspired him to become a priest and when he became enamored of God. "‘I am not,’ he said gravely, ‘a talented religious person,’ and in seeking words to go on, found himself possessed by shame and fear. ‘I think,’ he said in a strained manner, ‘that I came to God not because I loved Him, but because I did not’"(Malamud 279). In this moment, we see for the first time Leo have a self-revelation. Maybe he isn’t who he thought he was for all those years he spent studying to be a rabbi. All throughout the story Leo struggles with this issue of identity and finding himself, which is a common theme found in Jewish-American literature. At the start of the story the reader can see that his studies of God have not helped him to find love for a woman or God Himself. “The true nature of his relationship to God, and from that it had come upon him, with shocking force, that apart from his parents, he had never loved anyone.” (Malamud 297) Yet, once he comes to realize his emptiness and heartlessness, he is able to realize that maybe love isn’t actually what he thinks it is. In old Jewish culture, men pay matchmakers to choose their wives for them because their definition of love was to be comfortable and feel safe. Romantic and intellectual love was not important; thus, matchmaking was the more appropriate choice over dating. It is when Leo comes to this realization that he finds happiness in a woman. Though Salzman is perplexed as to why he would go on a date with his daughter whom he believed to be socially unfit for marrying a rabbi, it is through falling for Stella by looking at her picture that Leo finds true love.
Danielle Kaufman I agree with Chynna when she says that the complexity of story wasn’t apparent to her until we went over it in class. When first reading the story, I didn’t really think much about the hidden themes in the story. However, I still found it to be interesting and funny. I also saw a lot of similarities between “The Magic Barrel” and “Fiddler on the Roof”. Both stories had that same light hearted sense of humor. I didn’t fully enjoy the story until we discussed it in class and I read it for a second time. The discussion in class made me realize the hidden struggles that Leo was really facing. This story was so much more than a man trying to find a wife. I viewed it as a coming of age story. Through the process of finding a wife and hiring a matchmaker, Leo found himself. His struggle between old world traditions and new world traditions unraveled as he sought out a companion. Through this process, he also discovered his lack of passion for his soon to be career as a rabbi. I think his revelations are inspiring because it takes a lot of bravery for one to go against many years of tradition. Leo’s internal struggle is a story that only gets better by each read.
James Beyers I really enjoyed reading “The Magic Barrel” by Bernard Malamud. There were very romantic themes to the story- that of love and redemption; that made it a very soothing read. A very interesting read about a Rabbi, Leo Finkel, who hires a matchmaker because he is too busy that he is unable to take the time to meet with woman that he could court. The major theme of the story is identity crisis. In the beginning of the story it is clear that Leo is looking for a woman to raise his potential for more social gratification, not for love; ultimately dooming him from creating any legitimate relationship with a female. As we read on it becomes more and more evident of the identity crisis that is present. It is especially evident when he is on his date with Lillly and says, ““that I came to God not because I loved Him, but because I did not” (279). This moment of realization is the most climatic event to take place throughout the story. Upon this enlightenment, Leo begins to find his true identity and embarks on his path to find his true love. Bernard Malamud uses great lyrical imagery throughout the story. This use of imagery creates a very intimate atmosphere for the reader and helps us sympathize with Leo as we read on; as almost as if we were there in the story with him. When he sees the picture of Stella, whom we soon find is Salzman’s daughter; he describes her with such a profound use of imagery."Her face deeply moved him. Why, he could at first not say. It gave him the impression of youth - spring flowers, yet age - a sense of having been used to the bone, wasted; this came from the eyes, which were hauntingly familiar, yet absolutely strange ... she leaped forth to his heart - had *lived,* or wanted to ... it could be seen in the depths of those reluctant eyes, and from the way the light enclosed and shone from her, and within her, opening realms of possibility: this was her own. Her he desired." After reading this description of Stella, it is evident that Leo is absolutely in love with her, and it really creates a passionate intimacy with the reader to want to see them together. Through the end of the story we finally see Leo find his true identity, and I believe this could be interpreted as a metaphor for the Jewish community trying to find their identity amidst society.
I agree that the main theme of the piece is finding one's identity. Throughout the piece, Leo is grappling with his system of beliefs, and the societal constructions that keep it in place. It is not easy to shift from one set of truths to another. In another class I am taking, we're reading a book called Being Wrong by Kathryn Shultz. In it, she says that we are often between jobs, houses, lovers but never between beliefs. Beliefs are such an essential part of who we are, and in Leo's case, if he changes his beliefs, he is no longer a member of the community which has supported him for his whole life. I think this is why Salzman chants prayers for the dead when his daughter and Leo meet for the first time. They are dead to the old world, and born into a new life they have to figure out together.
I also agree that Leo's attitude towards the matchmaking process is biased by his motives. He doesn't really want the matchmaking to work, so it fails. I don't even think Salzman talked him up that much to Lily. It is not uncommon to ask someone who is pursuing a line of work that is such a commitment to a belief how they came to this passion. When someone meets a teacher working with Teachers Without Borders, it would be only natural to ask them where their passion for the developing world came about.
The Magic Barrel did come across as comical to me, as many people didn’t think so in class. I found Salzman to be quite the comical figure, making the note that he would definitely marry a widow if he had the chance. The sarcastic little comments throughout the story made it very enjoyable to read. I could easily see how Salzman resembled a Pan – like character, almost like a fairy godfather to Leo Finkle. It was easier to understand, though, after our discussion in class. I first thought that it was just a match making story, but a love story. Usually in a love story, a character takes on sort of a transformation, and you could easily see that through Leo Finkle throughout the story. He began as a man lost in his studies, looking for a wife only as a means to build a solid congregation once he became a rabbi. But as the story goes on, he struggles with himself, even reaches a point when he goes on his date with Lily that he doesn’t even really know how he found himself studying to become a rabbi. This lost of identity for Leo really made him second guess why he started looking for a wife to begin with. Finally he admits to Salman “the necessity of premarital love. That is, [he] want[ed] to be in love with the one [he] marries.” This is a turning point for Leo who hadn’t thought twice about love being a factor in his marriage. I think that at the end, when Leo thinks that Salzman had made this is plan all along, that Salzman had actually intended to test his reasons. I think that Salzman played his cards like he did and is infact a genius matchmaker by getting Leo to realize he should be marrying for love- and once he proved that passion for Stella, that was when Salzman finally agree for the two to meet. I also like that there were more ties to Judaism in the story- like the fact that Salzman would be eating white fish all the time, or that his beard was pointed at the end, in almost a rebellious sort of way. I found it funny (don’t know if it was meant to be funny or not) but in one part of the story it said “Out of this however, he drew the consolation that he was a Jew and that a Jew suffered” because it’s so true that they Jews all share the common suffrage among each other and they can joke about it.
Ginny Renas In response to Kyndall’s reaction to Salzman’s plan, I definitely felt that Salzman eventually had overall intentions of setting Leo and his daughter up together. However, I don’t think this was his objective from the very beginning of the story. Salzman realized after first meeting Leo that he did not have the typical ideals of the average man who came to him to find a “love” match. The matchmaker rambled off amounts of money, cars, important careers within the family, and so on, in hopes of impressing Leo. I don’t believe there is a specific point when Salzman takes a special liking to Leo, but I believe it is through his pure intentions and authentic nature that sparks a thought of connection to Leo and his daughter. You could certainly argue that Salzman had intended to make this match between Leo and his daughter all along; however, I believe the way Salzman first approached Leo with potential matches was very realistic to the time. I think in most cases Salzman was able to “sell” a match as apposed to creating an actual love connection, like the one he made with Leo. Overall, I would have to say this story was my favorite so far.
Alex Dishman I’d have to agree with everyone that has posted so far in that this was definitely one of the most interesting reads we have been assigned at this point in time. I think that Malamud is a very talented writer and he really portrays the themes of the Jewish American culture well. James brought up a really valid point that a theme of this story is identity crisis. The way that Malamud describes Leo’s feelings shows his inner struggle in trying to find who he is. On a deeper level, I think Leo’s identity crisis is representative of the Jewish culture as a whole, because Jews are constantly in a struggle of deciding whether to acculturate or assimilate with American culture. Leo is constantly at battle with himself over whether or not he wants to truly be a rabbi and what he wants from life and from Salzman, just as the Jewish race is at battle with themselves (in a sense). I think that Malamud uses Leo’s struggles as a way to represent a lot of the struggles of the Jewish people and a lot of the stereotypes of the Jewish people. For instance, I think that the fact that Leo wants to actually be in love rather than have an arranged marriage represents how the Jews wanted to break apart and try new things now that they were in a different location. I think that Lily represented there past country while Stella represented the hopefulness of the future. Lily was a typical woman who any Jewish man would be happy to marry, but yet Stella was a taboo woman who was basically a walking sin. The fact that Leo was attracted to Stella and Lily made him reconsider his life shows how much the Jews wanted to expand their culture and change their way of life. I also think that he represented some stereotypes of the Jewish people well in his story. For example, as we mentioned in class, the role of the matchmaker is a stereotypical character and the fact that the story revolved around a stereotypical Jewish business (matchmaking) just adds to this representation. I also really admired how Malamud used the fairy tale genre in a subtle way. Rather than writing a typical cliché fairy tale, he used it in an untraditional way. For instance, Salzman represents the trickster character that all fairy tales have; the one who possesses both helpful yet deceiving qualities but he used a Jewish stereotype (a matchmaker) to portray this. He sets up this magical story with magical parts (a barrel) and a love story theme just as most fairy tales have. Malamud’s use of the fairy tale was another way he represented the struggle of the Jewish people whether to acculturate or assimilate; by using a genre that most Jewish authors didn’t use, he was going against the Jewish tradition and trying to start something new, as most Jews were trying to do.
Kayleigh Koskan The Magic Barrel was an interesting story to me because it was very different from the other short stories we have read. I liked that it had more of a fairytale basis to it with how it involved magic and a prince falls in love with the estranged girl kind of ending. It was very interesting how at the beginning of the story Leo was searching for a wife because it would look good and then at the end he realized that he actually wanted the love aspect of a relationship and he did not need someone to find it for him even though Salzman in a way did find the girl for him even though it was on accident. It sort of played out like fate. He magically came upon a picture of the girl he knew he was to fall in love with. Going through this story a few things stuck out to me. For one I feel like Salzman was supposed to play the role of Leo’s conscious. It seemed as though Salzman was offering these women to Leo, making sure he would react the way he did so that what was meant to be would fall into place in the end. Throughout his conversations with Salzman and having been set up with Lily Leo Finkle was able to realize that he did not actually want to be a Rabbi. He realized that what he was missing in his life was love and the only reason he had been studying to become a Rabbi was because he did not feel love for God nor did he feel loved so he thought that maybe becoming a Rabbi would change that. What Leo really needed was a woman to love him; someone to talk to him. Another thing that stuck out to me which I found weird was the tone of both Leo and Salzmans’ character. Salzman had an odd way of speaking, like he was from an older time, maybe the 1800’s? His formation of sentences was different whereas Leo had talked normally as we would formulate sentences now in the present. Noticing that and then reading about when Leo went to find Salzman only to reach his wife who told him that Salzman was in the air? That made me thing that maybe Salzman was actually God which would definitely explain how he was able to make everything fall into place and all the magic that took place. The last thing I realized which seriously confused me since I thought he might be God was the last sentence that said “Around the corner, Salzman, leaning against a wall, chanted prayers for the dead.” I’m not really sure what this meant but “chanting prayers for the dead” sounds somewhat evil to me. I was not expecting that ending.
Leslie Oxford Like Kayleigh, I found Bernard Malamud's The Magic Barrel fascinating, and I greatly appreciated Leo's search for a wife throughout the piece. I found the usage of fairytales enchanting. It added to the concept of Leo's loneliness, and his desire to be in a relationship. It is a interesting juxtaposition between Leo's fairytale search for a wife and his scholarly pursuits to become a rabbi. The moment when these two elements become one are embodied in the character Salzman, the marriage counselor. Salzman's character represents both Leo's search for a wife and quest to become a rabbi, because Salzman is instrumental in Leo's realization that he did not actually want to be a rabbi rather he desires a wife's love. Similar to Kayleigh's opinion, upon first meeting Salzman, his character came across as an all knowing God-like figure. He is a strange character and is portrayed with magical abilities, for example the magical photographs which he appears with. However, the true mysticism of Salzman's character is in the final sentence, "Around the corner, Salzman, leaning against a wall, chanted prayers for the dead." I researched Jewish prayers for the dead and discovered that these prayers a traditionally said during different Jewish holidays, and focus on the remembrance of the lives of those who have died. Considering none of the story's characters have died blatantly and the story does not take place on a particular Jewish holiday Salzman's chanting of prayers seems ill fit. This leads to deeper questions. Who is Salzman? Is he God? Or is he of a more sinister nature? In my opinion, the story's ending acts as a moral message do not sacrifice one part of your life to meet the world's standard, i.e. Leo should not have forsaken his future as a rabbi to fall in love with a women. After all, Salzman is only shown reciting the prayers of the dead after Leo meets with Lily.
It is interesting to see Leo’s transformation throughout The Magic Barrel as he goes from wanting to marry for image to wanting to marry for love, and ultimately finding himself in the process. Leo employs a matchmaker by the name of Salzman to find him a wife in order to improve his image as an up and coming Rabbi. He is not looking for love at this point in any way, just a suitable match. This practice is generally used in the Old World culture, and you can tell that Leo doesn’t exactly feel comfortable with it. This is apparent when Salzman starts trying to set him up with people and Leo becomes frustrated and rejects every girl he throws at him. He also seems very uncomfortable with being called a Rabbi, which makes me think that Leo is unhappy with himself and his career choice. I think that in his quest to find a wife, and finding that he does not like the process, he begins to question himself and his religious calling. He does not, at this point, know his calling in the world and does not feel worthy of being labeled with such a high calling when he isn’t sure if this is what he wants to do with his life. When he is on his first date with Lily, she begins to question him about his profession, asking why he decided to become a Rabbi. He replies that: “that I came to God not because I loved Him, but because I did not” (279). I think this is the true turning point in the story because Leo is recognizing why he became a Rabbi, and why this may not be his calling after all. I think that at this point, Leo realizes that he has tied himself to the old world culture, but is desperate to become part of the new world and become more Americanized. Leo finds his tie to assimilation in Stella, Salzman’s daughter. He falls in love with her on sight, and demands Salzman to set them up, even though Salzman feels that Stella is not a good choice for Leo. I feel like the reason Salzman rejects Stella as his daughter is because she has become assimilated into American culture. She smokes cigarettes and wears red shoes, which are not unlike a promiscuous girl or prostitute to wear; while her father engages in the career of matchmaking and eats white fish. I feel like Stella represents the new world, which is the world that Leo is trying to become part of. This is why he falls in love with her on sight. Salzman represents the old world, which is the world that Leo is trying to disassociate himself with by the end of the story. We see Salzman chanting prayers for the dead at the end of the story because like his own daughter is now dead to him, Leo is also dead because he has departed the old world culture and joined the new world culture.
First I would like to say; hats off to Bernard Malamud! The “Magic Barrel” is a beautifully put together short story. Here we are introduced to a Jewish male whom is close to becoming a Rabbi. He comes from a small family and is an individual who has been unable to form a strong bond with anyone because he has instead focused on his studies. Nonetheless, he is “advised by an acquaintance that he might find it easier to win himself a congregation if he were married.” Here he decides to call upon a match maker. (Apparently something which was popular in his day; now we have EHarmony. Anyway.) Here begins his journey. One which originates at finding a wife transcends to finding real love and ultimately himself. For instance, he begins to doubt what he has devoted himself to for years. “I am not, he said gravely, a talented religious person, and in seeking words to go on, found himself possessed by shame and fear. I think, he said in a strained manner, that I came to God not because, I loved Him, but because I did not. This confession he spoke harshly because its unexpectedness shook him.” Here we see a clear demonstration of our protagonist, Leo Finkle, coming into realization of his own being. Through the sharing of his thoughts with others, he learns new aspects about himself as well, or I would venture to say just comes to accept them. As we read, we also learn that Finkle recognizes he wants to find true love; and not have a prearranged marriage. “But I have decided to seek her in a different way. I am no longer interested in an arranged marriage. To be frank, I now admit the necessity of premarital love. That is, I want to be in love with the one I marry.” Again, Leo Finkle finds something out about himself that he was previously unaware of. Marrying someone he did not love was suddenly not an option to him anymore. He then goes on to choosing a girl whom was nothing like he had envisioned for himself. Yet this is the girl he chose to be with. All in all, we read about a man whom is facing an identity crisis if you will. This story is definitely an attention catcher; tension is built throughout the story with the presence of the match maker. Since we are unaware, side by side with the protagonist at some points, of when he will come around again. Definitely adds a level of suspense to the story. I also enjoyed the beautiful metaphors found scattered throughout the story. As I said Bernard Malamud, does a fantastic job at creating a world for his audience where they can get to know what the life of an identity seeking, soon to be Rabbi, Jewish male could potentially be like.
Cristina Vallarino I will definitely agree with Cristina Diaz in the aspect that the author made a marvelous job of creating this fairytale story. This short story is different from all the others we read before , in “Magic Barrell” we can se a religious man that wants to become a rabbi and decides to get married. In the beginning he imagined being with a woman that will make him look good, not a woman that he will love just a woman that because of her appearance will make him more suitable to become a Rabbi. As the story develops the protagonist started facing an identity crisis when he realized he did not wanted that for his life, what he really was looking for was finding a woman that he could be able to love for the rest of his life. Even though is really common in jews to arrange marriages and to marry for status, he now realized that was not what he will like for his life and decides to find his true love. This is what makes the story so beautiful, that no matter what his community said about love and marriage he was willing to find love and there was no way that he will agree to marrying someone who he did not truly love.
Not to sounds like a broken record but Malamud does a wonderful job at creating a complex character with many doubts and insecurities. Through the subtleties within the text one can pick up on his doubts from the beginning of the story, although perhaps a second read is necessary because at first we are not aware of what his turmoil really entails. When Malamud describes Leo and Salzman’s first meeting there was a phrase that struck me as very revealing in respects to Leo’s conflicts; “…his mild blue eyes revealed a depth of sadness, a characteristic that put Leo a little at ease although the situation, for him, was inherently tense.” This sort of threw me off because I thought to myself, “Why would anyone feel better to sense a deep sadness within someone else…unless they themselves were deeply sad.” Then as the story progresses and he is evidently irked by the Salzman’s insistence in calling him rabbi I began to connect the dots. Furthermore when Leo asks if the young 19 year old girl believes in love, although he himself comes from and arranged marriage and is seeking the same service, it is evident he is torn between two ways of life, two opposing views. Then during the discussion in class this was clarified to me. We discussed the fact that the marriage broker profession was a dying one, and then statements like, “Later, however, he experienced a glow of pride in his work, an emotion that had left him years ago…” made a lot more sense to me. I liked the sneaky role Salzman played, with his white lies, and is twisting of the truth, like he knew what was best all along, and Leo was the one that needed to find out. Salzman was the “fairy godfather” in this story, although the fact that he was a male character, smelled fishy, and was initially “sad looking” did not paint him as your typical magical being.
I noticed the similarity of The Magic Barrel to the fairytale genre before the class discussion, though that did help further my understanding of how similar they really were. I think my favorite part of the entire story was the character Salzman. What intrigued me the most about Salzman was that there was a twist to his fairy godmother character. Yes, he’s trying to arrange marriages for people but he does so by being manipulative and by lying. Though those aren’t great traits to be found in a person, I think what I like about it is the intent behind it is what’s good. He’s willing to fib if he believes two people could be a nice match. I also love his shock and questioning of Leo wanting to find love as if he couldn’t fathom it. I think that small scene says a lot about Salzman as a person as well as what the Jewish culture was now transitioning from. Also, Salzman’s constant disappearing and reappearing adds to the fairy godmother feel. When Leo goes searching for Salzman and finds his wife, asking for Salzman’s office, she points up and says, “In the air… Every time he thinks a new thought he runs to a different place.” This makes Salzman seem mystical, mysterious and dare I say, magical. What also stood out to me was the “damsel in distress” aspect. When Leo realized he wanted to be matched with Stella, Salzman’s daughter, Salzman was completely against it. He thought she was unfit, saying, “She is a wild one—wild, without shame. This is not a bride for a Rabbi… she should burn in hell”. But this only motivates Leo more. When Salzman tells Leo yet again not to bother with Stella, Leo says, “Perhaps I can be of service” implying that he could save her from this hell Salzman has damned her to. That must’ve changed Salzman’s mind because the story ends with Leo and Stella together. Bringing back the fairytale genre of a Happy Ever After.
This story is one of my favorites that we have read so far in this class.
I like how you point out how Salzman is like a fairy godmother. He's not virtuous, but in fact twists the truth. He gives us a very fairytale feel, especially with how elusive and mulch-faceted he is.
When I first started to read this, I didn't pick up on the fact that it was a fairytale until I scrutinized it later on. I didn't associate Salzman with any mythological wish-giver, but just a man whose job was to match two people. It wasn't until the end of the story that it all clicked for me, but it made the journey all the more satisfying.
We have learned in depth how Jewish people mainly arranged marriages before coming to America. When Leo first begins his search for a wife, love is not part of his list of requirements. When he finally does fall in love with Stella, it signifies two things: a good fairytale ending, but also a deeper message of how Leo submerged himself within American culture. This is not to say that Jewish arranged marriages never ended in love, but it becomes a major key role in his eventual happy ending.
Salzman is like an anchor of traditional Jewish values, trying to persuade Leo away from marrying Stella for love. Leo, on the other hand, assimilates, and we get an idea of how Leo has changed as a person.
Hailey, your assessment of this story was very accurate. Your points helped me understand the true meaning of this story and condense it into a simplified version of the whole.
I wrote about The Magic Barrel for my own paper, but after talking about it in more detail class, I've realized that there are a lot of other interesting factors of the story. Honestly, I didn’t even realize that the story mirrored a fairytale until we talked about it in class. I felt like that was something that definitely jumped out at me after I read it a third time, but it’s also way easier to catch once a professor has pointed it out. On the other hand, the main topic I elaborated on was tone, and how the entire environment and mood changes as Leo seems to find someone he likes, realizes it's all a lie, then truly finds someone he wants to be with forever. While this is still an important part of the story, the most interesting thing that I caught after looking much more in depth to the piece is how Malamud uses the mannerisms and personalities of every character to literally tell the story. Salzman's character is old, disheveled, and stuck to old world traditions, (which also explains the eating of the fish, match-making). He doesn't want Leo to fall in love with his daughter, like most fathers, and at the same time, that sets up one of the main problems of the story for Leo. With Leo's character, he is at first made out to be a hard-working, determined scholar who only needs a wife to further his career. As his character ultimately changes and finds what he really needs in life, the story takes multiple turns (following Leo’s mood and desires). Leo meets Lily when he is at his most vulnerable in the story, and Lily is very innocent and vulnerable herself. Once Leo decides to rebel, go with his gut, and make the final decision to do whatever it takes to be with Stella, he also ultimately makes the decision to back away from his studies and settle down with a woman that he would’ve never before thought of being with. I may be looking at the story from a weird perspective in this way, but the fact that all of the characters had a different effect on the outcome of what happened to every other character really jumped out at me in this story. It was all a chain of reactions, and it was all because each character had a different point of view on the subject of love and what is really important in life.
After reading Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Gimpel the Fool", I had very mixed feelings about what I had just read. At the beginning of the story, I was under the assumption that all these stories of Gimpel being fooled by everyone in town was just a set-up for a definite change of luck that was about to happen for Gimpel. However, I was most definitely proven wrong on that assumption. The story goes on with a continuous stream of bad luck for Gimpel; he marries a wretched woman who is continuously unfaithful to him but refuses to sleep with him. In addition to that, she gives birth to six children who aren’t his and forces him to raise them. What I found most interesting about all this is that Gimpel did not hesitate to submit to his wife, nor anyone else for that matter. He seemed to portray the stereotypical Jewish man who is basically a doormat and lets everyone walk all over him, especially his wife. I recognized the fact that this story most definitely played out the common matriarchal structure that is in many Jewish families, but I was completely baffled at the extent to which Singer took it.
Aside from being very taken aback by how much of a wuss Gimpel was in the story, I was very conflicted as to whether or not I should root for the main protagonist that is Gimpel. In fact, I wasn’t even sure that he was a protagonist, because I got really annoyed with him after awhile. At the beginning of the story, I was on Gimpel’s side. I, along with Gimpel, was quite frustrated with the way people treated him. I want him to retaliate on them; to prove them wrong. However, after awhile, I began to become very frustrated with Gimpel and the way in which he was a complete push-over. I slowly stopping feeling sorry for Gimpel, but I didn’t hate him. I still, in a way, wanted him to succeed. I thought it was very admirable of Gimpel to be so optimistic and forgiving of everyone, but I wanted him to stand up for himself. Of course, one can imagine I was even more taken aback when he forgives his wife at the end of the story for being so unfaithful to him after all those years. Although the end of the story did have somewhat of a happy ending for Gimpel, seeing as how he finally decided to go out and live life on his own, despite what everybody else thought, I’m still perplexed as to what Singer was trying to achieve with this particular story. Although I’m aware that one doesn’t necessarily have to know why the writer is writing a particular story in order to enjoy it, I still found myself being very curious as to what the meaning behind it all was. But, on the other hand, I suppose that in itself could have been Singer’s whole point behind writing this story: to grab the reader’s attention and get them to stop over-analyzing every bit of text they ever read. And then I wondered, maybe that’s the whole beauty of it: that it simply is what it is.
I agree with you. At the beginning of the story, I felt bad for Gimpel. The entire town made fun of him, used him as the butt of their jokes and wouldn’t even let him stand up for himself. For his part, he took it all in stride and resorted to faith to get through it which proves him to be a much bigger person than those around him. There is a difference, however, between letting things go and not standing up for yourself. In the case of his wife Elka, Gimpel was simply a doormat. She used him. Every marriage has problems, but she slept around on him, never once consummated their marriage, wasn’t honest with him, and most likely didn’t love him. Worst of all though, she made him doubt himself. It’s one thing to trick someone and another thing to make them think that it was all in their head. Gimpel never stood up for himself. He convinced himself that it never happened and forgave her, even though she continued being terrible to him. One her deathbed, he forgave her even though she admitted to deceiving him. She didn’t repent or ask for forgiveness. God didn’t forgive her, evidenced by the fact that Gimpel dreamed of her visiting from hell, so I don’t understand why he did. Gimpel really was a fool for letting everyone take advantage of him for his whole life. Which is made even worse by the fact that he wasn’t stupid. He knew they were doing it. He just never did anything about it.
In the Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud, A young Rabbi, Leo, finds that he doesn’t have enough time to date and find a wife so he hires a matchmaker, Salzman, to help find him a potential match. Long story short, Leo is very picky and doesn’t like any of the women that Salzman picks out for him. After a while, Leo finds a girl he thinks is perfect for him and it happens to be Salzman’s daughter. The main thing that stood out to me in this story was the perception that Jewish men have a very hard time with dating and courtship of women in America. In my opinion, this is because before the Jews began to immigrate to America, wives were picked by the families of Jewish men, hence making them oblivious to the American way of dating before marriage. I feel like many Jewish writers use this to show the assimilation of the Jewish man into America. In the Magic Barrel, Malamud clearly portrays Leo’s inability to woo any girl that he decides to take on a date. Leo is shown as awkward and uncomfortable during his date with Lily. During their date, Lily asks Leo about being a Rabbi and how he came to choosing this profession. Normally, a person would be very comfortable talking about their profession because it is something they are clearly interested in. But in Leo’s case, he tries to change the subject and almost seems at a loss for words about his own profession. Then almost out of nowhere, he becomes angry with her and starts talking about how he only became a Rabbi because he didn’t like God, which makes absolutely no sense. Even Leo is started at the words coming out of his own mouth. It got to the point where he made Lily so uncomfortable that she “wilted” which basically ruined the rest of the evening. In the end, it seems as though, to go along with all of the other characteristics that come along with being a Jewish immigrant, that the inability to court and date a women is a lost art that shows that there may never be full assimilation into the American lifestyle.
I agree with josh in that Leo's behavior towards his profession is quite bizarre and how he reacts to Lily's questions are baffling. In the beginning he seems willing to find a wife to be a successful rabbi but as the story continues and he is unable to court a woman. As a woman this would be a disastrous date and would not woo any woman, clearly showing how hard it was for Leo to have the correct etiquette for a first date. I do believe that it is similar to how hard it was for Jewish men to court a woman because woman tend to want chemistry and love but this was not as important to the men as the salzman scoffed at Leo for wanting "love", because to him and others love is comfort more like a business deal than a loving intimate relationship. This is definitely a "lost art" as Josh put it by showing how Leo was lost in courting a woman and that he was actually rude when Lily was talking about normal first date conversation, although unknowingly she has hitting the nail on the head with Leo's inner struggle with religion and life. She doesn't realize these questions are questions that Leo has been asking himself as he is only studying to be a rabbi, and is not actually one yet, which he lets no one forget. This inevideably leads to Leo realizing that he does need more than a business arrangement and needs passionate love, which is also a turning point in his faith as he is starting to reject it more and become more of a reform Jewish man.
The Magic Barrel is very interesting read which does a great Job analyzing the Battle of Religion vs Society that’s Jewish Americans faced in the past. The problem arises from the history of Judaism, where they where matched up using a match maker, and marriage was more about the finical future of the family and less about love. But in America the importance of marriage is about the love between the two people and not the finical situation that the couple would be in upon marriage. Many would feel that the American way is pure for people but don’t see how the old way of using a match maker was important for the survival of families. But in the Magic Barrel Leo is not doing it for the finical reason that most Jews used a match maker for , but is using for the lack of his ability to date. This was a problem in the Jewish Community because historically they did not know how to date so it ran into problems when American society wanted them to do date and involve into the American Dating scene. The problems arose for match makers in America when Jews really started to take on the dating scene and moved away from using match makers. This is that start of the death of the need for match makers in American society. Its is shown in the novel by the slowing of need for Matches in American society. We experience the Culture change threw Leo. We start off in the beginning of the seeing how Leo wants to use the Match Maker but as time passes in the book we see how Leos views change. As with society we see Leo move away form using the match maker for his needs which was to find a spouse for his job but instead wanted to find some one for true love. He didn’t care how she fit in to what would need to be his plans for the future but instead wanted to marry her because he loved her. This showed the transformation of Jewish society and how it compared to and transformed into American Society. It shows the battle Leo had to fight between his Jewish heritage which has someone who was studying to be a rabbi he held dear to him self vs American Society which as an American he begin to see the importance of dating. Word Count 404
I agree with Justin's analysis of the story "The Magic Barrel." The story manipulates ideals of the past that have been practiced for centuries. Leo is lost in the idea of love and finds it difficult to find someone to have a relationship with. These matchmaking services are still relevant in the world today. Although, for the most part, they are not found in America today, Matchmaking still occurs in abundance around the world. I know, personally, that these financially-based relationships still occur in such places like India. There, the people value the importance of a strong background in culture and education before consideration of a possible marriage. In most cases, situations like the one between Leo and Lily occur due to the informality of being set up with a random person. Lily was left in awe by the statements made by Leo, statements that were made because of his inexperience with women. Now we live in a world where love is not usually found in the first attempt at a relationship and we rely on our own judgement to determine whether or not there is a connection. This story exemplifies the importance of experience before action, and embraces the importance of putting the time in to find the right person. Leo may think he loves Stella based upon her picture but he must put the time and effort in to discover true love. The matchmaker was not focused on the right things when finding a partner for Leo. He had his own, premeditated perception of the right woman which may be on the other end of the spectrum in Leo's case.
I find the story of the magic barrel to be that of old time Judaism. Matchmaking has become obsolete and an outdated way of life. Although once part of the Jewish religion, matchmaking is no longer truly viewed as the way of marriage among reform and reconstrucitvist Jews. Most Jews seek out regular relationships with that of courtship and other aspects of modern life. In the story, Leo is matched up and paired with girls because of the constant stress of being a rabbinical student and studying to be a rabbi. He can’t find any matches and in the end, ultimately chooses a girl he thought would be a fitting wife for him. With a matchmaker present, Leo still goes with the girl he originally felt was right for him. This hints at the modernization of the Jewish religion. Instead of going with the girls presented to him by Salzman (old time Jewish practices), Leo ends up choosing the girl he originally wanted to be set up with, Salzman’s daughter. He further strays from the Jewish religion and attempts to modernize himself when he shaves his beard in order to impress the girl of his choice. The beard, a great sign of Judaism and of rabbis, is cut in order to impress a female, and an innate attempt to modernize his way of life. I feel the overall meaning to the story is the message that Jewish ways of life are becoming modernized and Amercanized. Being written extremely close to post World War II, the main focus of American immigrant Jews was to fit in to and become a part of a new society. The way to achieve these goals was to stray from old ideologies and adapt or assimilate to new ways of life. In the story, at the end, we discover that Leo is straying away and shunning his former thinking and goals to be a rabbi. He can no longer stand the idea of becoming a rabbi, and ultimately feels that actually falling in love and living your life should be the main goal in a person’s life. All in all, the main idea, to me, is that the magic barrel is a story to explain many refugee Jews ideas to assimilate and become part of Amercanized life. To them, they didn’t fit into a previous society, as discovered by the events from 1939-1945, and wished to fit into a new community and society. They became what society wanted them to be and almost had to embrace it.
I agree with Brett that this story represents old Judaism and the modernization of the American Jew. Leo is studying to be a rabbi but once he starts trying to find a wife his thoughts change. He shaves or trims his beard which rabbis don’t do. I also agree with Brett that the Jews almost had a feeling that they needed to assimilate so that they could fit in. That’s why I think Leo falls for Stella, Salzmans daughter. She gives off a vibe of independence and strength. She’s been through a lot but has dealt with her decisions and the consequences through her somewhat young life. With this independence seen through the photo Leo finally starts to realize he needs to make real decisions. That’s why the Jewish community is becoming modernized the old Jewish faith doesn’t really fit in with the new America.
I definitely agree that one of the main points of the story is the acculturation of matchmaking in modern day society. It makes sense that one of the only people still using this seemingly outdated system would be a soon to be rabbi, as he has no time for social activities, let alone spending time somewhere socially acceptable where he could meet women. I do however disagree on one point of your post, Salzman's daughter is in no way the girl he originally wanted to be set up with. Not finding her picture till the end of the story, and the fact that he attempts to be set up with her by Salzman after he has given up faith in the system, to me shows that although being modernized (as he is the one that did the choosing) there is still a sense of importance of tradition. As much as Leo tries to get away from Judaism, shunning the matchmaking system, struggling with his faith, etc, he finishes the story by attempting to date a jewish girl. I do agree that the main idea is depicting how many jewish refugees had to assimilate and become part of American life. Clearly all of their traditions and ways of life will no longer work in modern day American society, and this story does a beautiful job of blending both old and new ways of life.
The Magic Barrel served as a menagerie of skillfully utilized writing techniques working together to achieve a cohesive and entertaining result. First, Malamud neatly encompasses many of the Jewish-American themes we’ve discussed in class in ‘The Magic Barrel.’ First, there’s the theme of self-identity – Finkle is so close to being a rabbi and is preparing his life around that expectancy, but is also clearly not one yet and does not wish to be referred to as one, as he repeatedly tells Salzman. However, he lacks any other social context on which to base his identity – his parents are in a different city and he has no friends. This leaves the reader viewing him as a rabbi. Next, we find themes of assimilation and Jewish reformation. The rabbi is not as interested in finding an upstanding Jewish girl, but instead one who is “American” or without fault. He feels as though a real American girl would have no need for a matchmaker. The idea of a marriage broker itself is something that is innately Jewish and not always a fall back plan for those who can’t find love on their own. So it is interesting enough to begin with that he’d go to a matchmaker to find the perfect American girl, but it’s also representative of assimilation that he’s so avidly seeking an American - initially considering his religious leadership you’d assume him to be desirous of a religious woman.
Besides these more commonly utilized themes in Jewish-American literature, there were other elements in the text pertaining to Finkle that surprised me. Besides him seeking an American, Finkle also sought perfection. This caused many thoughts to surface in relation to his Jewish background: I think Finkle’s desire for perfection comes from his this religiousness. His life in religion thus far has been comprised of seeking – and admiring – perfection. Judaism, a monotheistic religion that centers around perfection, follows God devoutly because of His perfection and sees no other option for God besides this one perfect match. Would Finkle not be prone to consider perfection as the catalyst for earthly, romantic love, as well? This ties him beautifully to his connection with the “sinner” at the end.
I also noticed that Finkle, though in theory he was clear in his beginning desires, could only clearly state what he didn’t want – a widow, someone older than him, etc. While he asserted he knew what he was looking for, he never stated it. This facet of the story was not overplayed, though, which lends to the story’s overall brilliantly subtle release of information that grows until the reader reaches the end and all is revealed.
The last thing that spoke to me was the duality of respect and disrespect Malamud shows for his heritage in the text and how well they blend together. On the one hand, I was astounded the author would even write a story about a man who finds love upon realizing his interest in God was due to his dislike of Him. This clearly shows the theme of assimilation and at first glance implies that Malamud may be bitter towards, and mocking of, his heritage. On further consideration, though, he also honors his heritage by telling a story about a matchmaker that successfully creates love through his endeavors and does so in present America – a tale that respects his heritage by honoring the matchmaker in it. ‘The Magic Barrel’ is not the first time we’ve seen this duality – as discussed in class ‘How I Found America’ could also be interpreted in two different ways, one honoring Yezierska’s heritage and the other rebelling against it. I’d be interested to see how frequently this duality is seen in Jewish-American fiction and explore the authors’ varying relationships to their past.
Briana Cherry-Bronson Arranged marriages are marriages planned and agreed to by the families or guardians of the bride and groom, who have little or no say in the matter themselves. In Haredi communities, majority of the marriages are arranged by a professional match-maker (“shadchan”) who receives a “brokerage-fee” for his or her services. The parents may be actively involed in the matchmaking procedure, but the couple is not forced to marry. On the other hand, the Shidduch have a system of arranged introduction rather than arranged marriages. In the short story, Magical Barrel, the main character Leo Finkle is a hardworking student, who is lonely and has no time for a social life. He decides since he is done with his studies, that it is time to find a wife. He finds Salzman, the matchmakers; ad in the paper and later met up with him. Before doing my research on Jewish arranged marriages, I was confused by the way the match-maker went about his business. He pulled out cards of these women information and was selling them like cars. He had a sells-pitch, there father has this much money and they can do this and that. I was disgusted by the way these women were basically being sold. Later, I then compared the way Salzman spoke of these women to the way modern way Americans are starting to find a loved one, Match.com. The way Salzman lied about these women, is similar to someone lying on there Match.com profile. Leo’s decision was based on a picture and some false information. And that same goes for Match.com, your basically having to judge a book by its cover with some false advertisement on the side. In this short story the sections I was confused about were: During Leo’s date with Lily, why was he so angry with her personal question. Was he angry at the fact Salzman lied or angry because Lily brought up a touchy subject, religion? Then when Leo went to find Salzman, why was his location so mysterious? He was a mysterious character from the beginning, but his wife seemed to be as confused as Leo was. Also I was confused about Salzman reaction to Leo picking “his baby Stella”, was Stella Salzma’s daughter? And why would he want her to burn in hell? This story was very interesting, even though it was lengthy, it kept my attention and I wanted to know more. And that was my reason for researching more information on Jewish arranged marragies and knowing that information after reading the short story made the story more interesting.
I agree a lot about the comparisons to match.com. I thought about similar things while reading this story. The cards are equivalent to online profiles, especially in the sense that you can't rely on them. It's interesting to me that many people lie online about their age in terms of dating, and that was still happening back them. What I also noticed, however, is how different things are valued back then in a woman. Salzman speaks often about the families they come from. I guess back then family status and honor was a much bigger theme for the time. Also the idea that money is offered for marrying someone is crazy to me. Something else that stood out was how shallow Leo was when looking for a wife. You would think after not being able to find one himself he would be humble, but I guess since he's about to become a Rabi he's grown an inflated ego. All he seems to care about his there age, and that there young, even more than how they might look.
The date Salzman went on seemed extremely awkward to me. Blind dates can be that way, but Salzman seems to have a lot of trouble conversing with women. In this case, however, I was surprised by what a personal question she asked him right away. I thought this was very inappropriate and can see why Salzman became so upset.
Overall I found this to be a very enjoyable read because of how different is was from what else I've read. Also It gave me insight to a brand new topic for me.
Devin Harkins
ReplyDeleteI didn’t realize how complex The Magic Barrel really was until we had a class discussion on it. When I first read the story I just thought it was a comical play on the Old World ideas of dating in the New World. Once we went more in depth with the discussion and I reread it on my own, I noticed a couple things that really jumped from the page. It was interesting that the author set it up as a fairytale love story. I would say that Leo was cast as the lost hero, looking for someone or something to complete him. Salzman most resembled a ‘fairy-god-father-like’ character, one who specialized in love/matchmaking. Stella seemed to play the ‘damsel in distress’ and Leo had to ‘save’ her in some way. At the beginning of the story Leo seemed very focus on his studies and hopes to be a Rabbi. He also wished to get married because it was the practical thing to do at his age and he wanted to be looked up to by the community and in order to accomplish that he needed a respectful woman to help him. As the story went on Leo slowly migrated farther and farther from his religious calling and realized that being a Rabbi was not something he really wanted for himself. He winced and corrected everyone who did call him a Rabbi, which is an obvious sign that he was not pleased to think of himself that way. Leo became so lost after his first date Salzman set up that he became physically ill. Slazman didn’t even recognize him when they bumped into each other later in the story because Leo has lost weight, had sunken eyes, and even cut his beard. Salzman was captured as this Old World idea tying to succeed in the New World. Matchmaking worked in the Old World because all marriages were arranged by the parents and it was looked upon as an honor. Although in the 1950’s in America this idea of arranged married was slowly becoming extinct and so was Salzman’s career. Even though Salzman lied and schemed behind Leo’s back, it was only to get Leo to see that the girls were worth meeting and shouldn’t have been written off as quickly as Leo did. Once Leo saw Stella’s photograph it was like love at first sight. He felt compelled for some unknown reason to get in contact with her at any cost. Salzman said she was unfit for Leo and that she was a lost soul. Leo responded by saying that he could help her and ‘save’ her as if she was a damsel in distress. He didn’t list to Salzman and insisted that they meet because his love or want to meet Stella was so strong. With the end of the story I feel that the author lets the reader take the ‘happily ever after’ into their own hands and make each individuals own spin on the ending.
I had the same reaction that Devin had. At first I just thought it was just Old World adjusting to New World. When I first read the story, I guess because it was written in the 50’s, fairy tale did not pop up to my attention. After the class discussion I realize that this was some sort of a real life fairy tale but I don’t see Leo as the hero but that he also is in distress. To me the fairy tale is Leo being the lost “prince” in the search of love and himself, Salzman the fairy godfather/matchmaker who helps his godchild find himself by throwing at him obstacles to teach him a lesson and go towards what he really wants, Stella the lost “soon to princess”, and the happily ever after – both finding one another to go forward in finding their identity and adjusting to the New World. They both needed each other and are the perfect match, that’s why I believe that the other highly qualified females that Salzman introduced Leo to did not capture his attention. But on the hunt of finding his princess, he was finding himself – accepting that Rabbi was not for him. Towards the end, the story did say that he looked different – “with wisdom in his eyes”. I believe that the wisdom in his eyes did not come from his studies as a Rabbi but coming closer to know what he wants in life. The story also introduce how marriage is now changing from just partnership to searching one to love.
DeleteI like how you actually set the characters into their fair-tale love story place. I agree that Leo is the "lost prince" type character looking to fill a void in his life. At first I think he tries to fill it with religion because he says he got into it not because of his love for god but his lack of love for god. He soon decided that religion is not the thing he is looking for to fill that missing puzzle piece. He instead decides it is love. The matchmaking doesn't go so well for him until Salzman's daughter. He needs spontaneity. Salzman acts as his fairy godfather and sets him up with what he needs to find love, and even he benefits because he is somewhat reconnected with his daughter. I like what you said about how Leo thinks he can "save her" when in fact she is saving him. She shows him how to live and that maybe religion is not always the answer. I like what you said about how the author lets the reader decide if it’s happily ever after. I did not think of it that way at first but now I think the same.
DeleteI agree with the fact that there is much underneath the surface to try to understand in this story and it completely changes what someone believes this story is about. On the surface yes, it just seemed like a story trying to show the difference between old world dating and new world dating but when I dug deeper I was overwhelmed with the feeling that this a story about having a crisis of identity and the struggle to find out what that identity is. Leo at first thinks his life is meant for religion, so he is studying to become a rabbi until he realizes he needs a wife to be a have a successful congregation. But while Leo is in search of this wife, everything he did from that point on made him feel that he was doing the wrong thing with his life and really all he wants is a romantic love with the woman he marries. And I feel as though the “unknown” reason why Leo was compelled so strongly to meet Salzman’s daughter, Stella, is that in her eyes and face Leo can see that she doesn’t know her identity just as much as he doesn’t. That in itself causes Leo to fall in love with Stella at first sight of her photograph.
DeleteErika Halburian
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the magic barrel because I liked how Leo Finkle changed completely by the end of the story. “Finkle, after six years of studying, was to be ordained in June and had been advised by an acquaintance that he might find it easier to win himself a congregation if he were married” (273). Leo was looking for a wife to improve his image not looking for love. One of the elements that made this story so great was that within a few pages Leo was a completely different man. He fell in love with Salzman’s daughter while also finding himself at the same time. Leo fell in love with an atypical girl for a rabbi to marry. Stella smoked and wore red shoes, which were typically worn by prostitutes or promiscuous women. By going on a date with Lilly, Leo realized why he truly studied to become a rabbi, “that I came to God not because I loved Him, but because I did not” (279). By the end of the story Leo Finkle was in love with Stella and his beard was cut leading the readers to believe he is now reformed.
It was interesting how the mystical matchmaker helped Leo find his true love that turned out to be the matchmaker’s own daughter. The story mixed different elements together that helped make it so great. The storybook feel to the story told the reader that it was magical hence the title “The Magic Barrel”. The story line has one that relates to many well know love stories. Leo saw Stella’s picture and instantly was enamored by her. He wasn’t looking for love but it seemed fate had brought them together. The sales man played the magical role because the author gave him subtle mystical qualities. “The marriage broker appeared haggard, and transparent to the point of vanishing”(283).
Lastly, I liked how Leo’s changes throughout the story also signified the changes within the Jewish religion/culture. Matchmakers used to be the way Jewish men and women would meet. In Leo’s time the reasoning for the matchmakers to look haggard was because he was no longer needed by the new generation. Most of the girls in Salzman’s inventory were given to him by their parents, the older generation. It’s interesting how today matchmakers a making a comeback. Today we have Internet matchmaking sites and there are even reality TV shows with matchmakers setting people up. The story also portrayed how the culture was changing because Jewish couples began marrying for love instead of marrying for a partnership.
I agree, I really liked how Leo was able to grow through the course of the story. Although he was looking for a wife for the wrong reasons, he ends up picking a woman for the right reasons. The matchmaker even tells Leo that on paper all the women he has found would be perfect, but Leo goes for the complete opposite. I also agree that the storybook feel was good and that the reader can draw connections from fairy tales to this story. This story also draws upon history of the Jewish culture, with a young scholar studying to be a rabbi and the matchmaker setting up people. There is also that theme of divide between Jewish parents and their children. Stella rebels against her father and the kind of old way of life, which in turn angers Salzman. In a sense at the end Leo too kind of rebels against the old customs when he goes on the date with Stella. Instead of finding a woman to fit his needs, he finds one for love. Finally I thought the point that you made about matchmakers making a come back was really interesting. You are completely right with the online dating sites and television shows the media in a way has taken over the role as matchmaker for many people in our society. I liked this story and hope things work out with Stella and Leo, but if not I am sure Salzman has more women in his magic barrel.
DeleteChynna Humphrey
ReplyDeleteI found “The Magic Barrel” to be one of the more interesting reads that we have been assigned thus far in this class. I’d have to agree with Devin in that I didn’t truly comprehend how complex the story is until we discussed it in class. My first time reading through it, I simply thought it was a funny little story about a man struggling with finding a woman and keeping up with his rabbi studies. However, after further discussion in class and rereading it, I have found that the author brilliantly creates this fairytale-type love story about a Jewish man internally struggling with old world versus new world definitions of love. In doing so, Leo questions the path he has chosen to take in life because in his quest to find a wife, he begins to question his religiousness and devotion to God. Lily, the first woman that Salzman sets Leo up on a date with is intrigued by Leo’s aspirations of becoming a rabbi. Out of curiosity, she asks what inspired him to become a priest and when he became enamored of God. "‘I am not,’ he said gravely, ‘a talented religious person,’ and in seeking words to go on, found himself possessed by shame and fear. ‘I think,’ he said in a strained manner, ‘that I came to God not because I loved Him, but because I did not’"(Malamud 279). In this moment, we see for the first time Leo have a self-revelation. Maybe he isn’t who he thought he was for all those years he spent studying to be a rabbi.
All throughout the story Leo struggles with this issue of identity and finding himself, which is a common theme found in Jewish-American literature. At the start of the story the reader can see that his studies of God have not helped him to find love for a woman or God Himself. “The true nature of his relationship to God, and from that it had come upon him, with shocking force, that apart from his parents, he had never loved anyone.” (Malamud 297) Yet, once he comes to realize his emptiness and heartlessness, he is able to realize that maybe love isn’t actually what he thinks it is. In old Jewish culture, men pay matchmakers to choose their wives for them because their definition of love was to be comfortable and feel safe. Romantic and intellectual love was not important; thus, matchmaking was the more appropriate choice over dating. It is when Leo comes to this realization that he finds happiness in a woman. Though Salzman is perplexed as to why he would go on a date with his daughter whom he believed to be socially unfit for marrying a rabbi, it is through falling for Stella by looking at her picture that Leo finds true love.
Danielle Kaufman
DeleteI agree with Chynna when she says that the complexity of story wasn’t apparent to her until we went over it in class. When first reading the story, I didn’t really think much about the hidden themes in the story. However, I still found it to be interesting and funny. I also saw a lot of similarities between “The Magic Barrel” and “Fiddler on the Roof”. Both stories had that same light hearted sense of humor. I didn’t fully enjoy the story until we discussed it in class and I read it for a second time. The discussion in class made me realize the hidden struggles that Leo was really facing. This story was so much more than a man trying to find a wife. I viewed it as a coming of age story. Through the process of finding a wife and hiring a matchmaker, Leo found himself. His struggle between old world traditions and new world traditions unraveled as he sought out a companion. Through this process, he also discovered his lack of passion for his soon to be career as a rabbi. I think his revelations are inspiring because it takes a lot of bravery for one to go against many years of tradition. Leo’s internal struggle is a story that only gets better by each read.
James Beyers
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading “The Magic Barrel” by Bernard Malamud. There were very romantic themes to the story- that of love and redemption; that made it a very soothing read. A very interesting read about a Rabbi, Leo Finkel, who hires a matchmaker because he is too busy that he is unable to take the time to meet with woman that he could court. The major theme of the story is identity crisis. In the beginning of the story it is clear that Leo is looking for a woman to raise his potential for more social gratification, not for love; ultimately dooming him from creating any legitimate relationship with a female. As we read on it becomes more and more evident of the identity crisis that is present. It is especially evident when he is on his date with Lillly and says, ““that I came to God not because I loved Him, but because I did not” (279). This moment of realization is the most climatic event to take place throughout the story. Upon this enlightenment, Leo begins to find his true identity and embarks on his path to find his true love.
Bernard Malamud uses great lyrical imagery throughout the story. This use of imagery creates a very intimate atmosphere for the reader and helps us sympathize with Leo as we read on; as almost as if we were there in the story with him. When he sees the picture of Stella, whom we soon find is Salzman’s daughter; he describes her with such a profound use of imagery."Her face deeply moved him. Why, he could at first not say. It gave him the impression of youth - spring flowers, yet age - a sense of having been used to the bone, wasted; this came from the eyes, which were hauntingly familiar, yet absolutely strange ... she leaped forth to his heart - had *lived,* or wanted to ... it could be seen in the depths of those reluctant eyes, and from the way the light enclosed and shone from her, and within her, opening realms of possibility: this was her own. Her he desired." After reading this description of Stella, it is evident that Leo is absolutely in love with her, and it really creates a passionate intimacy with the reader to want to see them together. Through the end of the story we finally see Leo find his true identity, and I believe this could be interpreted as a metaphor for the Jewish community trying to find their identity amidst society.
Isabel Willetts
DeleteI agree that the main theme of the piece is finding one's identity. Throughout the piece, Leo is grappling with his system of beliefs, and the societal constructions that keep it in place. It is not easy to shift from one set of truths to another. In another class I am taking, we're reading a book called Being Wrong by Kathryn Shultz. In it, she says that we are often between jobs, houses, lovers but never between beliefs. Beliefs are such an essential part of who we are, and in Leo's case, if he changes his beliefs, he is no longer a member of the community which has supported him for his whole life. I think this is why Salzman chants prayers for the dead when his daughter and Leo meet for the first time. They are dead to the old world, and born into a new life they have to figure out together.
I also agree that Leo's attitude towards the matchmaking process is biased by his motives. He doesn't really want the matchmaking to work, so it fails. I don't even think Salzman talked him up that much to Lily. It is not uncommon to ask someone who is pursuing a line of work that is such a commitment to a belief how they came to this passion. When someone meets a teacher working with Teachers Without Borders, it would be only natural to ask them where their passion for the developing world came about.
Kyndall Herman
ReplyDeleteThe Magic Barrel did come across as comical to me, as many people didn’t think so in class. I found Salzman to be quite the comical figure, making the note that he would definitely marry a widow if he had the chance. The sarcastic little comments throughout the story made it very enjoyable to read. I could easily see how Salzman resembled a Pan – like character, almost like a fairy godfather to Leo Finkle.
It was easier to understand, though, after our discussion in class. I first thought that it was just a match making story, but a love story. Usually in a love story, a character takes on sort of a transformation, and you could easily see that through Leo Finkle throughout the story. He began as a man lost in his studies, looking for a wife only as a means to build a solid congregation once he became a rabbi. But as the story goes on, he struggles with himself, even reaches a point when he goes on his date with Lily that he doesn’t even really know how he found himself studying to become a rabbi. This lost of identity for Leo really made him second guess why he started looking for a wife to begin with. Finally he admits to Salman “the necessity of premarital love. That is, [he] want[ed] to be in love with the one [he] marries.” This is a turning point for Leo who hadn’t thought twice about love being a factor in his marriage. I think that at the end, when Leo thinks that Salzman had made this is plan all along, that Salzman had actually intended to test his reasons. I think that Salzman played his cards like he did and is infact a genius matchmaker by getting Leo to realize he should be marrying for love- and once he proved that passion for Stella, that was when Salzman finally agree for the two to meet.
I also like that there were more ties to Judaism in the story- like the fact that Salzman would be eating white fish all the time, or that his beard was pointed at the end, in almost a rebellious sort of way. I found it funny (don’t know if it was meant to be funny or not) but in one part of the story it said “Out of this however, he drew the consolation that he was a Jew and that a Jew suffered” because it’s so true that they Jews all share the common suffrage among each other and they can joke about it.
Ginny Renas
DeleteIn response to Kyndall’s reaction to Salzman’s plan, I definitely felt that Salzman eventually had overall intentions of setting Leo and his daughter up together. However, I don’t think this was his objective from the very beginning of the story. Salzman realized after first meeting Leo that he did not have the typical ideals of the average man who came to him to find a “love” match. The matchmaker rambled off amounts of money, cars, important careers within the family, and so on, in hopes of impressing Leo. I don’t believe there is a specific point when Salzman takes a special liking to Leo, but I believe it is through his pure intentions and authentic nature that sparks a thought of connection to Leo and his daughter. You could certainly argue that Salzman had intended to make this match between Leo and his daughter all along; however, I believe the way Salzman first approached Leo with potential matches was very realistic to the time. I think in most cases Salzman was able to “sell” a match as apposed to creating an actual love connection, like the one he made with Leo. Overall, I would have to say this story was my favorite so far.
Alex Dishman
ReplyDeleteI’d have to agree with everyone that has posted so far in that this was definitely one of the most interesting reads we have been assigned at this point in time. I think that Malamud is a very talented writer and he really portrays the themes of the Jewish American culture well. James brought up a really valid point that a theme of this story is identity crisis. The way that Malamud describes Leo’s feelings shows his inner struggle in trying to find who he is. On a deeper level, I think Leo’s identity crisis is representative of the Jewish culture as a whole, because Jews are constantly in a struggle of deciding whether to acculturate or assimilate with American culture. Leo is constantly at battle with himself over whether or not he wants to truly be a rabbi and what he wants from life and from Salzman, just as the Jewish race is at battle with themselves (in a sense).
I think that Malamud uses Leo’s struggles as a way to represent a lot of the struggles of the Jewish people and a lot of the stereotypes of the Jewish people. For instance, I think that the fact that Leo wants to actually be in love rather than have an arranged marriage represents how the Jews wanted to break apart and try new things now that they were in a different location. I think that Lily represented there past country while Stella represented the hopefulness of the future. Lily was a typical woman who any Jewish man would be happy to marry, but yet Stella was a taboo woman who was basically a walking sin. The fact that Leo was attracted to Stella and Lily made him reconsider his life shows how much the Jews wanted to expand their culture and change their way of life. I also think that he represented some stereotypes of the Jewish people well in his story. For example, as we mentioned in class, the role of the matchmaker is a stereotypical character and the fact that the story revolved around a stereotypical Jewish business (matchmaking) just adds to this representation.
I also really admired how Malamud used the fairy tale genre in a subtle way. Rather than writing a typical cliché fairy tale, he used it in an untraditional way. For instance, Salzman represents the trickster character that all fairy tales have; the one who possesses both helpful yet deceiving qualities but he used a Jewish stereotype (a matchmaker) to portray this. He sets up this magical story with magical parts (a barrel) and a love story theme just as most fairy tales have. Malamud’s use of the fairy tale was another way he represented the struggle of the Jewish people whether to acculturate or assimilate; by using a genre that most Jewish authors didn’t use, he was going against the Jewish tradition and trying to start something new, as most Jews were trying to do.
Kayleigh Koskan
ReplyDeleteThe Magic Barrel was an interesting story to me because it was very different from the other short stories we have read. I liked that it had more of a fairytale basis to it with how it involved magic and a prince falls in love with the estranged girl kind of ending. It was very interesting how at the beginning of the story Leo was searching for a wife because it would look good and then at the end he realized that he actually wanted the love aspect of a relationship and he did not need someone to find it for him even though Salzman in a way did find the girl for him even though it was on accident. It sort of played out like fate. He magically came upon a picture of the girl he knew he was to fall in love with. Going through this story a few things stuck out to me. For one I feel like Salzman was supposed to play the role of Leo’s conscious. It seemed as though Salzman was offering these women to Leo, making sure he would react the way he did so that what was meant to be would fall into place in the end. Throughout his conversations with Salzman and having been set up with Lily Leo Finkle was able to realize that he did not actually want to be a Rabbi. He realized that what he was missing in his life was love and the only reason he had been studying to become a Rabbi was because he did not feel love for God nor did he feel loved so he thought that maybe becoming a Rabbi would change that. What Leo really needed was a woman to love him; someone to talk to him. Another thing that stuck out to me which I found weird was the tone of both Leo and Salzmans’ character. Salzman had an odd way of speaking, like he was from an older time, maybe the 1800’s? His formation of sentences was different whereas Leo had talked normally as we would formulate sentences now in the present. Noticing that and then reading about when Leo went to find Salzman only to reach his wife who told him that Salzman was in the air? That made me thing that maybe Salzman was actually God which would definitely explain how he was able to make everything fall into place and all the magic that took place. The last thing I realized which seriously confused me since I thought he might be God was the last sentence that said “Around the corner, Salzman, leaning against a wall, chanted prayers for the dead.” I’m not really sure what this meant but “chanting prayers for the dead” sounds somewhat evil to me. I was not expecting that ending.
Leslie Oxford
DeleteLike Kayleigh, I found Bernard Malamud's The Magic Barrel fascinating, and I greatly appreciated Leo's search for a wife throughout the piece. I found the usage of fairytales enchanting. It added to the concept of Leo's loneliness, and his desire to be in a relationship. It is a interesting juxtaposition between Leo's fairytale search for a wife and his scholarly pursuits to become a rabbi. The moment when these two elements become one are embodied in the character Salzman, the marriage counselor. Salzman's character represents both Leo's search for a wife and quest to become a rabbi, because Salzman is instrumental in Leo's realization that he did not actually want to be a rabbi rather he desires a wife's love.
Similar to Kayleigh's opinion, upon first meeting Salzman, his character came across as an all knowing God-like figure. He is a strange character and is portrayed with magical abilities, for example the magical photographs which he appears with. However, the true mysticism of Salzman's character is in the final sentence, "Around the corner, Salzman, leaning against a wall, chanted prayers for the dead." I researched Jewish prayers for the dead and discovered that these prayers a traditionally said during different Jewish holidays, and focus on the remembrance of the lives of those who have died. Considering none of the story's characters have died blatantly and the story does not take place on a particular Jewish holiday Salzman's chanting of prayers seems ill fit. This leads to deeper questions. Who is Salzman? Is he God? Or is he of a more sinister nature? In my opinion, the story's ending acts as a moral message do not sacrifice one part of your life to meet the world's standard, i.e. Leo should not have forsaken his future as a rabbi to fall in love with a women. After all, Salzman is only shown reciting the prayers of the dead after Leo meets with Lily.
It is interesting to see Leo’s transformation throughout The Magic Barrel as he goes from wanting to marry for image to wanting to marry for love, and ultimately finding himself in the process. Leo employs a matchmaker by the name of Salzman to find him a wife in order to improve his image as an up and coming Rabbi. He is not looking for love at this point in any way, just a suitable match. This practice is generally used in the Old World culture, and you can tell that Leo doesn’t exactly feel comfortable with it. This is apparent when Salzman starts trying to set him up with people and Leo becomes frustrated and rejects every girl he throws at him. He also seems very uncomfortable with being called a Rabbi, which makes me think that Leo is unhappy with himself and his career choice. I think that in his quest to find a wife, and finding that he does not like the process, he begins to question himself and his religious calling. He does not, at this point, know his calling in the world and does not feel worthy of being labeled with such a high calling when he isn’t sure if this is what he wants to do with his life. When he is on his first date with Lily, she begins to question him about his profession, asking why he decided to become a Rabbi. He replies that: “that I came to God not because I loved Him, but because I did not” (279). I think this is the true turning point in the story because Leo is recognizing why he became a Rabbi, and why this may not be his calling after all. I think that at this point, Leo realizes that he has tied himself to the old world culture, but is desperate to become part of the new world and become more Americanized.
ReplyDeleteLeo finds his tie to assimilation in Stella, Salzman’s daughter. He falls in love with her on sight, and demands Salzman to set them up, even though Salzman feels that Stella is not a good choice for Leo. I feel like the reason Salzman rejects Stella as his daughter is because she has become assimilated into American culture. She smokes cigarettes and wears red shoes, which are not unlike a promiscuous girl or prostitute to wear; while her father engages in the career of matchmaking and eats white fish. I feel like Stella represents the new world, which is the world that Leo is trying to become part of. This is why he falls in love with her on sight. Salzman represents the old world, which is the world that Leo is trying to disassociate himself with by the end of the story. We see Salzman chanting prayers for the dead at the end of the story because like his own daughter is now dead to him, Leo is also dead because he has departed the old world culture and joined the new world culture.
First I would like to say; hats off to Bernard Malamud! The “Magic Barrel” is a beautifully put together short story. Here we are introduced to a Jewish male whom is close to becoming a Rabbi. He comes from a small family and is an individual who has been unable to form a strong bond with anyone because he has instead focused on his studies. Nonetheless, he is “advised by an acquaintance that he might find it easier to win himself a congregation if he were married.” Here he decides to call upon a match maker. (Apparently something which was popular in his day; now we have EHarmony. Anyway.) Here begins his journey. One which originates at finding a wife transcends to finding real love and ultimately himself. For instance, he begins to doubt what he has devoted himself to for years. “I am not, he said gravely, a talented religious person, and in seeking words to go on, found himself possessed by shame and fear. I think, he said in a strained manner, that I came to God not because, I loved Him, but because I did not. This confession he spoke harshly because its unexpectedness shook him.” Here we see a clear demonstration of our protagonist, Leo Finkle, coming into realization of his own being. Through the sharing of his thoughts with others, he learns new aspects about himself as well, or I would venture to say just comes to accept them. As we read, we also learn that Finkle recognizes he wants to find true love; and not have a prearranged marriage. “But I have decided to seek her in a different way. I am no longer interested in an arranged marriage. To be frank, I now admit the necessity of premarital love. That is, I want to be in love with the one I marry.” Again, Leo Finkle finds something out about himself that he was previously unaware of. Marrying someone he did not love was suddenly not an option to him anymore. He then goes on to choosing a girl whom was nothing like he had envisioned for himself. Yet this is the girl he chose to be with. All in all, we read about a man whom is facing an identity crisis if you will. This story is definitely an attention catcher; tension is built throughout the story with the presence of the match maker. Since we are unaware, side by side with the protagonist at some points, of when he will come around again. Definitely adds a level of suspense to the story. I also enjoyed the beautiful metaphors found scattered throughout the story. As I said Bernard Malamud, does a fantastic job at creating a world for his audience where they can get to know what the life of an identity seeking, soon to be Rabbi, Jewish male could potentially be like.
ReplyDeleteCristina Vallarino
DeleteI will definitely agree with Cristina Diaz in the aspect that the author made a marvelous job of creating this fairytale story. This short story is different from all the others we read before , in “Magic Barrell” we can se a religious man that wants to become a rabbi and decides to get married. In the beginning he imagined being with a woman that will make him look good, not a woman that he will love just a woman that because of her appearance will make him more suitable to become a Rabbi. As the story develops the protagonist started facing an identity crisis when he realized he did not wanted that for his life, what he really was looking for was finding a woman that he could be able to love for the rest of his life. Even though is really common in jews to arrange marriages and to marry for status, he now realized that was not what he will like for his life and decides to find his true love. This is what makes the story so beautiful, that no matter what his community said about love and marriage he was willing to find love and there was no way that he will agree to marrying someone who he did not truly love.
Not to sounds like a broken record but Malamud does a wonderful job at creating a complex character with many doubts and insecurities. Through the subtleties within the text one can pick up on his doubts from the beginning of the story, although perhaps a second read is necessary because at first we are not aware of what his turmoil really entails. When Malamud describes Leo and Salzman’s first meeting there was a phrase that struck me as very revealing in respects to Leo’s conflicts; “…his mild blue eyes revealed a depth of sadness, a characteristic that put Leo a little at ease although the situation, for him, was inherently tense.” This sort of threw me off because I thought to myself, “Why would anyone feel better to sense a deep sadness within someone else…unless they themselves were deeply sad.” Then as the story progresses and he is evidently irked by the Salzman’s insistence in calling him rabbi I began to connect the dots. Furthermore when Leo asks if the young 19 year old girl believes in love, although he himself comes from and arranged marriage and is seeking the same service, it is evident he is torn between two ways of life, two opposing views. Then during the discussion in class this was clarified to me. We discussed the fact that the marriage broker profession was a dying one, and then statements like, “Later, however, he experienced a glow of pride in his work, an emotion that had left him years ago…” made a lot more sense to me. I liked the sneaky role Salzman played, with his white lies, and is twisting of the truth, like he knew what was best all along, and Leo was the one that needed to find out. Salzman was the “fairy godfather” in this story, although the fact that he was a male character, smelled fishy, and was initially “sad looking” did not paint him as your typical magical being.
DeleteHailey Dolan
ReplyDeleteI noticed the similarity of The Magic Barrel to the fairytale genre before the class discussion, though that did help further my understanding of how similar they really were. I think my favorite part of the entire story was the character Salzman. What intrigued me the most about Salzman was that there was a twist to his fairy godmother character. Yes, he’s trying to arrange marriages for people but he does so by being manipulative and by lying. Though those aren’t great traits to be found in a person, I think what I like about it is the intent behind it is what’s good. He’s willing to fib if he believes two people could be a nice match. I also love his shock and questioning of Leo wanting to find love as if he couldn’t fathom it. I think that small scene says a lot about Salzman as a person as well as what the Jewish culture was now transitioning from. Also, Salzman’s constant disappearing and reappearing adds to the fairy godmother feel. When Leo goes searching for Salzman and finds his wife, asking for Salzman’s office, she points up and says, “In the air… Every time he thinks a new thought he runs to a different place.” This makes Salzman seem mystical, mysterious and dare I say, magical.
What also stood out to me was the “damsel in distress” aspect. When Leo realized he wanted to be matched with Stella, Salzman’s daughter, Salzman was completely against it. He thought she was unfit, saying, “She is a wild one—wild, without shame. This is not a bride for a Rabbi… she should burn in hell”. But this only motivates Leo more. When Salzman tells Leo yet again not to bother with Stella, Leo says, “Perhaps I can be of service” implying that he could save her from this hell Salzman has damned her to. That must’ve changed Salzman’s mind because the story ends with Leo and Stella together. Bringing back the fairytale genre of a Happy Ever After.
Natalie Palmer
DeleteThis story is one of my favorites that we have read so far in this class.
I like how you point out how Salzman is like a fairy godmother. He's not virtuous, but in fact twists the truth. He gives us a very fairytale feel, especially with how elusive and mulch-faceted he is.
When I first started to read this, I didn't pick up on the fact that it was a fairytale until I scrutinized it later on. I didn't associate Salzman with any mythological wish-giver, but just a man whose job was to match two people. It wasn't until the end of the story that it all clicked for me, but it made the journey all the more satisfying.
We have learned in depth how Jewish people mainly arranged marriages before coming to America. When Leo first begins his search for a wife, love is not part of his list of requirements. When he finally does fall in love with Stella, it signifies two things: a good fairytale ending, but also a deeper message of how Leo submerged himself within American culture. This is not to say that Jewish arranged marriages never ended in love, but it becomes a major key role in his eventual happy ending.
Salzman is like an anchor of traditional Jewish values, trying to persuade Leo away from marrying Stella for love. Leo, on the other hand, assimilates, and we get an idea of how Leo has changed as a person.
Hailey, your assessment of this story was very accurate. Your points helped me understand the true meaning of this story and condense it into a simplified version of the whole.
I really enjoyed this story!
Jasmine Cox
ReplyDeleteI wrote about The Magic Barrel for my own paper, but after talking about it in more detail class, I've realized that there are a lot of other interesting factors of the story. Honestly, I didn’t even realize that the story mirrored a fairytale until we talked about it in class. I felt like that was something that definitely jumped out at me after I read it a third time, but it’s also way easier to catch once a professor has pointed it out. On the other hand, the main topic I elaborated on was tone, and how the entire environment and mood changes as Leo seems to find someone he likes, realizes it's all a lie, then truly finds someone he wants to be with forever. While this is still an important part of the story, the most interesting thing that I caught after looking much more in depth to the piece is how Malamud uses the mannerisms and personalities of every character to literally tell the story. Salzman's character is old, disheveled, and stuck to old world traditions, (which also explains the eating of the fish, match-making). He doesn't want Leo to fall in love with his daughter, like most fathers, and at the same time, that sets up one of the main problems of the story for Leo. With Leo's character, he is at first made out to be a hard-working, determined scholar who only needs a wife to further his career. As his character ultimately changes and finds what he really needs in life, the story takes multiple turns (following Leo’s mood and desires). Leo meets Lily when he is at his most vulnerable in the story, and Lily is very innocent and vulnerable herself. Once Leo decides to rebel, go with his gut, and make the final decision to do whatever it takes to be with Stella, he also ultimately makes the decision to back away from his studies and settle down with a woman that he would’ve never before thought of being with. I may be looking at the story from a weird perspective in this way, but the fact that all of the characters had a different effect on the outcome of what happened to every other character really jumped out at me in this story. It was all a chain of reactions, and it was all because each character had a different point of view on the subject of love and what is really important in life.
After reading Isaac Bashevis Singer's "Gimpel the Fool", I had very mixed feelings about what I had just read. At the beginning of the story, I was under the assumption that all these stories of Gimpel being fooled by everyone in town was just a set-up for a definite change of luck that was about to happen for Gimpel. However, I was most definitely proven wrong on that assumption. The story goes on with a continuous stream of bad luck for Gimpel; he marries a wretched woman who is continuously unfaithful to him but refuses to sleep with him. In addition to that, she gives birth to six children who aren’t his and forces him to raise them. What I found most interesting about all this is that Gimpel did not hesitate to submit to his wife, nor anyone else for that matter. He seemed to portray the stereotypical Jewish man who is basically a doormat and lets everyone walk all over him, especially his wife. I recognized the fact that this story most definitely played out the common matriarchal structure that is in many Jewish families, but I was completely baffled at the extent to which Singer took it.
ReplyDeleteAside from being very taken aback by how much of a wuss Gimpel was in the story, I was very conflicted as to whether or not I should root for the main protagonist that is Gimpel. In fact, I wasn’t even sure that he was a protagonist, because I got really annoyed with him after awhile. At the beginning of the story, I was on Gimpel’s side. I, along with Gimpel, was quite frustrated with the way people treated him. I want him to retaliate on them; to prove them wrong. However, after awhile, I began to become very frustrated with Gimpel and the way in which he was a complete push-over. I slowly stopping feeling sorry for Gimpel, but I didn’t hate him. I still, in a way, wanted him to succeed. I thought it was very admirable of Gimpel to be so optimistic and forgiving of everyone, but I wanted him to stand up for himself. Of course, one can imagine I was even more taken aback when he forgives his wife at the end of the story for being so unfaithful to him after all those years. Although the end of the story did have somewhat of a happy ending for Gimpel, seeing as how he finally decided to go out and live life on his own, despite what everybody else thought, I’m still perplexed as to what Singer was trying to achieve with this particular story. Although I’m aware that one doesn’t necessarily have to know why the writer is writing a particular story in order to enjoy it, I still found myself being very curious as to what the meaning behind it all was. But, on the other hand, I suppose that in itself could have been Singer’s whole point behind writing this story: to grab the reader’s attention and get them to stop over-analyzing every bit of text they ever read. And then I wondered, maybe that’s the whole beauty of it: that it simply is what it is.
I agree with you. At the beginning of the story, I felt bad for Gimpel. The entire town made fun of him, used him as the butt of their jokes and wouldn’t even let him stand up for himself. For his part, he took it all in stride and resorted to faith to get through it which proves him to be a much bigger person than those around him. There is a difference, however, between letting things go and not standing up for yourself. In the case of his wife Elka, Gimpel was simply a doormat. She used him. Every marriage has problems, but she slept around on him, never once consummated their marriage, wasn’t honest with him, and most likely didn’t love him. Worst of all though, she made him doubt himself. It’s one thing to trick someone and another thing to make them think that it was all in their head. Gimpel never stood up for himself. He convinced himself that it never happened and forgave her, even though she continued being terrible to him. One her deathbed, he forgave her even though she admitted to deceiving him. She didn’t repent or ask for forgiveness. God didn’t forgive her, evidenced by the fact that Gimpel dreamed of her visiting from hell, so I don’t understand why he did. Gimpel really was a fool for letting everyone take advantage of him for his whole life. Which is made even worse by the fact that he wasn’t stupid. He knew they were doing it. He just never did anything about it.
DeleteKendall Torres
In the Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud, A young Rabbi, Leo, finds that he doesn’t have enough time to date and find a wife so he hires a matchmaker, Salzman, to help find him a potential match. Long story short, Leo is very picky and doesn’t like any of the women that Salzman picks out for him. After a while, Leo finds a girl he thinks is perfect for him and it happens to be Salzman’s daughter.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing that stood out to me in this story was the perception that Jewish men have a very hard time with dating and courtship of women in America. In my opinion, this is because before the Jews began to immigrate to America, wives were picked by the families of Jewish men, hence making them oblivious to the American way of dating before marriage. I feel like many Jewish writers use this to show the assimilation of the Jewish man into America.
In the Magic Barrel, Malamud clearly portrays Leo’s inability to woo any girl that he decides to take on a date. Leo is shown as awkward and uncomfortable during his date with Lily. During their date, Lily asks Leo about being a Rabbi and how he came to choosing this profession. Normally, a person would be very comfortable talking about their profession because it is something they are clearly interested in. But in Leo’s case, he tries to change the subject and almost seems at a loss for words about his own profession. Then almost out of nowhere, he becomes angry with her and starts talking about how he only became a Rabbi because he didn’t like God, which makes absolutely no sense. Even Leo is started at the words coming out of his own mouth. It got to the point where he made Lily so uncomfortable that she “wilted” which basically ruined the rest of the evening.
In the end, it seems as though, to go along with all of the other characteristics that come along with being a Jewish immigrant, that the inability to court and date a women is a lost art that shows that there may never be full assimilation into the American lifestyle.
I agree with josh in that Leo's behavior towards his profession is quite bizarre and how he reacts to Lily's questions are baffling. In the beginning he seems willing to find a wife to be a successful rabbi but as the story continues and he is unable to court a woman. As a woman this would be a disastrous date and would not woo any woman, clearly showing how hard it was for Leo to have the correct etiquette for a first date. I do believe that it is similar to how hard it was for Jewish men to court a woman because woman tend to want chemistry and love but this was not as important to the men as the salzman scoffed at Leo for wanting "love", because to him and others love is comfort more like a business deal than a loving intimate relationship. This is definitely a "lost art" as Josh put it by showing how Leo was lost in courting a woman and that he was actually rude when Lily was talking about normal first date conversation, although unknowingly she has hitting the nail on the head with Leo's inner struggle with religion and life. She doesn't realize these questions are questions that Leo has been asking himself as he is only studying to be a rabbi, and is not actually one yet, which he lets no one forget. This inevideably leads to Leo realizing that he does need more than a business arrangement and needs passionate love, which is also a turning point in his faith as he is starting to reject it more and become more of a reform Jewish man.
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DeleteJustin Huntman
ReplyDeleteThe Magic Barrel is very interesting read which does a great Job analyzing the Battle of Religion vs Society that’s Jewish Americans faced in the past. The problem arises from the history of Judaism, where they where matched up using a match maker, and marriage was more about the finical future of the family and less about love. But in America the importance of marriage is about the love between the two people and not the finical situation that the couple would be in upon marriage. Many would feel that the American way is pure for people but don’t see how the old way of using a match maker was important for the survival of families. But in the Magic Barrel Leo is not doing it for the finical reason that most Jews used a match maker for , but is using for the lack of his ability to date. This was a problem in the Jewish Community because historically they did not know how to date so it ran into problems when American society wanted them to do date and involve into the American Dating scene. The problems arose for match makers in America when Jews really started to take on the dating scene and moved away from using match makers. This is that start of the death of the need for match makers in American society. Its is shown in the novel by the slowing of need for Matches in American society. We experience the Culture change threw Leo. We start off in the beginning of the seeing how Leo wants to use the Match Maker but as time passes in the book we see how Leos views change. As with society we see Leo move away form using the match maker for his needs which was to find a spouse for his job but instead wanted to find some one for true love. He didn’t care how she fit in to what would need to be his plans for the future but instead wanted to marry her because he loved her. This showed the transformation of Jewish society and how it compared to and transformed into American Society. It shows the battle Leo had to fight between his Jewish heritage which has someone who was studying to be a rabbi he held dear to him self vs American Society which as an American he begin to see the importance of dating.
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I agree with Justin's analysis of the story "The Magic Barrel." The story manipulates ideals of the past that have been practiced for centuries. Leo is lost in the idea of love and finds it difficult to find someone to have a relationship with. These matchmaking services are still relevant in the world today. Although, for the most part, they are not found in America today, Matchmaking still occurs in abundance around the world. I know, personally, that these financially-based relationships still occur in such places like India. There, the people value the importance of a strong background in culture and education before consideration of a possible marriage. In most cases, situations like the one between Leo and Lily occur due to the informality of being set up with a random person. Lily was left in awe by the statements made by Leo, statements that were made because of his inexperience with women. Now we live in a world where love is not usually found in the first attempt at a relationship and we rely on our own judgement to determine whether or not there is a connection. This story exemplifies the importance of experience before action, and embraces the importance of putting the time in to find the right person. Leo may think he loves Stella based upon her picture but he must put the time and effort in to discover true love. The matchmaker was not focused on the right things when finding a partner for Leo. He had his own, premeditated perception of the right woman which may be on the other end of the spectrum in Leo's case.
DeleteI find the story of the magic barrel to be that of old time Judaism. Matchmaking has become obsolete and an outdated way of life. Although once part of the Jewish religion, matchmaking is no longer truly viewed as the way of marriage among reform and reconstrucitvist Jews. Most Jews seek out regular relationships with that of courtship and other aspects of modern life.
ReplyDeleteIn the story, Leo is matched up and paired with girls because of the constant stress of being a rabbinical student and studying to be a rabbi. He can’t find any matches and in the end, ultimately chooses a girl he thought would be a fitting wife for him. With a matchmaker present, Leo still goes with the girl he originally felt was right for him. This hints at the modernization of the Jewish religion. Instead of going with the girls presented to him by Salzman (old time Jewish practices), Leo ends up choosing the girl he originally wanted to be set up with, Salzman’s daughter. He further strays from the Jewish religion and attempts to modernize himself when he shaves his beard in order to impress the girl of his choice. The beard, a great sign of Judaism and of rabbis, is cut in order to impress a female, and an innate attempt to modernize his way of life.
I feel the overall meaning to the story is the message that Jewish ways of life are becoming modernized and Amercanized. Being written extremely close to post World War II, the main focus of American immigrant Jews was to fit in to and become a part of a new society. The way to achieve these goals was to stray from old ideologies and adapt or assimilate to new ways of life. In the story, at the end, we discover that Leo is straying away and shunning his former thinking and goals to be a rabbi. He can no longer stand the idea of becoming a rabbi, and ultimately feels that actually falling in love and living your life should be the main goal in a person’s life.
All in all, the main idea, to me, is that the magic barrel is a story to explain many refugee Jews ideas to assimilate and become part of Amercanized life. To them, they didn’t fit into a previous society, as discovered by the events from 1939-1945, and wished to fit into a new community and society. They became what society wanted them to be and almost had to embrace it.
I agree with Brett that this story represents old Judaism and the modernization of the American Jew. Leo is studying to be a rabbi but once he starts trying to find a wife his thoughts change. He shaves or trims his beard which rabbis don’t do. I also agree with Brett that the Jews almost had a feeling that they needed to assimilate so that they could fit in. That’s why I think Leo falls for Stella, Salzmans daughter. She gives off a vibe of independence and strength. She’s been through a lot but has dealt with her decisions and the consequences through her somewhat young life. With this independence seen through the photo Leo finally starts to realize he needs to make real decisions. That’s why the Jewish community is becoming modernized the old Jewish faith doesn’t really fit in with the new America.
DeleteI definitely agree that one of the main points of the story is the acculturation of matchmaking in modern day society. It makes sense that one of the only people still using this seemingly outdated system would be a soon to be rabbi, as he has no time for social activities, let alone spending time somewhere socially acceptable where he could meet women. I do however disagree on one point of your post, Salzman's daughter is in no way the girl he originally wanted to be set up with. Not finding her picture till the end of the story, and the fact that he attempts to be set up with her by Salzman after he has given up faith in the system, to me shows that although being modernized (as he is the one that did the choosing) there is still a sense of importance of tradition. As much as Leo tries to get away from Judaism, shunning the matchmaking system, struggling with his faith, etc, he finishes the story by attempting to date a jewish girl. I do agree that the main idea is depicting how many jewish refugees had to assimilate and become part of American life. Clearly all of their traditions and ways of life will no longer work in modern day American society, and this story does a beautiful job of blending both old and new ways of life.
DeleteDesiree Amadeo
ReplyDeleteThe Magic Barrel served as a menagerie of skillfully utilized writing techniques working together to achieve a cohesive and entertaining result. First, Malamud neatly encompasses many of the Jewish-American themes we’ve discussed in class in ‘The Magic Barrel.’ First, there’s the theme of self-identity – Finkle is so close to being a rabbi and is preparing his life around that expectancy, but is also clearly not one yet and does not wish to be referred to as one, as he repeatedly tells Salzman. However, he lacks any other social context on which to base his identity – his parents are in a different city and he has no friends. This leaves the reader viewing him as a rabbi. Next, we find themes of assimilation and Jewish reformation. The rabbi is not as interested in finding an upstanding Jewish girl, but instead one who is “American” or without fault. He feels as though a real American girl would have no need for a matchmaker. The idea of a marriage broker itself is something that is innately Jewish and not always a fall back plan for those who can’t find love on their own. So it is interesting enough to begin with that he’d go to a matchmaker to find the perfect American girl, but it’s also representative of assimilation that he’s so avidly seeking an American - initially considering his religious leadership you’d assume him to be desirous of a religious woman.
Besides these more commonly utilized themes in Jewish-American literature, there were other elements in the text pertaining to Finkle that surprised me. Besides him seeking an American, Finkle also sought perfection. This caused many thoughts to surface in relation to his Jewish background: I think Finkle’s desire for perfection comes from his this religiousness. His life in religion thus far has been comprised of seeking – and admiring – perfection. Judaism, a monotheistic religion that centers around perfection, follows God devoutly because of His perfection and sees no other option for God besides this one perfect match. Would Finkle not be prone to consider perfection as the catalyst for earthly, romantic love, as well? This ties him beautifully to his connection with the “sinner” at the end.
I also noticed that Finkle, though in theory he was clear in his beginning desires, could only clearly state what he didn’t want – a widow, someone older than him, etc. While he asserted he knew what he was looking for, he never stated it. This facet of the story was not overplayed, though, which lends to the story’s overall brilliantly subtle release of information that grows until the reader reaches the end and all is revealed.
The last thing that spoke to me was the duality of respect and disrespect Malamud shows for his heritage in the text and how well they blend together. On the one hand, I was astounded the author would even write a story about a man who finds love upon realizing his interest in God was due to his dislike of Him. This clearly shows the theme of assimilation and at first glance implies that Malamud may be bitter towards, and mocking of, his heritage. On further consideration, though, he also honors his heritage by telling a story about a matchmaker that successfully creates love through his endeavors and does so in present America – a tale that respects his heritage by honoring the matchmaker in it. ‘The Magic Barrel’ is not the first time we’ve seen this duality – as discussed in class ‘How I Found America’ could also be interpreted in two different ways, one honoring Yezierska’s heritage and the other rebelling against it. I’d be interested to see how frequently this duality is seen in Jewish-American fiction and explore the authors’ varying relationships to their past.
Briana Cherry-Bronson
ReplyDeleteArranged marriages are marriages planned and agreed to by the families or guardians of the bride and groom, who have little or no say in the matter themselves.
In Haredi communities, majority of the marriages are arranged by a professional match-maker (“shadchan”) who receives a “brokerage-fee” for his or her services. The parents may be actively involed in the matchmaking procedure, but the couple is not forced to marry. On the other hand, the Shidduch have a system of arranged introduction rather than arranged marriages.
In the short story, Magical Barrel, the main character Leo Finkle is a hardworking student, who is lonely and has no time for a social life. He decides since he is done with his studies, that it is time to find a wife. He finds Salzman, the matchmakers; ad in the paper and later met up with him.
Before doing my research on Jewish arranged marriages, I was confused by the way the match-maker went about his business. He pulled out cards of these women information and was selling them like cars. He had a sells-pitch, there father has this much money and they can do this and that. I was disgusted by the way these women were basically being sold.
Later, I then compared the way Salzman spoke of these women to the way modern way Americans are starting to find a loved one, Match.com. The way Salzman lied about these women, is similar to someone lying on there Match.com profile. Leo’s decision was based on a picture and some false information. And that same goes for Match.com, your basically having to judge a book by its cover with some false advertisement on the side.
In this short story the sections I was confused about were: During Leo’s date with Lily, why was he so angry with her personal question. Was he angry at the fact Salzman lied or angry because Lily brought up a touchy subject, religion? Then when Leo went to find Salzman, why was his location so mysterious? He was a mysterious character from the beginning, but his wife seemed to be as confused as Leo was. Also I was confused about Salzman reaction to Leo picking “his baby Stella”, was Stella Salzma’s daughter? And why would he want her to burn in hell?
This story was very interesting, even though it was lengthy, it kept my attention and I wanted to know more. And that was my reason for researching more information on Jewish arranged marragies and knowing that information after reading the short story made the story more interesting.
I agree a lot about the comparisons to match.com. I thought about similar things while reading this story. The cards are equivalent to online profiles, especially in the sense that you can't rely on them. It's interesting to me that many people lie online about their age in terms of dating, and that was still happening back them. What I also noticed, however, is how different things are valued back then in a woman. Salzman speaks often about the families they come from. I guess back then family status and honor was a much bigger theme for the time. Also the idea that money is offered for marrying someone is crazy to me. Something else that stood out was how shallow Leo was when looking for a wife. You would think after not being able to find one himself he would be humble, but I guess since he's about to become a Rabi he's grown an inflated ego. All he seems to care about his there age, and that there young, even more than how they might look.
DeleteThe date Salzman went on seemed extremely awkward to me. Blind dates can be that way, but Salzman seems to have a lot of trouble conversing with women. In this case, however, I was surprised by what a personal question she asked him right away. I thought this was very inappropriate and can see why Salzman became so upset.
Overall I found this to be a very enjoyable read because of how different is was from what else I've read. Also It gave me insight to a brand new topic for me.