Gimpel
In the short stories ‘Gimpel the Fool” and “Death of a Traveling Salesman” we meet two characters that are vastly different and yet very similar. One is Gimpel, a naïve Jew living in Russia that is the joke of the town, Frampol. The other is R.J. Bowman, a traveling salesman, who is judgmental and rather suspicious about most things. Bowman in the story is very sick and has had a car accident where he needs to retrieve his car from a ditch and receives help from a couple that lives in the area. The two are very similar in that they both change in personality, Bowman becomes less cynical and suspicious by being helped, while Gimpel becomes much less naïve by being neglected and mistreated. Gimpel is portrayed by Singer as a role model, while is sharp contrast Welty depicts Bowman as the opposite, who realizes his inequities too late.
In the Gimpel story, Singer presents the main character in a fashion that the reader is very sympathetic for him. The stereo typical “nerd”, an outcast that is rejected society. Gimpel is troubled by the hecklers that antagonize him and often seeks help. “I went to the rabbi to get some advice. He said, “It is written, better to be a fool all your days than for one hour be evil.” (Singer 197) The rabbis are the only ones in the story who don’t deceive Gimpel.
Gimpel is forced into a marriage to with Elka a sinful woman, with a nasty mouth. “They were afraid to start anything with Elka. Her mouth would open as if it were on a hinge, and she had a fierce tongue.” (Singer 197)
Gimpel is quite aware of her notoriety. “I cried, “you’re wasting your time. I’ll never marry that whore.” Gimpel sees marriage as an escape in being the town’s joke so he weds Elka. He loves Elka though she neglects him and cheats on him his love stands. This is a possible allusion to the book of Hosea. His character is also evident in the fact that he loves children that he knows are not his. Though he is treated bad he is still thankful for his family, showing his humbleness. “…I am a man, the husband of a fine wife, the father of promising children.
The starting of the story kept me in suspense: the starting sentence, “No one can accuse Philippa and me of having married in haste” (Fox 1). This clearly brought up the theme of love and marriage. The selection of words by the narrator told that the speaker did not regret his marriage. The defensive tone of the narrator made me to think that perhaps people had criticized his marriage.
Grendel's mother, woman, monster-wife, was mindful of her misery, she who had to dwell in the terrible water, the cold currents, after Cain became sword-slayer of his only brother, his father's own son. Then Cain went as an outlaw to flee the cheerful life of men, marked for his murder, held to the wasteland. From him sprang many a devil sent by fate. Grendel was one of them, hateful outcast who at Herot found a waking man waiting his warfare. There a monster had laid hold upon him...Then he went off wretched, bereft of joy, to seek his dying place, enemy of mankind. And his mother, still greedy and gallows-grin, would go on a sorrowful venture, avenge her son's death".
Within Death of a Salesman, there are many themes, motifs and symbolism shown to help readers and audiences alike understand the writing. Arthur Miller implemented these developmental characteristics through showing the theme of success and failure, features of a tragic hero and the germination within characters. Through Millers writing, it is shown that the American Dream does not always end in a happy
In each of these three texts there are characters who fit the stereotypes that society has instilled in them, but then there are those characters who noticeably differ from the norm; According to 19th century novelist Alfred de Musset “how glorious it is – and how painful – to be an exception.” Hence this statement can be seen as applicable to these characters, because in all three texts these characters do end up losing a lot. In ‘Death of a salesman,’ Miller uses Willy to depict the common man who “is as apt a subject for tragedy in its highest sense as kings were.” Willy is a character whom is referred to as a “tragic hero” because he has been suppressed by society from succeeding as a salesman, and has been forced to “put thirty-four years into this firm....
The Ontological Argument, which argues from a definition of God’s being to his existence, is the first type of argument we are going to examine. Since this argument was founded by Saint Anslem, we will be examining his writings. Saint Anslem starts by defining God as an all-perfect being, or rather as a being containing all conceivable perfections. Now if in addition of possessing all conceivable perfections t...
Gimpel The Fool is a short story by Issac Bashevis Singer. The whole story revolves around the main character Gimpel. Gimpel the fool, which he is called by the Jewish town of Frampol, is always being made fun of and also has teased by them. Gimpel transformation through tough situations and his strong beliefs help improve his development as a character, makes him simply not a fool.
The monsters in Beowulf are portrayed as the harbingers of death, despair, and destruction. The crimes in which they commit against human-kind are so grotesque, so evil, that it seems inconceivable that such creatures could exist. But these monsters are not just mere figments of the imagination. Rather they are the inverted ideals of Germanic societal values and reflections of human immorality. While the envious, fratricidal Grendel and the greedy dragon are inverted ideals of Germanic warriors and kings, Grendel’s mother is an inverted ideal woman. In a society where a woman’s role is to serve her husband by being a gracious and hospitable hostess that establishes peace between men, exemplified by the figures of Wealhtheow and Hygd, Grendel’s mother defies such gender roles. Grendel’s mother is an unmarried outcast who embodies inhospitality, tempestuousness, and
In the stories "Death of A Salesman," and "A Doll's House," there are many similarities. I went on to pick one character from each story whom's similarity interested me the most. The characters I picked were Willy Loman from "Death of A Salesman," and Torvald Helmer of "A Doll's House." I picked these characters because of their motivation to make it to become successful.
...ter about themselves the way they treated him. The townspeople never really showed any morals (superego) to Gimpel or any respect. All they showed was lack of respect and ridicule.
Finding a mate is hard for Grendel, especially because he’s the last of his species. However, he still has the same emotions as humans when it comes to love. He first encounters these unfamiliar emotions when Hrothgar is given a wife named Wealtheow. Grendel thinks she is beautiful, and starts to rethink his war on the humans when he contemplates killing Wealtheow, saying to himself “It would be meaningless, killing her. As meaningless as letting her live. It would be, for me, mere pointless pleasure, an illusion of order for this one frail, foolish, flicker-flash in the long dull fall of eternity.” (108). Even though he is a monster, he still feels the same emotion of love that humans do.
works of literature have tremendous amounts of similarity especially in the characters. Each character is usually unique and symbolizes the quality of a person in the real world. But in both stories, each character was alike, they represented honor, loyalty, chivalry, strength and wisdom. Each character is faced with a difficult decision as well as a journey in which they have to determine how to save their own lives. Both these pieces of literatures are exquisite and extremely interesting in their own ways.
In the book Seeing Voices, the author describes the world of the deaf, which he explores with extreme passion. The book begins with the history of deaf people in the United States of America, the horrible ways in which they had been seen and treated, and their continuing struggle to gain hospitality in the hearing world. Seeing Voices also examines the visual language of the deaf, sign language, which is as expressive and as rich as any spoken language. This book covers a variety of topics in deaf studies, which includes sign language, the neurology of deafness, the treatment of Deaf American citizens in history, and the linguistic and social challenges that the deaf community face. In this book, Oliver Sacks does not view the deaf as people having a condition that can be treated, instead he sees the deaf more like a racial group. This book is divided into three parts. In the first part, Oliver Sacks states a strong case for sign language, saying it is in fact a complete language and that it is as comprehensive as English, French, Chinese, and any other spoken language. He also describes the unhappy story of oralism (this is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech)) in deaf children’s education. In addition, the first part is about the history of deaf people as well as information about deafness. It also includes the author’s own introduction to the world of the deaf.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Seventh Edition. X.J. Kennedy, and Dana Gioia. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1999. 1636-1707.
Anselm state, “And assuredly, that than which nothing greater can be conceived cannot exist in the understanding alone: then it can be conceived to exist in reality, which is greater.” By stating this he is trying to say that God is something than which nothing greater can be conceived cannot exist only in the understanding. If God existed only in the understanding, we could conceive something greater which exists in the understanding and in reality as well. If this holds true then it is impossible for us to conceive of something greater than God because God is defined as something greater than what can be conceived. Things that exist in reality are greater than things that exist only in our minds. Things that exist in the mind as ideas are secondary to things that actually exist in reality. If God only exist in the mind as a concept and not in reality, then the definition of God as being the greatest thing would not hold true. In order for this definition to be true God must also exist in reality. So if you are thinking of God, then he must exist in reality. If you aren’t, then you are not thinking of
Poor Gimpel; everyday life is not easy for the everyday bread maker. Every day he is the target of jokes and pranks from the townspeople, some of which are really cruel. I sympathize with poor Gimpel; I remember how it felt getting bullied and mistreated like Gimpel. I know how it feels to be mistreated in such a way. Later on, he is betrayed by his own wife, Elka for numerous infidelities. Just because Gimpel lets all the townspeople screw around with him and Elka lie to him constantly, does that really make him a fool? Is Gimpel really any bit dopey, incompetent, or lack moral thought? Singer portrays Gimpel as a fool in his story, “Gimpel the Fool,” but he is truly not because he shows self-awareness, true feelings, and even wisdom.