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Sholem Aleichem, Tevye the Dairyman: p.3-69
Contributor: Steve Fan
Summary:
Tevye Strikes it Rich
In this first story, we are introduced to Tevye, the traditional (stereotypical) Jew who
lives outside Boiberik, a summer locale for “the rich Yehupetz Jews.” The story follows
his providential tale of good fortune, enabling him to quit hauling logs and become a
dairyman. On his way back home one evening, he encounters two old women and at first
hesitantly gives them a lift. He is rewarded by their rich Jewish families with money, a
cow, and some food, but does not stay long because he could not enjoy such pleasures if
he cannot share it with his family.
Tevye Blows a Small Fortune
The high note that the last story ended on is quickly upended. Tevye is naively
persuaded to invest money with his distant cousin, Menachem Mendl. Tevye is taken in
by Mendl’s impressive tales of easy earnings and innocently gives over his money, won
by dreams by becoming equal in stature to the rich Jews who he currently finds so much
fault with. Apparently, Mendl is living in Yehupetz illegally, but when Tevye returns he
realizes that Mendl is extremely foolhardy and has lost all of his money by trying to play
the stock market.
Today’s Children
Tevye gives his eldest daughter Tsatyl’s hand in marriage to the economically well-off
Lazyer Wolf, a butcher. Here, he again imagines that he will finally be rewarded for his
troubles by marrying into a rich family. But Tevye gives into Tsatyl’s wishes to marry
the poor Motl, a tailor. Conceding to the liking he has for Motl, Tevye conceives a story
of seeing his wife’s grandmother in a dream/vision, warning against marrying the butcher.
Generational gap—where personal choice is valued over tradition.
Hodl
In this story, Tevye meets Pertchik (Peppercorn), a revolutionary. While Peppercorn has
many ideas that Tevye finds too revolutionary, he generally likes the boy for his
intelligence and willingness to question. Peppercorn and his daughter Hodl fall in love
after he introduces Peppercorn to his family, but unfortunately Peppercorn is exiled and
Hodl chooses to go with him. The generational gap and challenge of new ideas such as
socialism are evident: while Tevye accepts, to some extent, the gap between the rich and
the poor as the way things are, Peppercorn will not do so.
Important Themes/Analysis:
Here, we are presented through Tevye, the traditional Jew. This also introduces the idea
of the “pre-modern” Jew, one easily frightened, and insecure in many aspects of his life.
Beginning in these chapters, we see how the traditional Jew is challenged with 1. the
economic opportunities in the disparity between the rich Jews, those who lack a cohesive
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community, and those such as Tevye or Menachem Mendl, or the 2. different hierarchy
of values between generations: between new ways of handling marriage based on
personal choice and love through Tsatyl rather than arranged marriages through
economic security, where instead of marrying a wealthier, higher status, closer to
religious butcher, her love for the poor, lower status tailor, is what Tevye gives into.
Communication between generations is a constant theme, and it deteriorates
throughout—Motl has a difficult time in telling Tevye about he and Tsaytl’s wish to be
married, and and when discussing socialism, Hodl says that Tevye just doesn’t
understand.
The story of Tevye and his family is a paradigm of the fate of Russian Jewry. Each of
Tevye’s daughters falls in love with/marries a man who in some ways embodies distinct
historical moods, while Tevye’s is the traditional culture which slowly disintegrates after
each shock. Mendl represents the economic collapse of a community that has been
driven by its new culture of nonproductive speculation. The filial rebellion witnessed in
“Today’s Children” is mild compared to what follows in successive stories, where Hodl
defects with her husband to the revolutionary movement.
Through all of this, Tevye, holding to the boundaries of what it means to be a traditional
Jew, is tested. However, his lifestyle (as a caretaker of his female family), and his
attitudes about life, and his vocation, not as a middleman, set him apart from many
stereotypical Jews of his time period. He also remains a reactionary figure rather than an
active one, responding to all of these challenges rather than pre-empting or anticipating
them.
One of the important ideas here is the relationship that Tevye demonstrates in his
addresses to the author Sholem Aleichem. There is a sense of cultural security here
where even though there is a class distinction, the author understands the Yiddish jokes
and references that Tevye makes. They are culturally comfortable with each other and
Tevye knows that his world, although slowly facing challenges, is still very much present
(as opposed to Joseph K., with no cultural security at all).
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Sholem Aleichem, Tevye the Dairyman: p 69-131
Contributor: Josh Miller
Summary:
“Chava”:
Chava, Tevye’s third daughter, plans to marry Chvedka, a Christian. Tevye will hear
nothing of it, but Chava against Tevye’s wishes marries Chvedka anyway. Tevye is
furious and pretends there was “never any Chava to begin with”. A little later, he crosses
her path in the middle of the forest but drives right by her. He later questions himself
briefly on whether being a Jew or not a Jew matters (p81).
“Sphrintze”:
Aronchik, after attending Shavuos at Tevye’s home, falls for Tevye’s daughter, Sphrintze.
Tevye believes their marriage to be a good idea because after all, Aronchik is a
millionaire in Boiberik (who inherited his father’s estate). But Aronchik disappears and
Tevye goes looking for him, only to run into Aronchik’s Uncle. The uncle explains to
Tevye that Aronchik cannot marry into an unworthy “dairyman’s” family. The story
ends with Shprintze drowning herself in the river.
“Tevye Leaves for the Land of Israel”:
Golde, Tevye’s wife, has died. Reb Efrayim, the matchmaker, has found the perfect
match for Tevye’s youngest daughter Beilke. His name is Podhotzur, another millionaire,
“a second Brodsky”. Tevye finally does not care for the money and advises his daughter
not to marry Podhotzur. Nonetheless, Beilke insists on marrying him. Later on, Tevye
receives an urgent message from them to go to visit them in Yehupetz. There he finds
Beilke very unhappy and not able to “be herself”. He is told by Podhotzur: “with a
business like mine, a reputation like mine…I can’t afford to have a cheesemonger for a
father-in-law”. He is advised to leave the dairy line and go find a better job in Israel.
The hardest part about leaving was getting rid of his horse.
“Lekh-Lekho” (get thee out):
Tevye came back from the land of Israel on hearing the news that his son in law, Motl,
had died. Although he is pushing 70, he has gone back to the beginning. Tevye now has
to support a household of children again. He is not as robust anymore, but is still
determined to keep going. Podhotzur has gone broke and fled from his creditors to
America. Meanwhile, the Christians were planning on having a pogrom in Tevye’s
village – the “provincial governor’s doing”. All of the Jews have to leave. At this time,
Chava comes back to be with her family. Chava only utters the words “Papa” and Tevye,
being a father cannot turn her aside a second time.
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Important Themes/Analysis:
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Tevye normally seen as a man of reaction – when he says no to Chava’s
marriage, exhibits his first action
“Chava” represents the pivotal story – if Tevye gives in to her, he will cease to
be a Jew. Tevye is made in the image of his God. Disobeying that image
means disobeying his religion
Chava’s universalism: “Why do human beings have to be divided into Jews
and Christians, masters and slaves, beggars and millionaires…why did God
give us brains if we’re not supposed to use them?” She is the first person in
the story to put this question forward. But can this universalistic ideal work?
Chava ends up going back to her home when her family is driven out.
Judaism is in a subservient position politically therefore it is difficult for
Tevye to argue against the Christian priest.
Podhotzur (Tevye’s son-in-law) wants money to stop being a Jew; Tevye
wants money to become a better Jew. Theme of “Jewish” in “Modern Jewish
Literature”. Religion is much more important than money. Perhaps the
author purposely chose for Podhotzur to go broke in order to establish this
theme.
Tevye still maintains toughness and respect for his religion in spite of “LekhLekho” and all the suffering he faces: “The old God of Israel still lives.”
Most people are uncomfortable living with irony. Tevye believes very
strongly in God but yet he suffers so much. If Tevye can overcome the
liability of being a Jew, perhaps he can beat the world in its own game.
Tevye could also be considered as a traditional Jew (says his prayers when no
one is looking) but yet he is not traditional in other ways (such as his get rich
quick scheme). The self definition of a Jew has been changing greatly over
time. (The theme of “Modern” in “Modern Jewish Literature”). Does the
definition of Jews in the modern world incorporate such aspects as money and
materialism?
This book also has a lot to do with the testing of boundaries. Sholem
Aleichem through Tevye shows us how far these boundaries can be stretched.
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Franz Kafka, The Trial: Chapters 1-4
Contributor: Emil Pitkin
Summary:
Chapter 1: the arrest, conversation with Frau Grubach, then Fraulein Burstner
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“Someone must have been telling lies about Joseph K., for without having done
anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning.”
On his thirtieth birthday, uniformed warders inform him of arrest (K. can’t discern
what purpose the uniforms serve, appear almost to be a “tourist’s outfit”); Frau
Grubach the landlady is nowhere to be found.
“He had always been inclined to take things easily, to believe in the worst only
when the worst happened.”
K. questions warders, who cite the Law as the pretext for arrest. “Who accuses me?
What authority is conducting these proceedings? Are you officers of the law?”
receives no answers; mention of the Inspector.
Odd scene of “spectators” across the street – two old people and younger man
watch the proceedings inside K.’s apartment.
K. suggests a bribe, is rebuffed.
K.’s raison d’être: “Once order was restored, every trace of these events would be
obliterated and things would resume their old course.”
K., contrary to his habit, hurries from work. Frau Grubach doesn’t understand the
charges, or the circumstances of the arrests, but feels the situation “doesn’t need
to be understood.”
First discussion of Fraulein BÜrstner.
K. pays visit to F. Burstner’s room, against her objections to the time of visit.
K., when recounting the events of the day, labels the arresting apparatus the
“Court of Inquiry,” for he does not know what it actually is and “court of inquiry”
seems most natural.
“[K.] kissed her first on the lips, then all over the face, like some thirsty animal
lapping greedily at a spring of long-sought fresh water.”
Chapter 2: First interrogation.
K. declines Manager’s invitation to party in favor of his interrogation on Sunday.
K. pretends to search for a joiner called Lanz (Grubach’s nephew, the Captain
was also called Lanz), chooses stairs, finds himself in Court of Inquiry.
Opposition between the right and left sides of the hall (right seems to favor him)
K. structures his defense, concurrently attacks the “trial that is being foisted on
[him].”
Examining Magistrate toys with his notebook.
K., still in front of the Assembly continues to reason logically, question the
validity of the proceedings, the partiality of the Examining Magistrate, the
motives of the clappers.
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Perverse scene: man in corner, with small crowd circled around, is “clasping her
[the washerwoman] in his arms.”
K. bursts out of courtroom.
Chapter 3: In the empty courtroom; The student; The offices
While not notified, K. tacitly assumes that he is to arrive again at the courtroom.
Washerwoman offers her services to K.
“Law books” nothing more than popular literature and pornographic drawings.
The Examining Magistrate, as we find out, “writes long reports…such long
reports as that surely can’t be quite unimportant.”
Bertold the student (“this puffed up whippersnapper, this bandy-legged beaver”
(who had clasped the washerwoman during K.’s courtroom proceedings) appears
again and whisks the washerwoman away.
Man (washerwoman’s husband) surfaces from below. “As a rule all our cases are
foregone conclusions,” he insists.
K. climbs flight of stairs into the court offices, sees row of dejected, deplorable
prisoners. His question to the first one perplexes the prisoner who seems in a
daze.
K. himself is overcome by the suffocating stuffiness of the offices, feels weak in
the knees.
K. helped by lady and gentleman who are two more of the court’s employees.
They nearly suffocate when they bring K. outside into the fresh air.
Chapter 4: Fraulein Burstner’s friend
K. exerts all his efforts to communicate with Fraulein Burstner, is to this point
unsuccessful, as she refuses to grant him the “personal interview” he has been
requesting.
We learn from Frau Grubach that Fraulein Montag is moving in with Fraulein
Burstner
K. meets Montag over breakfast.
F. Montag and the Captain noiselessly watch K. wading through F. Burstner’s
room.
Important Themes/Analysis:
Themes to consider:
• The epistemological crisis which overwhelms K.’s world.
• The irrational: (the arrest, courtroom trial, general stipulations of the law,
irrationality of his relationship with Fraulein Burstner)
• Deracination: (The generic K., of no land, of no family, of no history, introduced
merely as 30-year old man, with no friends). No national, religious, or ethnic
identity.
• Innocence/Guilt. Relativity of terms. Is he guilty of being innocent? Definition
of these two terms in the context of a liberal democracy.
• The two laws: the one by which K. judges his situation, his prospects for
vindication. The other, the clandestine, which actually governs.
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Kafka, The Trial: Chapters 8-10
Short Summary:
8: K growing more and more frustrated with case, and decides to dismiss the Lawyer;
goes to his house, interrupts Leni (who is obsessed with condemned men) with Block, the
tradesman; tension between K. (whose relationships with women are rather strange and
compulsive) and Leni because of Block; the Lawyer is ill; Block and K. talk feverishly
about the Court and their cases, trying to get a handle on the madness engulfing them;
Block’s case is rather desperate, but he is still kicking feverishly (puts all money and
energy into his case); the fact that K. is dismissing the Lawyer is a HUGE deal to Block,
who jumps to the Lawyer’s defense angrily; Lawyer tries to unconvince K., but only
makes him more resolute (as the Lawyer’s tactics are obscure and seemingly futile,
despite how hard he says his job is); Lawyer sadistically and vindictively demonstrates
his control over Block to K., making Block supplicate and squirm like an animal;
CHAPTER WAS NEVER COMPLETED BY KAFKA
9: Tensions at bank with Assistant Manager, K.’s personal and professional life are going
to shit (continually fears mistakes, being exposed); volunteers to take Italian on tour of
Cathedral; but the Cathedral is deserted, and incredibly eerie; the whole structure is
oppressive, not glorious as it should be; even the preacher’s pulpit is constructed to
seemingly torture him; priest ready to preach to empty cathedral; he calls “Joseph K!”,
showing that the Court will indeed find him anywhere; they talk about his case; long,
convoluted parable of the seemingly sadistic Doorkeeper denying the country man entry
to the law for his entire life, only to tell him at his death that the door was meant precisely
for him; the Parable seemingly makes no sense, and the Priest makes it seem even more
insane by analyzing it every which way, twisting it to all different conclusions (so
perhaps there can be no sturdy conclusion in this mad world);
10: Book ends as it began, on K.’s birthday; men once again come to his door; they are
ever so polite, take K. from his apartment; Fraulein Burstner makes a last appearance;
something about her makes k “realize the futility of resistance” and goes like a lamb to
the slaughter; it is a formality- they even pat him on back for reassurance, and exchange
formalities about who will do the deed; they take him to a quarry and slit his throat; he
dies without redemption, “like a dog.”
Themes and Lecture Ideas:
• Scariest quote: “The Court admits you when you come, and dismisses you when
you go… The Court cares nothing for you.”
• The Cathedral is a Christian symbol, and the Talmudic (exogenical) argument is a
Jewish one; clearly, neither matter anymore. There is no more morality, no clear
moral meaning, in the Parable or in this world. This is Nietzche’s release from
God, but it is not freeing
• Not a shred of redemption to be had at his death
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Block is an important character for comparison (in this book and others) because
of the way he approaches his predicament
Totalitarianism: indeed penetrating every facet of K’s life
Arbitrary targeting by some external “Law” present in many of the books,
including Tevye and Survival in Auschwitz
The prevailing feeling in this book is of UNCERTAINTY for K. and for the
reader; what in the world is going on, and more importantly, why? In other books,
there is a certainty of right and wrong, good and evil, but here all is wacky.
However, the ways in which characters respond is different: Tevye not surprised,
nor is Levi really; K. however fights with a misguided rationality (in an illogical
world) till almost the end; characters in some other books realize the irrationality
of the world around them
We know very little about K.; he is vague, and kind of strange, no real
relationships. He is also removed from any cultural placement, or even a last
name.
Is this the logical conclusion of a world without religion, or Chava’s ecumenical
world where everyone is interchangeable and equal (i.e. also equal to be targeted)
How can K. prove his innocence without a clear set of rules?
On some level, he is subjecting himself to this, does not try to escape; initiates
whipping scene by accusing the men, and by opening the door itself
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Isaac Babel, Red Cavalry: 39-69
Contributor: Dan Sachs
Summary:
“Crossing the River Zbrucz”—The cavalry transport arrives in Novograd and Lyutov is
quartered with a Jewish family. Their house has been ransacked and the head of the
household murdered by the Poles.
“The Church in Novograd”—Lyutov joins a group of Cossack soldiers who seize the
wealth that the Novograd priest had been hoarding. Lyutov spends his time investigating
the church instead of searching for gold. He is extremely put off by the entire situation,
remarking “I have to get away from here, away from these winking Madonnas conned by
soldiers.”
“A Letter”—Kurdyukov dictates a letter home to Lyutov. The letter tells of how his
father, a White, killed his brother, a Red, in cold blood. Later, Kurdyukov and another
brother encountered their father and took revenge.
“The Reserve Cavalry Commander”—The reserve cavalry commander, Dyakov, is a
former circus rider who has skills like The Horse Whisperer. When peasants start
complaining about how the cavalry keeps taking their workhorses and giving their wornout horses that can barely stand in return, Dyakov demonstrates how he is able to get a
horse on the verge of death to stand up. Basically, he’s just messing with them.
“Pan Apolek”—Pan Apolek is an artist who made money by painting biblical scenes and
putting the faces of local figures on the characters. When he made such paintings for the
church, it was a scandal. This, of course, only made business brisker. Apolek stayed in
Novograd, and Lyutov meets him. Apolek tells him a heretical story about Jesus sleeping
with a woman.
“Italian Sun”—Lyutov secretly reads a letter written by his roommate, Sidorov. Sidorov
is revealed to be a crazy anarchist. Because of his injuries, Sidorov cannot fight. He asks
Victoria to use her connections to get him to Italy, where he wants to kill the king.
“Gedali”—The arrival of the Sabbath evokes memories of Lyutov’s childhood. He
follows a “Jewish star” as it says in the footnote to Gedali’s shop in the bazaar. Gedali is
an old Hasidic Jew who sells junk. Lyutov and Gedali have a conversation about the war
and the Revolution. Gedali wants a different kind of revolution, the coming of the
messiah. Gedali asks how the people should swallow the International, and Lyutov says
“With gunpowder…and seasoned with the best blood.” Lyutov asks where to find Jewish
tea and biscuits and Gedali says there isn’t any. Gedali goes to the synagogue.
“My First Goose”— Lyutov is an outsider among the Cossacks because he is Jewish,
small, intelligent, and wears glasses. One day he gets hungry and when the house
mistress says she doesn’t feel like cooking, he kills a goose and makes her cook it for him.
The Cossacks see this and accept him a little more. They call him over to eat with them,
and he reads a speech by Lenin to them from the newspaper. The Cossacks admit that
they are not intelligent, but that they appreciate the truth of Lenin’s speech.
Important Themes/Analysis:
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-Narrator- crucial element of the stories. Lyutov is often the narrator, although Babel
uses various devices to get other narrators in, like when Lyutov reads Sidorov’s letter or
when Kurdyukov dictates a letter to Lyutov.
-Externality- When Lyutov is narrating, he provides incredibly detailed descriptions of
external events and places. However, he never turns his descriptive powers to his own
psyche. Thus, Lyutov’s motivations and emotions are often revealed externally- through
the things he says/does, the way he describes things- rather than through introspection.
-Outsider status- obviously as a nerdy Jew in the army Lyutov is an outsider. But lots of
people are also outsiders. The Cossacks, for example. Also Sidorov and Pan Apolek.
Lots of the characters Lyutov encounters are outsiders in one way or another.
-Judaism- Lyutov is by no means a practicing Jew, but as “Gedali” shows he is unable to
give up his Jewish identity completely. He struggles to negotiate identity throughout the
stories.
-Ultimate ends- amidst the great violence and sorrow of the war, Lyutov clings to his
belief that the Revolution is such an important end that it justifies any means necessary.
This comes out most poignantly in “Gedali” when Lyutov sees how much destruction the
war has wreaked upon the Jewish community but still justifies it.
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Isaac Babel, Red Cavalry: Pgs. 70-121
Susie Winkeller
Summary:
Broken down by chapters:
- “The Rabbi” – Lyutov talking with Gedali-he says mothers and their memory are
eternal, they go to visit Rabbi Motale- the last rabbi of the Chernobyl dynasty, they talk
along with other Jews, a younger man in the room turns out to be Ilya, the rabbi’s son, he
is insulted, the rabbi blesses the food and they eat dinner, Lyutov leaves to return to the
railroad station.
- “The Road to Brody” – Lyutov talks about bees with Afonka Bida- how they were
destroyed in Volhynia, L. mourns for them; battle for Brody began the day earlier;
Afonka starts singing a song- tells the story about a Cossack captain who got really drunk
the day of his beheading, horse’s name was Dzhigit; captain and his horse rode up to
heaven but captain realizes he forgot his vodka on earth and he broke down and cried;
then they are attacked by the Polish and L. and Afonka run for their lives.
- “The Tachanka Theory” – L. was sent a coachman named Grishchuk for his tachanka
(an open carriage with a machine gun mounted on the back); L. says that the use of open
carriages has changed traditional warfare in terms of allowing for new strategies and
tactics- L. goes into greater explanation of this; describes the “lifeless Jewish shtetls” that
they see on the road- the barrenness, lifelessness, etc.- L. understands their “secret”
hatred for their Polish masters
- “Dolgushov’s Death” – things aren’t going well for the Red Army- the Poles attack, and
the Cossacks fight back; Grishchuk and Lyutov get attacked in their tachanka and they
turn around; they come across Dolgushov, who is mortally wounded, he asks Lyutov to
kill him but L. cannot; Afonka Bida comes up and says they are beating the Poles,
Afonka shoots Dolgushov- he gets really mad at Lyutov and wants to beat him up; L.
says he lost his “first real friend”
- “The Commander of the Second Brigade” – Kolesnikov named new commander of the
Second Brigade- he had only been a squadron leader a week before; he goes to see
General Budyonny- tells him to get moving and don’t run away or he will have him killed;
kind of a doomed feeling but Kolesnikov takes control of the brigade- he beat the Poles
that day, but got wounded
- “Sashka Christ” – Lyutov tells the story of Sashka Christ- when he was 14 he was sent
to work with his stepfather Tarakanich in Grozny; one night a beggar woman came to
their door, and both Sashka and stepfather end up getting syphilis from her; they returned
home in the spring, Sashka wanted to be a shepherd but stepfather wouldn’t let him, turns
out that their other children had died; Tarakanich very upset about it; Sashka interrupts
Tarakanich and his mother when he starts to hear panting- tells Tarakanich not to wrong
his mother, says he will tell his mother about the syphilis, convinves T. to let him be a
shepherd and he leaves; is a shepherd until he was drafted, eventually got wounded so he
joined the cavalry transport unit
- “The Life of Matvey Rodionovich Pavlichenko” – tells the story of a swineherd who
became
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a general in the Red Army. Narrator switches to Matvey- one day an old man comes up
to him and tell him Nastya has a crush on him, he goes to her, they end up getting
married, but the old man comes back to Matvey and tells him that his master Nikitinsky
is going to sleep with Nastya (which was some sort of tradition); Matvey is very upset
and so he goes to Nikitnsky and says he wants to quit before Nikitinsky can sleep with
his wife but Nikitinsky doesn’t let him and holds his debts over his head for 5 years; then
the Revolution came and the roles reversed and Matvey rose in the army; he returned to
his town and claimed to have a letter from Lenin allowing to kill people- but Matvey
doesn’t shoot him, instead he beats him up, he kicks him for over an hour and says “I
really understood what life actually is” (94).
- “The Cemetery in Kozin” – describes a very old and decaying Jewish cemetery in a
shtetl; recites a Bedouin prayer that is on a tablet
- “Prishchepa” – tells the story of a young Cossack named Prishchepa who is traveling
with Lyutov; he ran away from the Whites and they killed his parents because of it and
everything they had was ransacked; he returned to his town after the Whites had left and
looked for all of his family’s possessions; he murdered women and destroyed everything
in his path; returned to his home but finally set it on fire and left
- “The Story of a Horse” – division commander Savitsky took Khlebnikov’s horse one
day; he tried hard to get it back, got a decision from headquarters to get the horse back so
he finally went to see Savitsky to reclaim the horse but Savitsky refused; Khlebnikov
returned to the chief of staff but he said he wouldn’t address the situation anymore; he
was so upset that he wrote a letter to withdraw from the Communist Party- describing
how distraught and upset he was; he is finally discharged from the army
- “Konkin” – narrated by Konkin, not Lyutov; describes a battle; Konkin gets detached
from the brigade commander; he goes off with Spirka Zabuty- the two of them decide to
attack a group of 8 men they see up in the distance (I think it’s Poles, but I can’t tell for
sure)- Konkin gets the leader of the group, it turns out to be a general but he refuses to
surrender; Zabuty says he wants to kill him, but Konkin refuses him; the general begs for
Konkin to kill him instead of taking him to his commander- Konkin ends up killing him
- “Berestechko” – town of Berestechko, which seems pretty destroyed and destitutecorpses everywhere, etc.; Lyutov housed with a widow; tells of an old Jew who was
brutally murdered by the Cossacks for espionage; talks of destruction of life in the townhow badly the town smells; there was a gathering in the town- to listen to a speech by a
military commissar, then to hold election for the Revolutionary Committee
- “Salt”- narrated by Nikita Balmashov in the form of a letter- tells about how on the Red
Cavalry transport train, a woman with a baby boards their car- they decide not to violate
or harm her because she is a mother with a baby; Balmashov realizes that she does not
actually have a baby, she is smuggling salt instead; Balmashov is incredibly furious- she
has betrayed the Revolution and Russia, everyone who is fighting and dying for it;
Balmashov throws her off the train and shoots her – he “wiped that blot off the face of the
working land and the republic”- felt he had no other choice but to do that, she was a
traitor.
- “Evening” – on a train, Galin tortured by his unrequited love for Irina, the
washerwoman of the train; he tries to teach her Russian history, but she doesn’t seem to
pay attention to him; Irina is flirting with Vasily, the cook of the train; Irina and Vasily
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leave to go to bed; Lyutov complains that he is sick of the Red Cavalry- Galin calls him a
wimp and tells him to suck it up
- “Afonka Bida” – fighting near Leshniov, things not looking good for the Red Army;
Afonka Bida leads a charges against the enemy; Afonka’s horse get shot and lies dyingAfonka is completely destroyed by it; he disappears – there are many stories of him
killing Polish cavalrymen, setting villages on fire, killing Polish elders- “frenzied oneman battle” ; a new division commander comes, but then Afonka suddenly reappears with
a new horse and assumed his former position.
Important Themes/Analysis:
- In this portion of Red Cavalry, we can see the conflicting moral codes that
Professor Wisse talked about in lecture. In particular, she mentioned in the
chapter about the Life of Matvey Rodionovich Pavlichenko- Matvey doesn’t
shoot the landowner when he is exacting revenge. Instead, he kicks him endlessly.
Is Matvey allowed to appeal to the idea that he sees values in a totally different
way? Matvey says that he has to feel the life of the man in order to take it, so that
seems like a different set of values. What kind of justice is this? He is part of the
Cossack constituency. In another instance, with the death of Dolgushov, Lyutov
cannot kill him. This attests to his kind nature, and the moral code that he lives
by. He wants to keep his soul pure and he cannot put Dolgushov out of his misery
and shoot him. As such, he is not part of the Cossack group. This is reaffirmed
by the fact that Afonka Bida, a Cossack soldier, comes along and has no problem
killing him and he gets furious with Lyutov for not being able to. So Lyutov
belongs to a different group- but what is it? That is another important idea to
consider throughout the whole collection of stories.
- One theme in general to keep in mind is that the Revolution represented an
unbelievable opportunity to straddle all of these different worlds and conflicting
moral codes. The Jews and Cossacks were polar opposites, but they were brought
together by the Revolution.
- A parallel that can be seen is that the Revolution did the same thing to the
Cossack society as it did to the Jewish society. Both had to undergo the same
forced conversion into something else.
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Isaac Babel, Red Cavalry: 122-169
Contributor: Dan Sachs
Summary:
“At Saint Valentine’s”—The troops have destroyed the shrine to Saint Valentine in a
Polish church. The bell-ringer of the church, Pan Ludomirski, is utterly devastated.
Lyutov writes a report to the division commander about the insult to the religious feelings
of the community, and the offending troops were sent before a military tribunal.
Squadron Commander Trunov”—Trunov was angry at Polish prisoners who had taken
off their uniforms so he could not distinguish their rank, so he started killing them.
Lyutov got angry about this and argued with Trunov. Then enemy airplanes started to
approach, and Trunov did not flee. He shot at the planes but didn’t hit them, and was
killed. He was then given an official military funeral with full honors.
“Ivan and Ivan”—Deacon Aggeyev is a deserter who claims to be deaf so he can be
discharged. He ends up in the hands of Akinfiev, a rather insane cart-driver who needs
daily injections for venereal disease. Akinfiev torments Aggeyev, and when Lyutov
encounters them Aggeyev tells him he thinks Akinfiev will eventually kill him. Akinfiev
shoots his gun right next to Aggeyev’s ears, so Aggeyev says that although he wasn’t
actually deaf before, Akinfiev had made him deaf.
“The Continuation of the Story of a Horse”—Goes back to the conflict between Savitsky
and Khlebnikov over the horse. Khlebnikov writes Savitsky a letter saying that he now is
a big-time believer in the revolution and he hopes the horse will help Savitsy fight for the
revolution and has no hard feelings. Savitsky responds in a heartfelt manner, discussing
how dangerous the war is and that he expects to die, and also that the horse has been
killed.
“The Widow”—Shevelyov, the regimental captain, is mortally wounded. He leaves some
of his things to his wife Sashka, but also tells her that she must send a letter to his mother
telling her that he is dead and that he is leaving his house to her. As he is dying, his
driver, Lyovka, tells Sashka that they will now be able to be together. After Shevelyov
dies, Lyovka beats Sashka and orders her not to forget to send the letter or forget
Shevelyov
“Zamosc”—Lyutov falls asleep tied to his horse, which drags him all the way to the front
line. He hears the sounds of the Poles slaughtering Jews, and a peasant soldier says it’s
the fault of the Jews, and after the war there will be hardly any Jews left. Lyutov
becomes upset and leaves. That night, Lyutov starts a small fire in the house he is
boarding at in order to get milk and bread from the landlady. Lyutov and his roommate
barely avoid Polish machine gun fire as they escape.
“Treason”—This story is the deposition of Balmashov, who attacked the hospital at
which he was receiving care because he became angry when he realized that the hospital
was helping soldiers dodge the war. It shows Cossack warrior virtues and also suspicion
of Jewish motives.
“Czesniki”—The war is not going well. The officers address the Sixth Division in order
to raise morale, but a feeling of pessimism pervades. At the same time, Sashka, “the lady
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of all the squadrons,” (Shevelyov’s widow, see above), convinces the Cossack who cares
for the division commander’s thoroughbred, to let the stallion mate with her mare.
“After the Battle”—Lyutov is traumatized because during a frenzied battle he is sent to
get retreating troops to come back to the battle, and one cavalryman grabs him and tries
to force Lyutov to go back to the battle as well. Lyutov manages to get free and ride
away. He ends up sitting with Akinfiev, who is upset because troops 9including Lyutov)
didn’t load their pistols. Akinfiev punched Lyutov, who, although he could not marshal
the courage earlier to stand up to the cavalryman, now punches the crippled Akinfiev in
the face.
“The Song”—Lyutov becomes extremely angry at his landlady for hiding food from him.
She is just watching out for her son, who is disabled, but he does not sympathize. It is
clear that her life is difficult. When things are about to come to a head, Sashka Christ
comes in and calms them both down and puts their thoughts on peaceful things by
playing a song on the concertina. Afterwards, Sashka sleeps with the woman.
“The Rabbi’s Son”—Lyutov encounters Ilya Bratsavsky, the son of the Zhitomir rabbi.
He is dying. Lyutv goes through his belongings and realizes he has much in common
with Ilya- there are Jewish writings as well as a portrait of Lenin and communist
literature. Ilya dies, and Lyutov calls him a “prince” and laments the death of his
“brother.”
Important Themes/Analysis:
-Cruelty- many of these stories feature ruthless acts of destruction on the parts of the
soldiers. Although Lyutov thinks that the ends justify the means, it becomes clear that
such acts of destruction are very troubling for him. He himself comes to blows with
Akinfiev, but later is calmed down by Sashka Christ who provides an example of
redemption in the midst of war.
-Redemption/Ilya as Christ figure- Professor Wisse sees Ilya as a Christ figure who gives
his life for the good of the world and also provides Lyutov with redemption.
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Isaac Bashevis Singer, Satan in Goray: Ch. 1- 10
Summary:
The year was 1648, the wicked Ukranian hetman, Bogdan Chmelnicki besieged
the city of Goray after failing to take over the city of Zamosc. Many men, women and
children were slaughtered and raped. While many people fled to Lublin others wer sold
into slavery. Only years later did citizens return to the city of Goray. A town where the
streets were once filled with Torah learning was now empty and depressed. The
wealthiest town member Reb Eleezar Babad, a man who used to wear silk even on the
weekdays, was not unrecognizable and destitute. Rabbi Benish Ashkenzai, who was the
Rabbi of the community when it was bustling with torah and business, returned with half
of his family to his old house. While his fortune and luck had changed his practices and
commitment to God did not.
Despite his commitment to the community and God, Rabbi Benish’s household
was engaged in an interminable family quarrel that had been smoldering for years, even
before 1648. His oldest Ozer was an Idler, and at fifty he still lived with his parents. Levi
and Nechele also did not get along with Rabbi Benish. Nechele was the daughter of a rich
merchant and complained constantly of her misfortune. Levi was a cabalist.
For years rumors had been sweeping throughout Poland that the messiah was
coming. The potential redemption of the Jews was exciting to some but many (including
Rabbi Benish) did not accept the rumors and tales. Sabatia Zevi was spoken of as the man
who would bring redemption to the Jews. Meanwhile Jews in Goray had lost their faith
and desire to be religious. Very rarely men would go to the study house and to prayers.
Most people were poor as catastrophe still surrounded the community. As one Ukrainian
said to Rabbi Benish “Pharaoh’s plagues have fallen on you dear sir.” The town where
Rabbi Benish once ruled like a king was completely unrecognizable. Goray had fallen
upon evil days as its best citizens had been murdered.
One day a woman who had been searching for her husband for a long time (and
collecting alms at the same time) showed up in Goray and told people of all that were
happening around the world with the messiah. People were dancing in the streets in other
cities celebrating what was to come. As she said to the townspeople when she left in her
sleigh “tell the rabbi that we shall meet in Jerusalem one day.” Soon after that Reb
Mordechai Joseph showed up in the city’s market and told everyone that redemption was
near and that Sabatia Zevi was the Jewish people’s savior. He then proceeded to tell
everyone that they must change there ways and stop sinning. After people looked at him
strangely he proceeded to faint. As the whole town became convinced that messiah was
coming, anyone who disagreed with Reb Mordechai Joesph was punished. When
Chaninia, one of Rabbis Benish’s top students said that Sabatia Zevi was a false prophet
he was beaten to a pulp by Reb Mordechai Joseph and several others.
The book then goes to focus on the life of Rechele. Rechele is the daughter of Reb
Elezar Babad, who at one time was the wealthiest man in Goray. Tragedy had fallen upon
Reb Elezaar Babad and would later fall upon Rechele as well. As a child Rechele was
very close with her granny. She would expose her all types of fears so that she would be
able to deal with them as she got older. After Granny died she came to Rechele in a
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dream and scared her. She woke up sweating in fetal position and could not speak for
many days and acted strangely. Many people were brought in to try and get rid of
whatever evil spirit was around her. One person even bashed Rechele in urine.
Later on a packman named Reb Itche Mates shows up in Goray. Reb Itche Mates
who was also a follower of Sabatia Zevi, had dinner with the other followers in the town
that night (Levi + Reb Mordechai Joespeh, Rabbi Benish’s number one foe). Later on
Mates went to Rechele’s house and he checked her Mezuzah. He shriveled when he
noticed that God had been erased from the Mezuzah on her door. Rechele would later say
to him, “nobody wants me, unless Satan will have me.”
Reb Itche Mates was perceived as a holy man. He did some miracles and was very
learned. When he asked Rechele to marry him people in the town assumed that he must
know something about her that no one else does. If he would want her then she must be
righteous too. Rechele’s marriage to Reb Itche Mates was her redemption from her life.
Reb Itche Mates in some ways was her Messiah.
Important Themes/Analysis:
I believe that most of the analysis of this book comes later on but there are several
important things here that should not be overlooked. The destitute of Goray portrays the
suffering of the citizens. Their strong desire for a messiah is understandable as they
would like any type of redemption. This town is an example of a town that loses its moral
compass. Singer tries to explain to the reader what happens when the morals and values
of Judaism are dropped. Rechele is exposed to all types of fears so that she can deal with
them. Her susceptibility portrays the ravaged community.
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Isaac Bashevis Singer: Satan in Goray
Ch. 11-14 (part I) and Ch. 1-5 (part II)
Contributor: Darren Baker
Plot Summary:
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•
•
•
•
Part I, Chapter 11 (“A Letter from Lublin”): Rabbi Benish, the spiritual leader in
the town of Goray, receives a letter from Jacob, the son of a rabbi in the neighboring
city of Lublin. The letter warns Rabbi Benish that the rumors of Sabbatai Zevi’s
messiahship are false and advises him to employ all necessary measures to prevent
such rumors from exercising undue influence over the citizens of Goray. In particular,
the writer denounces Reb Itche Mates, the Jewish mystic who has arrived in Goray
and begun to engage in preaching and magical practices that are deceiving the people
of Goray and encouraging them to join the Zevi sect.
Part I, Chapter 12 (“Rabbi Benish Prepares for War”): On the advice of the letter,
Rabbi Benish attempts to restrict the activities of the cabalists in town by cracking
down on violations of law and tradition in the town. The rabbi becomes more
stressed and his health begins to suffer because of the increasing difficulty of guiding
his wayward townspeople away from deceiving rumors. Meanwhile, the Sabbatai
Zevi sect gains strength in Goray as the people begin to more actively support Reb
Itche Mates and Reb Mordecai Joseph, the leaders of the sect. In particular, Reb Itche
Mates is betrothed to Rechele, and at the betrothal feast Itche Mates and many of the
guests (both male and female) engage in a wild scene of dancing that would otherwise
be prohibited or discouraged.
Part I, Chapter 13 (“‘The Others’ Arrive”): On the bitterly cold night of Itche
Mates’ betrothal feast, Rabbi Benish is awakened by Grunam, the town beadle, and
informed of the inappropriate activities that are taking place. The rabbi immediately
sets out to break up the event, but he is stopped by the ferocity of the storm outside.
The rabbi is picked up by a strong wind and thrown to the ground, breaking several
bones in the process. When the guests at the feast find out what happened, they
disperse, but Itche Mates and Mordecai Joseph comment that Rabbi Benish has
received his due for opposing the acceptance of the “messiah.”
Part I, Chapter 14 (“The Rabbi Forsakes His Congregation”): Rabbi Benish lies
incapacitated in his home amidst a scene of great disorder. His arm has been severely
broken. Many villagers wait with anxiety for changes in the rabbi’s condition, and a
peasant healer is brought from another village, but the rabbi shows no improvement.
The bitter cold continues through the next day and night, and the dying rabbi departs
for Lublin the next morning to the dismay of Goray’s townspeople.
Part II, Chapter 1 (“The Wedding”): Singer here gives a detailed description of the
wedding between Reb Itche Mates and Rechele, including both the preparations and
the wedding ceremony itself. Rechele is submissive (sometimes even apathetic) with
regard to the affair, and the women of the village fawn over here to prepare her for
the wedding: they take her to the bathhouse for the first time, prepare food for the
celebration, and sew all of her wedding clothes. The villagers are excited for the
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•
•
•
•
wedding and are eager to attend and participate. The ceremony is executed with
peculiarly alternating elements of solemn reservation and energetic merriment.
Part II, Chapter 2 (“The Seven Days of Benediction”): The townspeople wait
anxiously during the traditional seven-day period for Itche Mates and Rechele to
consummate their marriage, but they do not. Itche Mates becomes more detached
from reality to the point where he frightens Rechele and has visions of evil spirits at
night. Rechele is also bothered by strange dreams as she sleeps.
Part II, Chapter 3 (“Reb Gedaliya”): An emissary arrives in Goray bearing the
“news” that Sabbatai Zevi had embarked from Israel to Istanbul to receive his
messianic crown from the Sultan who ruled Israel. The emissary is Reb Gedaliya, the
ritual slaughterer from the town of Zamosc who has come to Goray to rally support
for the cause of Sabbatai Zevi. Reb Gedaliya brings many encouraging rumors, and
enthusiasm for the Zevi sect immediately increases among Goray’s villagers. Reb
Gedaliya is presented in distinct contrast to the image of Rabbi Benish: he is heavyset,
jolly, and wealthy, and he is a very suave and convincing supporter of Sabbatai Zevi.
Part II, Chapter 4 (“The Rejoicing in Goray”): The chapter begins by citing the
many wonders done by Reb Gedaliya, including healing the sick and relating
visionary rumors. Singer emphasizes the persuasiveness embodied in Gedaliya’s
“smooth tongue” and “grand manner.” Gedaliya mixes an appearance of great piety
with various mystical teachings and false doctrines that are widely accepted because
of the strong image of likeability and credibility that he has built among the townsfolk.
Reb Gedaliya continues to encourage the people of Goray with fantastic rumors about
Sabbatai Zevi’s greatness, and the people throw an elaborate Passover feast in
commemoration of their coming redemption. Gedaliya’s opponents are largely
silenced because of the great enthusiasm of the villagers for his leadership.
Part II, Chapter 5 (“Rechele Prophesies”): Rechele has a vision one night in which
an angel appears to her proclaiming that she has a calling to prophesy, and that Reb
Gedaliya is a righteous and chosen religious leader. Rechele creates a stir the next
day by entering the prayer house in the morning in the presence of many men and
prophesying about Sabbatai Zevi and the imminent redemption of the Jews. Rechele
is acclaimed as a prophetess by Reb Gedaliya and by the townspeople of Goray. Reb
Itche Mates and Reb Mordecai Joseph are sent as emissaries to other towns to
proclaim the manifestation of this prophetic gift in Rechele of Goray.
Important Themes/Analysis:
•
This is the middle portion of Satan in Goray, and the chapters described here focus on
building up the background information and imagery surrounding the messianic
mysticism that has taken over Goray. Dramatic irony plays a key thematic role in
these chapters: the reader has the perspective to understand the folly of the messianic
rumors, but also to sympathize with the desire and inclination of the villagers to
believe the rumors and support charismatic leaders like Reb Gedaliya. Ultimately,
however, Singer’s message is one of warning against the kind of inviting impiety that
ensnared the Goray townspeople and eventually brought ruin to their village and their
lives.
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•
•
The moral idea most emphasized by Isaac Bashevis Singer in these chapters is the
contrast between the deceptive mystical practices that tempt the people of Goray and
the true principles of religious faith and obedience that would have helped to lead the
villagers down a more correct path. Although readers initially perceive Rabbi Benish
to be a crotchety religious hardliner and view Reb Gedaliya more positively, Singer’s
subtle references to Gedaliya’s disregard for many important aspects of Jewish law
demonstrate the danger of following even persuasive and personable leaders who do
not make adherence to religious principles their first priority. The gradual
detachment of Reb Itche Mates and his followers from normal life in the community
also illustrate the separation between faithful religious observance and false cultish
departures.
Imagery plays an important role in this section of the book. Particularly notable in
this regard are Singer’s references to heat and cold in the setting of each chapter. Reb
Itche Mates and his crowd are portrayed as sources of intense sensual heat in the last
chapters of Part I, while Rabbi Benish is opposed and nearly killed by bitter cold and
a hostile outside environment in his attempts to restore order to Goray. Even Reb
Gedaliya is described as bringing new warmth to Goray. Once again, however, these
images are ironic in their thematic significance: despite the heat associated with
Sabbatai Zevi’s enthusiastic followers, the reader recognizes that even the suffering
experienced by Rabbi Benish in the cold of night has a more positive meaning
because it represents resistance to evil.
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Agnon, A Guest For The Night, Ch. 1-15
Contributor: Jamie Wicks
Summary:
Chapter 1- The narrator returns to his childhood city of Szibucz. He arrived on the night
of the Day of Atonement, and he is surprised to see that the city seems to be deserted and
in ruins. He asked men where he could find a hotel, and they laughed. There were two
places to stay: a brothel and a small family-owned place. One of the men, Daniel Bach,
showed him to the family-owned place. On the way, Bach describes his sorrows and his
lack of faith: he does not think God cares about humans, and he sees no meaning in the
Day of Atonement. The narrator politely disagrees.
Chapter 2- The narrator arrives at the hotel, but he is not treated with much hospitality.
He quickly goes to the Synagogue, but when he gets there he is disappointed. It is not the
place he remembers: it is rather empty and people don’t seem into their prayers. The
narrator then goes to the river to repent, but a group of misbehaving teens disturb him
Chapter 3- On the morning of the Day of Atonement, the narrator again goes to the
Synagogue and he is again depressed by the lack of spirit (especially since it is the Day of
Atonement). He then goes to the Beit Midrash, where he spent a lot of time during his
childhood. However, the Beit Midrash was just as depressing as the Synagogue: both the
physical room and the people’s spirits were in ruins.
Chapter 4- The narrator starts talking to a group of men who say that they are leaving
town the next day: they have lost faith in God. The Narrator accuses the men of deserting
the place of their ancestors, but one of the men, Elimelech Kaiser, retorts that the narrator
cannot understand their plight because he is a tourist. Kaiser, in a rather sarcastic gesture,
hands the narrator the key to the Beit Midrash.
Chapter 5- During the closing prayers of the Day of Atonement, people in the Beit
Midrash seem to be praying a bit more meaningfully. The narrator learns that Daniel
Bach is Reb Shlomo’s son. This is interesting, because Bach is a cynic, and Reb Shlomo
is a very religious man.
Chapter 6- Many people leave from Szibucz, but no one seems to notice. The narrator
becomes a permanent guest at the hotel, and he starts to study the nature of the host’s
family. The narrator spends most of his time in the Beit Midrash, where he tries to find
new meaning in the same old books. The narrator goes for a walk in the forest, and on
the return meets a beggar named Ignatz, whose nose had been ruined in a war. The
narrator gives him some money because he has a charitable heart.
Chapter 7- The narrator studies the misery in Szibucz, and he learns that not all of it
resulted from the war. In the case of Bach, it came from trying to make a living (he lost
his leg while trying to do so). Poverty and suffering was everywhere. The narrator starts
to study in the Beit Midrash more. The narrator reflects how great the Torah is, and how
Jews are so lucky to have to Torah. He reflects that the Jews are princes: they just forget.
Chapter 8- The narrator starts to talk with Reb Shlomo about Israel. Then Daniel Bach
enters the conversation and he starts to argue his father about faith. Reb Shlomo thought
God was good, while Daniel Bach lost his faith in God during the war.
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Chapter 9- The narrator has a dream: he is on a boat for Israel, and he enters a room to
pray, and his tallit catches on fire. He jumps overboard, but no one helps him, and he
sees the image of Daniel Bach and Reb Shlomo.
Chapter 10- The narrator considers buying a coat when winter is approaching and it
starts to get colder. When the narrator considers this, he starts to think of all of the
people around him who cannot afford a coat. He then starts to reflect again on the
poverty in the town, and he reminisces about how the town used to thrive.
Chapter 11- The narrator orders a coat from the tailor (Schuster) but he gets the material
from a merchant, because he is trying to employ as many people as possible. The
merchant’s wife tells the narrator information about people in the town, including
Schuster the tailor, a man who returned from Israel and now fixes the roads (Yeruham),
and Daniel Bach’s brother who was killed in Israel.
Chapter 12- The narrator runs into Yeruham Freeman coming back from the shop.
Everyone else in town seems to be getting more friendly, but Yeruham refuses to
acknowledge the narrator. Ignatz, who had been following the narrator, starts conversing
with Yeruham, and the narrator imagines that Ignatz is making him feel bad for being
discourteous to such a great man.
Chapter 13- The narrator picks up his coat from the tailor, and he starts to wear it, but he
feels bad because only he can afford a coat. When he picks up the coat, the narrator hears
the plight of Schuster and how he fell into poverty from high status. This is a common
story.
Chapter 14- The narrator talk’s about the inn-keeper’s family (the Zommers). They
question him about leaving Israel. It seems to the Zommers that the narrator does not do
what is best for him. The narrator starts to get more interested in Rachel, and they get
closer.
Chapter 15- The narrator loses the key to the Beit Midrash, and he has no other way of
entering the Beit Midrash. Instead, he must spend more time in the hotel. The narrator
also goes to the cemetery to visit the graves of his relatives.
Important Themes/Analysis:
-The narration of the book seems to be in slow motion: the narrator does not leave out
any detail. The narrator slows down the narration with the intention of providing one last
account of a changing/deteriorating town.
-The narrator is the only person in tact in a deteriorating society: he is trying to fit into the
town, but he is always just a guest. The narrator is also one of the few people in Szibucz
faithful to traditional Judaism. This is somewhat of a generational conflict: the new
generation does not have faith in God because of the bad conditions they live in.
- The narrator has a sense of responsibility to the people of Szibutz. While he may view
himself as superior, he does not always enjoy this superiority (the coat). He wants the
Jews in the town to become more religious: he wants to protect the image of God. He
also has a sense of guilt for not doing enough, which is perhaps why the story begins on
the Day of Atonement.
- The narrator talks in a parables: he is an intellect, and he does not make light of the fact
that he is a “Son of Kings”
- The way in which the narrator studies (slowly and carefully) is supposed to show us
how we should read. We should pay attention to every detail.
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Agnon, A Guest for the Night, ch. 16-28
Contributor: Zoë Kawaller
Summary:
- Freide Kaiser, Elimelech Kaiser’s mother, old and destitute, visits the narrator.
She was the narrator’s mother’s governess. The narrator offers her money, but
she refuses. Three of her sons killed in war, one in pogrom. Her daughters went
to get food but wouldn’t sell themselves. A troop of soldiers saw them toss off
the raisins, so come after them and kill them.
- The narrator then goes to the graveyard and visits his parents’ graves. His
father’s grave has another man’s tombstone over it.
- He encounters Yeruham Freeman repairing the road. The narrator thinks YF
hates him, bc YF is always rude to him. We learn that YF was forced to leave
Israel because he advocated Communism. Once they had a conversation in which
YF says the fact that the narrator went to Israel made the Land real, and YF went,
hoping to meet the narrator, who had left. YF feels betrayed…
- The narrator learns that Rachel visits YF in his room at night.
- The narrator dreams that an old man whose “voice was like the sound of a key
that has gone rusty” walks with him in Israel and gives him a book from the Beit
Midrash.
- The narrator encounters Daniel Bach. He is having trouble selling wood, his wife
can’t sell her artwork, so only his daughter makes a living for them by teaching
Hebrew. They talk of Bach’s father in Israel. Then they go to the Locksmith, and
the narrator talks about his fascination with keys, especially for their ability to
open things. The locksmith says he will make a key tomorrow.
- The narrator’s father should have been a rabbi, but wanted to be rich, so became a
merchant, but he struggled.
- The narrator gets a new key and studies the torah in the Beit Midrash. He buys
wood from Daniel Bach, hires Hanoch to bring the wood, to make a fire. Hanoch
knows little, so the narrator talks to him about imagination, tells him things that
Jews should know, talks to him about the Land of Israel. He names Hanoch’s
horse Henoch.
- Lots of people start praying/studying in the Beit Midrash because it’s warm from
the fire. Many just take the embers back to their families, but instead of stopping
them the narrator just orders more wood.
- Ignatz’s story is told, but the narrator only knows he was an orphan, nobody is
sure of his actual history. His nose was smashed by a grenade in the war, and
now the disfigurement helps him as a beggar.
- Freide Kaiser gets a letter from her son, who is doing terribly because he can find
no place to settle or make a living.
- The innkeeper (Mr. Zommer), his wife, and the narrator observe the Sabbath
together; the innkeepers children only join when they want to (rarely)
- Mrs. Zommer’s story: during the war when Mr. Zommer was gone, she couldn’t
find food. A Gentile promised her a sack of potatoes for her money, so she went
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with him to the outskirts of town, and brought back the sack, only to find that he
had given her plaster and taken all her money.
Daniel Bach’s son is 13 but an invalid, so stays in bed all the time and hasn’t been
bar mitzvah-ed
Once a Lithuanian came Szibucz, when the Torah wasn’t of high repute, and
started preaching interpretations that people were listening to. The narrator’s
father and Reb Hayim tried to debunk him, but people still listened. The
Lithuanian married a girl, but then several women came and claimed him as their
husband. He fled, and the woman bore a child (Yeruham Freeman) and died.
Daniel Bach’s wife raised the child because he was born in the same month as her
daughter, Erela.
During war, Mrs. Bach needed money. Decided to become a midwife bc her
grandmother was the midwife Shifrah Puah. One of the babies Shifrah had
delivered (Mr. Shulkind) was very rich and gave Mrs. Bach money to support
herself and her family and to train to be a midwife, because he had seen Shifrah
Puah’s coffin in a dream. Then he died.
Mr. Shulkind’s son died hiking.
YF was betrothed to Erela, but courted another girl when came back from Israel.
Narrator doesn’t like Erela bc of how she articulates and bc of her glasses.
Reb Hayim was supported by a rich father-in-law when he studied to be a rabbi.
He wanted to be Szibucz’s rabbi, and the town was divided over it. A great war
broke out and the whole town fled, Reb Hayim taken prisoner. A Jew came with
a divorce for his wife, saying Reb Hayim was sick and thought he might die, and
didn’t want wife to be tied to a dead man, so wrote a divorce for her. Didn’t die,
was released at end of war, but his wife (who runs the hotel) did not take him
back. Upon return, Reb Hayim just sits in the Beit Midrash. He does some of
Hanoch’s work, without accepting pay. He does not read, he seems traumatized.
The narrator wants to give him the key bc he is always waiting for him to open it
and staying till it’s closed. Won’t accept it because he’s afraid he’d sleep there.
Important Themes/Analysis:
- Big theme: tremendous respect for the Torah and studying in general. Narrator
seems to think all problems will be solved and all men will be restored by reading
the Torah. The Narrator never seems to doubt God.
- The narrator’s feelings towards the Land of Israel. YF feels betrayed that the
narrator would leave, that he wouldn’t hold onto his zeal for the Land. But, the
narrator often questions why he has left, and thinks of the Land often. For him,
it’s his home, though, rather than being a promised land to be read about. This is
my own interpretation, I’m not sure…
- The theme of trauma from the war. These chapters are mostly various characters’
war stories. Everyone was hit very hard, with little money, often relying on luck
or the goodness of the rich in order to be fed (and sometimes they were duped
instead). All of these characters are struggling to find some normalcy, to put
together their lives again after the war and pogroms. The result is that everyone is
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a little bit broken – like Daniel Bach’s son, who cannot understand the world, but
wishes to…
The key is a big theme throughout the book. In Chapter 19, the narrator talks a lot
about how enchanted he is by keys because they can open things, he does not
mention closing. He talks about his memory of the chest of money that the
collector for the Land of Israel would open with a key.
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Agnon, A Guest for the Night, Ch. 29-40
Contributor: Elisa Zhang
Summaries:
Ch. 29 – “Winter’s Cold”
Winter has arrived. The narrator notes he isn’t troubled by the cold because he has a coat and a
warm place to stay, so he still comes to the Beit Midrash. However, he notices that Hanoch isn’t
replacing the supply of wood and wonders what has happened. He inquires of people in town. He
says he “did wrong in not appointing Hanoch as a permanent attendant. A permanent attendant
does not procrastinate in bringing wood.” From then on, Reb Hayim would bring the wood in the
morning, sometimes twice a day if it was exceptionally cold.
Ch. 30 – “On Hanoch – Who Has Gone”
Hanoch still hasn’t returned, and his wife and children were praying to heaven through the Holy
Ark. The rabbi assembled “ten honest men and arranged for them to say verses from the psalms.”
The narrator also arranged for people in the Beit Midrash to say “Our Father, our King” twice a
day. The rabbi objected to this, and the narrator blames it on himself for not having paid respects
to the rabbi. After a day, the narrator goes to visit him. He is greeted cordially, and the rabbi’s
wife prepares refreshments for them. The rabbi has a bookcase full of books which don’t seem to
have been read. Three other men come in – Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. They would like the
rabbi to do something to find Hanoch, although the rabbi counters that he has called for prayers.
They agree that if Hanoch does not return before the New Moon, the rabbi will declare a public
fast.
Ch. 31 – “Hanoch”
No trace of Hanoch has been found, even as the appointed day was approaching. The rabbi still
hesitated to declare a fast “in a generation when people ate and drank on the Day of Atonement.”
But by the chosen day, everyone, including visitors in town, refrained from eating. As the
narrator is talking to Zechariah Rosen in the synagogue, the tailor Schuster comes up and acts out
what happens to Hanoch in the cold as he envisions it and how Hanoch cares for his horse
Henoch even when they are on the verge of death. The rabbi invites the narrator over to tell him
the rest of his sermon. First, the narrator goes for a meal and witnesses people offering their
fasting money, or the money they would have spent on food, via an auction style as donations to
Hanoch’s wife. The narrator then goes to the rabbi’s, and they have a discussion on young men
and their work on the land, as well as the Land of Israel. The rabbi says terrible, angering things
about Israel, and the narrator simply responds that he regards all Israel as innocent, whereas with
the rabbi, “’even if all Israel were like the ministering angels, you would not regard them as
innocent.’”
Ch. 32 – “In the Marketplace”
Reb Hayim has taken up all of the duties that Hanoch used to do as well as the narrator’s, freeing
him time for other things. The narrator goes to the marketplace, especially now that the frost has
weakened somewhat. The town is nearly empty, as no customers came to the shops, which are
still open. He sees the post office and reminisces on his past. At the marketplace, he talks to some
of the peddler women and buys eggs, coffee, and sugar from Hanoch’s wife, who will deliver
everything to him at the Beit Midrash. He tells this story to Reb Hayim when he returns, who gets
angry since he doesn’t know what to do with those things.
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Ch. 33 – “Reb Hayim and His Daughters”
Reb Hayim has four daughters. One is married to an old man named Naphtali Zvi Hilferding in a
faraway village, who had come to work for Reb Hayim as an orphan. One daughter ran away,
supposedly to Russia. Another stayed with her mother but sometimes went off to help her married
sister, and the youngest was named Zippora. Zvi had been a widower, married to a relative in a
village he had drifted to during the war. Once when he visited Szibucz, he took pity on Hayim’s
family and wished to hire the eldest daughter as a maid. Thinking that perhaps Reb Hayim would
be upset at his daughter being a maid to his former attendant, he then thinks of marrying the
mother. He sees the eldest daughter, remembers how he played with her when she was a child. He
decidesthat he should stop worrying about his sons and daughters so much and to look for his
own true mate since his previous marriage was more for the comforts of a home. He makes an
offer very discreetly and returns in three days to hear their decision. The daughter accepts, and
they are married. The narrator returns to thinking about Zippora. She is a rather quiet child. He
wonders if she can read, and thinks to himself, “I wanted to hint to her father that he should teach
her to read, but I change my mind. I said to myself: He himself does not study; why then should
he teach his daughter?”
Ch. 34 – “About the Houses of Prayer in Our Town”
In the Beit Midrash, the quorum assembles as usual and public prayers are held. Shopkeepers
now come to warm themselves. The narrator discusses the various houses of prayer in the town.
There was the house of the Hasidim, called the shtibel, or the Scoffer’s Synagogue (Leitzim
Shilechel) according to the rest of the town. They then built the Kossovite Synagogue near the
King’s Well as the followers grew in number. There was also a new Bit Midrash. Remnants of
the Hasidim after quite some time then built a klois since there wasn’t enough room at the Beit
Midrash; there were many of these klois places built.
Ch. 35 – “Additional Matter”
The narrator continues to tell more historical things, including the fact that the third klois was
built. Thus, there are three established Hasidic prayer houses in town in addition to that of the
Kossov Hasidim. But the war destroyed all of these buildings and scattered the Hasidim, some of
whom died of various things. Once they came back, things were somewhat restored in the
Tchortkovite klois. The narrator says of God, “He changes the disposition of nature and
transformed the order of creation in order to give pleasure to those who love Him. All of these
tale start as earthly and end as spiritual, the hand of man and the hand of God actingin in turn and
helping on another, so that if one is afflicted by weakness the other comes to support it.”
Ch. 36 – “The Letter”
“The Land of Israel has already ceased to be a matter of meetings, speeches, and banquets, and
has become a matter about which most people seriously wish to know – some in time of trouble
and some before the trouble comes.” Some have brought complaints to the narrator, others have
already despaired of settling in the Land because it is small and not everyone can make a living
there. He then describes Mrs. Zommer and Krolka, who take pity on him as a guest for the night
and are kind to him, darning his old socks and fixing his old shirts. The narrator wonders why his
wife and children are elsewhere. He describes the destruction to his house, which left him with
nothing. “The first destruction was abroad, and the second in the Land of Israel.” “While we were
living in tranquility, the judgment struck us. The enemy raised his sword against our holy city and
the cities of our God, and the houses of Israel were plundered. Jews were killed and burned and
grievously tormented, and all the fruits of our toil were pillaged.” “My wife and children and I
emerged alive, and the sword from the desert did not strike our persons… ‘The Lord gave and the
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Lord took; blessed be the Name of the Lord.’” “What I did in my town I have written in this book,
and what my wife did in the home of her relatives she wrote to me in letters.” Because the orange
season has come, the narrator writes for a special shopkeeper to send him a box of oranges. “The
groves are full of fruit, hanging on their trees like little suns, their pleasant fragrance filling the
land. There stand the boys and girls. If it is strength you want, there are the boys; if beauty, there
are the girls.”
Ch. 37- “Oranges”
A postman comes to give the narrator a letter indicating that a crate of oranges had been sent. He
thanks the postman and gives him money, instructing him to use it to buy figs or dates for his
children if he has any, and not to spend it on brandy. He then ponders the situation with
merchants who used to come to town and how the charity officials have paid them only enough to
keep from starving. The narrator then goes to the train station with the shipping slip to pick up the
crate of oranges. He does not give one to Rubberovitch because he is saving the oranges for
Yeruham Freeman as a wedding present. It turns out he had ordered the oranges the day he
learned that Yeruham was to marry Rachel Zommer. In the opinion of the narrator, Yeruham
should marry Erela Bach instead since her mother raised him and because Mr. Zommer hates
Yeruham since his daughter has supposedly followed Yeruham. However, “now that days have
come when a daughter rises up against a father, Rachel has followed the dictates of her heart and
is to marry Yeruham.”
Ch. 38 – “The Settling of the Account”
The narrator was surprised that Rachel’s father did not delay the wedding. The narrator notes that
“only a few days ago [he] spoke to her as a man speaks to a child.” He also notes that he likes
Yeruham, possibly because Yeruham speaks good Hebrew unlike Erela and her students.
Yeruham asks the narrator to visit. He and Rachel live on Synagogue Street, where the synagogue
used to be and where there are now Gentiles. Yeruham and Rachel welcome him into their home,
and Yeruham peels the first orange. The narrator recites blessings, and he notes that “’Now the
account is settled. From now on we turn a new leaf.’” The narrator asks Yeruham to sing a song
“in his possession.” He eats dinner with the couple. Yeruham then tells a story about when he
went to Israel but was caught and expelled.
Ch. 39 – “In the Light of the Moon”
On his way home, the narrator has a hallucination that he sees Hanoch pulling up in his wagon.
He has a conversation with him, asking if it were his fault for not giving him a permanent post.
As he turns to leave for his hotel, he realizes that Hanoch is dead. He says his heart was still
rebuking him for leaving Hanoch without protection.
Ch. 40 – “Partnership”
One day, a woman named Sarah comes looking for the narrator. She is apparently a widow and is
the daughter-in-law of Reb Abraham. Her husband was Reb Moses. Both were very highly
respected individuals. The widow brings four other women, her sisters-in-law, with her. They
bring with them a book called The Hands of Moses. It is used to ease the pain of childbirth.
Because no women in Szibucz are having children, they ask the narrator to send it to Israel. He
agrees to pay them $50 for it, but instead gives $35, and thus the remainder seals their deal. Sarah
brings the book the next day, and the narrator notes that “through this book we had become
partners in a good deed.”
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Themes and Analysis:
I really can’t think of many themes for this particular novel. Here’s what I’ve got, and hopefully
my thoughts can be of some help.
Loss and renewal:
In many ways, the community had to lose many things before it could turn over and recover. The
war destroyed much of the spiritual life of Szibucz, and the citizens lie in this absence of
spirituality and custom until the arrival of the narrator. He is one of the things that help bring
about the process of renewal. A number of things are lost, such as the old key to the Beit Midrash
(which then turns up in Israel). More importantly, many important figures such as Reb Hayim are
lost. The climactic moment in the book occurs with the birth of Yeruham and Rachel’s son. The
fact that he is named after the narrator brings a sort of continuity and hope into this situation,
almost as though there is some sort of spiritual investment in the realization of Israel.
The effect of war on the community:
By bringing a native of the community back after the ravages of war, Agnon helps the reader gain
a valuable perspective on what has happened to Szibucz. The symbolism is particularly heavy
here to illustrate the destruction and desolation of the place. There is no one to greet the narrator
upon his arrival, people are extremely bitter about life in general, few attend synagogue or go to
the Beit Midrash (which in itself is in a state of disrepair), and no one is having children.
The narrator’s revitalization:
The narrator is finally ready to rebuild his own life after having inadvertently help rebuild
Szibucz over the course of a year. He has run out of money by this time, but in a sense his energy
has left the community with a great deal of hope. As they see him off at the train station, it is as
though his return to his childhood has somehow brought about a change in him such that he can
go back to his family and to his former present to start over again.
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Agnon, A Guest For the Night: Chap. 41-52
Contributor: Zoe Sarnak
Summary:
• Hanoch’s wife is struggling as a widow, she is given food but not money and has
trouble taking care of her orphans; she even begins to have dreams with Hanoch
in them; Reb Hayim and the narrator discuss Hanoch’s old job of Beit Midrash
upkeep and pay and Hayim agrees to take over for fixed pay; the narrator later
discovers Hayim is giving some of his money to Hanoch’s wife
• The narrator talks about the divide between Jews who go to the Great Synagogue
but will not go to the Beit Medrash even when the narrator asks; a Sabbath prayer
is led but with low numbers and by later in the evening he is a alone in the prayer
house
• Interesting quote: narrator of the candles- “You are shining in vain; but then I said:
Not so, you are shinging for the sake of the Sabbath.” (pg. 241)
• The narrator locks up the Beit Midrash and heads towards home; he stops at the
Gordonia group but sees no one; on the walk home he is joined by Erela, the two
have some short banter, when the narrator tries to open his hotel door at the end of
the night he cannot at first because he has mistaken the key for the Beit Midrash
and that of the hotel.
• the narrator goes and visits Daniel Bachs family and is asked by their son to tell
about what his relatives who are gone are doing (grandpa, amnon, yeruham) Erela
is unhappy with the lack of reason and begins to speak about how silly the
tradition of putting a book under and birthing mother is as she lacks belief in
anything not clearly rational; she argues against the heroes giving their lives for
Utopia; the narrator discusses the progress that is being made in Zion; he explains
we are past the feeble and easily threatened first era but cannot get to the third and
prosperous era without people going to the land of Israel; Mrs. Bach questions
going to the murderers of Yeruham and also mentions that perhaps the narrator
ran away.
• The narrator learns of the priest Ignatz who is son of a Jewish father and gentile
mother; later while in the Beit Midrash he is tries to decide whether or not to visit
Schuster and his sick wife, the narrator tries to read signs from his books but then
his thoughts turn to Hayim and how perhaps he would be better off leaving and
going to stay with his daughter; at the end of the chapter we learn that Hanoch’s
body has been found and that he and his horse had frozen to death
• the narrator is upset as he has no family to spend Passover with, initially he asks
Hayim but he is spending it with Hanoch’s family; eventually he has the Seder at
the hotel with Mr. Zommer, Rachel, Yeruham etc.
• The narrator goes to visit Freide the Kaiserin who has been left alone by her son
Elimelech, she shows him a picture of her Ephriam Yossel dressed in his soldier
clothes; she tells of Elimelech’s refusal of shoes; then she tells of her fathers
house built from scratch and her fight to keep it but how Ausdauer eventually
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sells it and they refuse to move out but eventually the house is destroyed; she then
asks for answers about if her son with return and if the Messiah will come soon
Pinhas Aryeh comes to Szibucz, he is an important figure in Agudat Israel and
writes in papers; the narrator takes issue with the fact that he uses the Torah for
his purposes but does not open or study the Torah; they speak of Pinhas’ children
who do not strictly observe the commandments and it is hard for Pinhas to bear;
this gets the narrator thinking about the various men of Szibucz and the degrees of
observance; Pinhas divides men between those who support Agudat Israel and
those who do not which the narrator cannot accept; Reb Hayim is paying more
attention to Hanoch’s widow and orphans than his own family
In the Days Before Shavuot 2 men come to the Beit Midrash who support and buy
into the narrators ideas; the narrator goes the village with them and they joyfully
celebrate the festival as the narrator tells them of Israel; there are many references
to food and prayer; these town people are eager and adamant about going to Israel
Freide dies during Shavuot and had been preparing, knew she was to die;
Elimelech, her only relative left, does not come to close her eyes; the narrator sees
a vision of Elimelech and then of David the beadle who knows of all deaths in the
town
Reuben and Simon earn their livelihood selling out of their car, Reb Hayim is on
the verge of leaving but stays to teach Hanoch’s orphans the Kaddish; the narrator
goes out of the Beit Midrash into the forest, he describes the silence but also the
newness each time one visits and having your eyes opened to new life, he says he
could stay there had it now been for feeling the key of the Beit Midrash in his
pocket
The narrator goes home with Yeruham and on the walk is asked about his time in
the village; they eat strawberries with Rachel once they arrive and for a while
things are pleasant, then Rachel asks Yeruham to talk about Israel. He has
negative things to say but the narrator takes positives form all the negatives, the
narrator comments (to the reader) that Israel was not designed for tourists;
eventually as things get tense between Yeruham and Rachel the narrator leaves
At Mr. Zommer’s hotel Babtchi is talking to Mr. Riegel the agent about his
divorce; Babtchi herself is confused about her future with Zwirn who she works
for or perhaps the rabbi’s gradson David Moshe who is poor but handsom and
good, both have clear faults, and Babtchi’s future remains unclear
The narrator runs into Aaron Schultzling, a friend from his youth who he thought
was in America. Where the narrator is a Zionist, Aaron is an anarchist. Aaron
states that the narrator does love Szibucz or else he would not be there; Aaron
speaks of his kids some of whom are communist and in prison; at the synagogue
the cantor chants, he is no longer being paid after people returned from the war
because people could not afford it, but sings anyway, the narrator is annoyed with
those who mispronounce and do not follow correct tunes.
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Important Themes/Analysis:
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Erela brings up the important theme of reason and rationality as opposed to belief
in “nonsense” in this case about the book put under a mother giving birth’s head.
This connects to the seemingly blind faith of our narrator when some youth of
Szibucz seem to have become jaded and faithless
The constant theme of Zionism and questioning its virtue is extremely important
in these chapters. At the end of 42 Mrs. Bach questions the safety of Israel and
points out that the narrator himself has run away. There seems to be the constant
question of the value in the visit home, whether he is bringing people to the land
of Israel or whether by being away he himself is deserting
It is important to note, however, that there begins to be a rise in support for the
narrators Zionism that comes from the village youth. Two young men come to the
Beit Midrash on their own accord and bring him to celebrate Shavuot, excited to
hear his tales of Israel.
Another theme in these chapters in the coming of spring. In the first of the
chapters it is becoming nicer out and by the end it is spring. The outdoors play a
large role, with the narrator feeling extremely connected especially when in the
forest.
The theme of the narrator being at home and yet a guest is also prevalent. When
he goes with the youths to their village, the older man clearly recognizes that he is
not one of the workers but rather different, wealthier.
Yet, his connection to the hometown is important when he talks to Aaron
Schultzling
“If you did not love Szibucz, would you be dealing with it all your life? Would
you be digging up gravestones to discover its secrets?” (pg. 315)
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S.Y. Agnon, A Guest for the Night: Ch. 66-80
Contributor: Lisa Rosenfeld
Summary:
66: In this chapter, the narrator runs into Zippora, the divorcee’s daughter, who tells him of her
sister, Hannah, who pretended to escape to Russia, but had actually moved to a pioneer’s group
close by. Because Hannah has been so near by, her father (Reb Hayim) is now angry that she
has not visited and thus refuses to visit her, even upon her engagement to Zvi. After leaving
Hannah, the narrator goes to his childhood home to reflect and reminisce. The narrator then visits
with Schutlzing, who is tending to his ill aunt, Genendel, and afterwards Leibtche, who
composes rhyming Biblical verses. Here, Leibtche muses and philosophizes, telling the narrator
that “all our efforts to understand are in vain” (409).
67: The narrator again visits his childhood home and notes the decay that has since afflicted this
neighborhood. After hallucinating that someone is in the house, he elsewhere encounters Kuba,
his childhood friend, who now is a doctor treating the poor in town. Because he doesn’t
overcharge his patients or keep his distance, people “look…down on him and mock…him” (415).
Kuba tells the narrator about his ex-wife, with whom he maintains a loving friendship. He
regrets having divorced her, and here laments her imminent wedding to a new husband.
68: The narrator runs into Zippora, who tells him that her father – Reb Hayim – is ill and lying in
the woodshed. He also learns that his daughter Hannah has finally come to visit, and that
Hayim’s wife—overcome with stress and emotion—is weak and somewhat ill herself. Thus,
Zippora has been left alone to care for her family’s household. The narrator decides to visit
Hayim, and resolves to send for Kuba to help treat the old man.
69: While visiting Reb Hayim, the narrator and Hannah finally meet. Soon after the narrator
arrives, Kuba enters the woodshed and examines Hayim. While examining and diagnosing
Hayim, Kuba converses with the old man, as well as Hannah and Zvi. When he leaves with the
narrator to pick up the appropriate drugs, he divulges his interest in Hannah. He thus is sad to
learn that she is engaged to Zvi, but accepts it and moves on, informing the narrator that he is
worried for Reb Hayim’s wellbeing.
70: One day, Reb Hayim gives the narrator a letter, which he asks him to open immediately after
he dies. Although the narrator is hesitant to accept that this man may die soon, he takes the letter
and safeguards it. While visiting Kuba, he learns that it is the doctor’s opinion that Hayim will
live no more than one week more. Later, the narrator hallucinates an interaction with a trickster
of sorts, which seems somehow a symbol for Hayim’s impending death. Then, on Sabbath eve,
Hayim recites the Shema and promptly dies. Upon his request, they open the letter – a testament
– and learn his final wishes. See pages 433-4 for his entire will.
71: In the Zommer household, Mrs. Zommer is tending to Rachel, who is in the final days of her
pregnancy. Sara Pearl comes to help tend to Rachel, and it seems that the two families are
finally at some peace with one another. After spending some time alone to reflect on Hayim’s
death, the narrator discusses Hayim with Dolik, who is the first to call Hayim “a saint” (438).
Surprisingly, this conversation seems to bring some comfort and closure to the narrator regarding
Hayim’s death.
73: Here, the narrator imagines a conversation with his wife, in which we learn that they dearly
miss one another and desire to reunite. The narrator’s main qualm about leaving Szibucz is his
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fear for what will happen to the Beit Midrash after he leaves. He speaks to its walls, and tells
them that if he had his way, they would follow him to the land of Israel. Despite the
impracticality of this “plan,” he resolves to leave Szibucz right after the circumcision of Rachel
and Yeruham’s child.
74: In his remaining time in Szibucz, the narrator economizes (as his funds are dwindling), and
thus he goes to live with Kuba, who treats him well. He also visits Bach often, and rewards
Ignatz for saying Pieniadze instead of Mu’es by giving him his last dollar.
75: Although the narrator has already shipped off the book that helped induce labor in women,
he provides Rachel with the key to the great synagogue, which spurs her into labor and helps her
finally give birth to a baby boy. The town is overjoyed with the news of this newborn boy.
Before leaving, the narrator feels obligated to visit the Rabbi once more, and has a rather heated,
unpleasant interaction with him over Israel, righteousness, and God’s ways in general.
76: Here, the town together celebrates the circumcision of Rachel and Yeruham’s newborn boy.
The narrator acts as Sandak (or the man who holds the baby during circumcision), just as
grandfather had two generations earlier. The baby is apparently named after the narrator (which
is contrary to Jewish tradition.) At the chapter’s close, the narrator bestows the key to the Beit
Midrash upon the baby, in a symbolic attempt to pass on a religious sentiment to the youngest
generation.
77: The narrator finally prepares to leave town. He visits his closest friends, bidding them
farewell, and last says goodbye to the Beit Midrash. As he is waiting to embark the train, many
people (first Bach, then others) arrive to see him off. For this reason, the narrator delivers an
uplifting speech about how they will eventually come to Israel, but as Professor Wisse points out,
seems truly to believe that they will not actually make it there.
78: The narrator arrives in Israel and reunites with his wife and children. They spend a good
deal of time catching each other up on the past year, and in their discussion, the narrator is
pleased to learn of his daughter’s extensive Biblical knowledge. On a sadder note, however, we
learn that Zvi – who was so confident in his ability to enter Israel – ultimately was injured while
trying to secretly immigrate, and thus was being sent by Israeli authorities back into exile.
79: The narrator, wrapped up in daily life, slowly forgets about Szibucz. One day, however, his
wife comes across a key to the Beit Midrash. The narrator is at first flustered that he possesses
the key, as he has no need for it. However, as Szibucz probably does not need it either, he
resolves to wear the key as a necklace over his heart.
80: The narrator visits with Reb Shlomo Bach (Daniel Bach’s father) and learns that Erela and
Kuba are engaged. He also wraps up this novel by telling us what is currently happening in
Szibucz (see 476), stating that “All Szibucz waits for divine mercy, each in his own way” (477).
Finally, he concludes by telling us that his entire story has been trivial, for he is but “a tiny grain
of…soil” in the large soil that makes up Israel. Thus “the story of the guest is ended; his doing
in Szibucz are done” (477).
Important Themes/Analysis:
-Decay and Death (67): before v. after the war (we see this in the pre- and post-war comparison
of the narrator’s childhood neighborhood; also in the narrator’s fear of inquiring into the
wellbeing of former companions)
-Generation gap and continuity (76): when narrator compares self to his grandfather in acting as
Sandak, we see that there are elements of continuity, but also of loss
-Dreams/Hallucinations: occurs in chapters 67 and 70 (as well as earlier in novel)
-Charity and Justice: with Ignatz (both in Hayim’s and narrators dealing with him)
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-The Key: helps Rachel give birth; gives key to newborn; finds key in Israel
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Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz: Ch. 1-8
Contributor: Shelly Madick
Summary:
There is not too much in the way of action in these first chapters. Most is description of
life in the Lager.
Levi was captured in late 1943 when he was caught through his involvement in a political
resistance group. He was detained in a camp and quickly sent off to Auschwitz, traveling
in a crowded train car. He discusses the abruptness of their arrival, with SS men yelling,
and the confusion that ensued for hours while the men waited for inspection and such
naked and without much instruction. They deal with the problem of translation at several
stages, but are told eventually that they are at a work camp called Buna, and they refer to
their world as the Lager which is home to POWs, political prisoners, criminals, and
Jewish prisoners, Haftlings, alike. He gives detail about being stripped and shaven,
tattooed and issued clothing, and eventually assigned a bunk. He also talks about the
routine of the day, the cleansing and shaving, queues for meals, working, sirens and
shouting, and keeping your belongings with you so they don’t get stolen. He lists the
rules of the Lager, and more about the routines. He goes to work and is paired with Null
Achtzen, whose clumsy work ends up hurting Levi. His foot is wounded and ends up,
after a series of examinations, in Ka-Be—the infirmary. He is released from Ka-Be after
20 days and is reassigned a Block (cabin/hut). He notes the danger of having to readjust,
find new tools, and most importantly forge new alliances. Luckily he is placed with his
best friend Alberto. They sleep, and have nightmares of family who don’t listen to their
stories of the lager, or they dream of food. A section on emptying the latrine bucket
throughout the course of the night reveals how simple occurrences/conveniences we take
for granted are keys to survival in the camps. A new day of work begins, this time he is
partnere with Resnyk, a tall and good worker- also his bunkmate. He goes to the latrines
to avoid the work, which for the day is especially heavy. Lunch comes. Next day arrives
“A Good Day” because not only did the sun appear, but also Templer who lives in hiw
Block, somehow got a vat of soup and it was dispensed-4 pints a piece- to each cabin
member. Chapter 8 is a chapter about “business” within the lager—the trading of food
and objects. The prisoners traded clothing, things to polish shoes, spoon/knife/fork, also
Mahorca (third grade tobacco). All of these were traded amongst the prisoners, but also
with the criminals, POWs and even sometimes with civilians.
Important Themes/Analysis:
IMPORTANT PASSAGES: pg 41, bottom of 55, bottom of 76, 86
The ideas I saw in here that I think you could connect to other works is: moral codes (Red
Cavalry), survival- and needing to adapt in order to survive (Kafka, Cavalry, Satan in
Goray?) , the presence of a system (Kafka’s lack thereof), the protagonist’s/author’s
identification with Judaism
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Humanity, or loss of humanity/dignity. Also the destruction of human spirit and
instances of survival of the spirit. Examples: he distinguishes between the
happiness and contentment of free men and those in the lager (chapter 7, mostly at
end). Also Steinlauf, a friend who discusses dignity and preservation of
civilization in the washroom on pg 41)
The jews being compared to animals, while Levi personifies the Lager/ machines
within the Lager. Example: the way they eat is “fressen” the way of animals, not
“essen” the way of humans (76). Also repetitively refers to the Jews as beasts.
Again on 9g 74 there is the personification of the steam-shovel. Example on
bottom of 70 “cringing dogs”
The routine of the lager—day is described in terms of waking up, meal times,
sirens and marching songs, the work day, wash times, nightly sleeping. He
estimates hours in these terms
The subjectivity of moral codes. The biggest example of this is the trading
business which is largely based on stealing. He notes the Greek jews of Salonica
and how they are respected because they have been in the camps the longest and
have mastered the art of survival through stealing, connections etc. He submits to
readers that moral codes within the Lager are different; the meaning of the words
‘good’ and ‘evil,’ ‘just’ and ‘unjust’ (86)
The importance of adaptation.. something that is seen throughout many of the
books
Immediacy—an obsession with needs/focusing on only what is absolutely
imperative. He infers that they are so hungry, it is only when they are satiated that
the thought of their loved ones can enter their minds (76)
His interaction with the readers and a preoccupation with outsiders hearing the
story: he asks us directly, submits questions of morality, also says in the preface
that he needs “to make ‘the rest’ participate in it” (9).
The “system” of the lager—in contrast to a book like Kafka where there is no
system, the Lager comes complete with rules, and there is a logic to the survival.
He notes the Greeks, also his best friend Alberto, and Templer as survivors, and
masters of the system.
The language barrier
A major question I had throughout this book was how does Levi define a man,
and does he ultimately characterize the Jews in the camps as human??? Im not
sure that he does, but just something to consider when going over possible essays.
Good Luck everyone!
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Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz: Chapters 9-17
Contributor: Alan Tabak
Summary:
Chapter 9: The Drowned and the Saved
Levi says there are two types of people in the concentration camps: the majority that died,
and the few who lived. The majority that died, or “musselmen,” would try to fulfill all of
the orders given to them and would simply work themselves to death. Those that survived
either became “prominents” who took official posts to rule over the other Jewish
prisoners or would simply claw their way to survival. (Levi notes that the non-Jewish
prominents were particularly cruel German prisoners who could not represent mainstream
society.)
Chapter 10: Chemical Examination
Fifteen people including Levi form a group of Haftling applicants to work in the chemical
plant. Alberto is also in the group. The Kapo Alex tells them that the work will still be
manual labor until the plant is up and running. Furthermore, all applicants will be
assigned a test with leading German doctors to determine if they really are chemists
before being assigned to the plant, named Bude. On the third day of heavy lifting, seven
men including Levi and his friends are called to examination. The German doctors have
time to examine only six men in the morning, so Levi is brought back in the afternoon.
He graduated summa cum laude in chemistry from Turin, and despite the lack of mental
stimulation over the past three months he remembers his chemistry. He is examined by
Doctor Pannwitz, who looks at Levi as if he were not human. After the examination, Levi
tries not to get his hopes up as he is led away by Alex. Once back at Bude, Alex wipes his
hands on Levi’s shirt. Levi says he judges “him and Pannwitz and the innumerable other
like him, big and small, in Auschwitz and everywhere” (108) on the basis of his actions.
Chapter 11: The Canto of Ulysses
Levi and other prisoners are scraping out a petrol tank when the Pikolo Jean arrives. The
youngest man at the chemical plant at 24 (which is old for the youngest member), Jean
rations out tools and food to the other prisoners. He is liked and respected by the other
Jews. Now that another man Stern is in trouble, Jean has selected Levi to walk with him
to pick up the 100-pound ration of soup for the group for the day. Pikolo intentionally
takes a long route to the soup so that they can walk for as long as possible. In the midst of
discussing personal matters, Levi experiences an irrepressible urge to share Dante’s
Inferno and the canto of Ulysses with Pikolo. He tries to do so with faltering translation,
but he is gratified that Pikolo understands the urgency with which he tries to relate the
canto. Finally they arrive at the kitchen, where they are given cabbage and turnip soup.
Chapter 12: The Events of the Summer
The workers at Buna are hardly human but are instead beastly, and they can no longer
think of the future. Most of the imports are Hungarian Jews, and Levi is among the
longest-surviving groups in the camp. But in August 1944 attacks on Germany itself
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begin. The non-Jews and especially Germans begin to hate the Jews even more because
they know they are losing and they become even crueler. Meanwhile, work at Buna
becomes even harder because of the attacks. Some Jews take comfort in the attacks, but
most simply don’t care and are just happy to get a rest when they hide in waste heaps
during air raids. In the midst of strife, Levi befriends Lorenzo, a civilian who brings some
of his excess rations to Levi. “I believe that it was really due to Lorenzo that I am alive
today; and not so much for his material aid, as for his having constantly reminded me by
his presence, by his natural and plain manner of being good, that there still existed a just
world outside our own, something and someone still pure and whole, not corrupt, not
savage, extraneous to hatred and terror; something difficult to define, a remote possibility
of good, but for which it was worth surviving” (121).
Chapter 13: October 1944
Winter is inevitably coming. Levi says he knows that seven out of ten prisoners will die,
and the rest will suffer conditions so bad that language cannot express the suffering.
When winter finally arrives, the Germans need to take down the tents that housed
thousands of prisoners. Since the Germans do not like having overcrowded huts, it is sure
that a special selection will occur to thin the numbers at the camp. The prisoners all
assure each other that they will survive, even if they know that not to be the case. Levi
considers it merely random chance that he survived the October selections. One Sunday,
everyone somehow knows the selection will occur. After being counted at lunch all are
ordered back to their huts, where they strip down naked and hold cards carrying their
vital information. All the members of the block are forced into a tiny room. Then one by
one they run out before the SS man and hand him their card. It is quickly ascertained that
those cards handed to the right will live, and those to the left are selected to die. Levi is
somehow selected to live, but he and Alberto figure the SS man mistook him for Rene, a
strong man who was put in the selected pile. The ration comes, and a double-portion is
given to the selected prisoners. Levi is irate that Kuhn thanks god for being spared in the
selection because the act itself has no shred of holiness to it.
Chapter 14: Kraus
The day is very rainy, and Levi is working in a chain gang digging mud. The men are
getting irritated at Kraus, a sloppy Hungarian arrival who works too hard. Once the day is
over, Levi marches next to Kraus, who cannot march in line. Levi turns to him to warn
him to stay in line, and then tells him that he has dreamt that he is sitting in his house in
Naples and Kraus, healthy, arrives and stays for dinner. Levi cannot understand Kraus’
response, but knows Kraus is helpful. Levi knows as a theorem that in reality Kraus will
not survive the camp, and he never tells him that the dream is a lie and that Kraus means
nothing to him.
Chapter 15: Die drei Leute von Labor
Of the 96 Italians that came to Buna with Levi, only 21 remain alive. Working at the
chemical plant has also been worse than normal work, as the loads are heavier and filled
with abrasive materials, and the workers do not get winter overcoats. But just as Levi
seems about to lose hope, he is chosen to actually work in the chemical laboratory. He is
congratulated without envy by Alberto, who never really wanted to work in the lab
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anyway. The jobs at the laboratory will protect Levi and the other two chosen for the
winter. But although the job has many luxuries, it makes Levi painfully aware of his
humanity. He and the other Haftlinge are also embarrassed to present themselves in front
of the German women, who clearly do not view the Jews as people in their actions. Levi
cannot believe that nearly a year has passed since his arrest.
Chapter 16: The Last One
It is almost Christmas. Lorenzo brings Levi and Alberto six to eight pints of soup a day,
for which they have bought a new pot that brings them prestige. They also have engaged
in exploits. Levi stole a broom and dissembled it to bring it back into camp, and Lorenzo
stole a file. The best exploit has been Alberto’s creation of counterfeit cards certifying
that prisoners showered that are needed to receive food the next morning. That day, a
public execution occurs. Usually such executions are for petty theft, but this man is being
punished for helping to blow up one of the crematoriums at Birkenau. Before he is killed,
the man shots, “I am the last one!” Alberto and Levi are embarrassed afterwards because
the man was stronger than they, who are broken.
Chapter 17: The Story of Ten Days
On January 11 Levi is readmitted to Ka-Be with scarlet fever. The following Wednesday
while he is shaved, he learns that the Russians are so near that the Germans plan to
evacuate the camp the next day. The doctor then says that there will be a 12-mile
evacuation march the next day for all but the very sickest patients. Some of the patients
fear they will be killed if they stay behind and try to walk with the healthy, but they die
on the journey. Before he leaves, Alberto comes to visit Levi. He is among the 20,000
prisoners forced on the evacuation march, most of whom did not survive the journey.
Levi feels too sick to go and decides to remain at Ka-Be.
- January 18: An SS man is put in charge of each empty hut, and the sick prisoners are
divided between Jews and non-Jews. Assuming he will be killed shortly, Levi steals some
blankets from the dysentery ward to keep him warm in the no longer air-conditioned KaBe. That night, the camp itself is raided by airplane. The Germans all leave the camp, and
Levi tries to figure out how to survive the next day.
- January 19: Levi and his two French friends, Charles and Arthur, decide to go outside.
The find the camp utterly in ruins not only from the bombing, but also from the
ransacking by hungry and cold Jews who cannot control their bowel movements. The
three find two sacks’ worth of potatoes, and Charles and Levi go in search of a stove.
They finally find the only one in camp, and bring it (and an unconscious Arthur) back to
the Ka-Be. While there, a man proposes that all the other men in the room should give up
a slice of bread to the three scavengers. Levi says that is the first moment of genuine
human kindness he had experienced in months and the beginning of the transition from
Haftling into human.
- January 20: After lighting the stove, Charles and Levi scavenge in the freezing cold.
There are many other scavengers out as well. By luck they find some frozen turnips and
12 gallons of water that they haul back to Ka-Be. Levi also discovers a battery in the
surgery room, so they now have light in their room. Meanwhile a German convoy
continues to flee across the horizon.
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- January 21: The fleeing on the frontier stops. Levi and the Frenchmen, along with some
helpers, make soup from vegetables. A large crowd gathers, but a stern speech from
Arthur scares most of them away. One, Maxime, promises that for two pints of soup he
will make the three men clothing from blankets around the camp. That night, the fighting
begins again. Levi tells the prisoners in his hut that they must prepare to return home and
that therefore they must not share so as not to contaminate each other’s supplies.
- January 22: Charles and Levi steal some goods from the SS wards. Little did they know
that half an hour later, some SS men returned to the camp and killed the 18 Frenchmen
they found living in the SS dining hall. There are dead bodies everywhere that no one has
the inclination to bury. Levi feels compassion for two Italians in the next room in the KaBe and brings them water, but after that everyone in that room just groans with futility for
Levi’s help. That night a Dutchman with typhus and scarlet fever falls out of bed after
soiling it. Levi marvels that Charles does his best to clean up the man and his bed.
- January 23: Some prisoners discover a store of underground potatoes shortly outside the
camp. A breach is made in the barbed wire to get to the trenches. No one in the camp
goes hungry again, although extracting the potatoes from the frozen ground is arduous
work. That night Levi gives everyone fake nose drops as a placebo to convince them that
they will get better from sickness.
- January 24: There is a lot of death in the camp, and those who do not die are incredibly
weak. But the surgery patients in hut 14 raid the English POW huts and return with all
sorts of goods. Levi, who had stolen goods to make candles before, is able to barter to get
lard and flour.
- January 25: A patient Sómogyi dedicates his bread to the rest of the room since he is
determined to die of both typhus and scarlet fever, but no one eats it until he expires. For
two days he dies, murmuring “Jawohl” constantly. Meanwhile, Levi and the two
Frenchmen feel themselves being transformed back into men as they talk about freeranging subjects.
- January 26: There is death all around, and air battles rage overhead. Sómogyi throws
himself out of bed as he dies in the night, but everyone goes back to sleep as there is no
practical way to bury him.
- January 27: The Russians arrive as Charles and Levi carry Sómogyi outside to bury him.
Sómogyi is the only member of Levi’s ward to die in the ten days of waiting, although
several die in the coming weeks in the make-shift Russian hospital at Auschwitz. Arthur,
Charles and Levi all survive and continue to correspond with one another.
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Saul Bellow, Mr. Sammler’s Planet Chapters 1 & 2
Contributor: Joshua Lachter
Summary:
[The entire novel takes place over two days in Sammler’s life.]
We meet Mr. Artur Sammler who is living out his days—as the book’s back correctly
states—on the Upper West Side of New York City.
Sammler lives with his niece, Margotte, who, despite her constant puttering and endless
analysis, Sammler adores and recognizes as a truly good soul.
Sammler and his daughter, Shula live off the generosity of a kind and wealthy relative
named Elya Gruner. Gruner is a surgeon who has become extremely successful.
Sammler begins his day, as it seems like he begins most days, with analysis. Sammler is
continually perceiver and commenter on the world around him. The novel takes place in
1969, on the cusp of the lunar landing and in the midst of the hippie revolution.
Chapter One is devoted mostly to Sammler’s interaction with a pickpocket he comes
upon on the uptown bus coming home from the midtown library.
The big pickpocket is a very large and extremely well-dressed black man who impresses
Sammler simply by virtue of the presence he conveys. Sammler sees the man steal
someone’s wallet and is disturbed.
When he arrives home he calls the police, who seem completely uninterested in the
matter. Sammler is frustrated and resolves that something has to be done. He cannot resist
the urge to ride the bus again in hopes of spotting his pickpocket.
But Sammler has other obligations to attend to. Feffer, a friend of Sammler’s who
teaches at Columbia University has invited Sammler to give a lecture. Sammler had
agreed, and although, he has more pressing matters, departs for Columbia.
Sammler begins to lecture, but is soon openly challenged by a student. The student asks
the assembly “Why do we listen to this effete old shit?” and Sammler is aghast to see that
Feffer has disappeared at that no one stands up to defend him. Humiliated Sammler walks
off the podium.
On his way home, Sammler again spot the pickpocket on the bus. This time though, the
man notices Sammler. Spooked, Sammler jumps off the bus and runs into a coffee shop
in hopes of evading the man. Sammler returns to his apartment building relieved that he
has lost the man, when the pickpocket bursts onto in the lobby.
The pickpocket forces Sammler into a corner, wordlessly, undoes his pants, and exposes
himself to Sammler. After the demonstration, the man simply zips up and leaves
Sammler alone and dumbfounded in his lobby.
Chapter Two begins with Mr. Sammler’s reflection on what has happened to him.
Sammler, returning to his apartment, notices that his daughter Shula has left him a
manuscript written by a Dr. Lal about the possibility of a lunar colony. Sammler is soon
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interrupted from his reading and thoughts by a cousin of Margotte’s, Walter Brunch.
Brunch is a bit of oddball who has a incurable fetish for plump female arms. (Looking at
and touching—not eating.) Brunch pesters Sammler about his addition and Sammler is
rather annoyed. Bruch eventually departs, and Sammler takes the opportunity to go visit
his sick cousin Grunner in the hospital.
Sammler visits Grunner and immediately realizes that the man is soon going to die. Elya
has had surgery, but seems in good spirits and is, as always, extremely kind to Sammler.
At the hospital Sammler comes upon Elya Gruner’s two children: Wallace and Angela.
Wallace Gruner, though extremely intelligent seems to be profoundly disturbed. With his
father on his deathbed, Wallace is more concerned with his various bird brained business
ventures than with his father’s state.
Angela is no less nutty. Attractive and sensuous, Angela confides to Sammler about her
frustrating affair with some snooty East-sider.
Sammler cannot help but feel a little bad for Elya whose offspring seem apathetic during
his last hours.
Important Themes/Analysis:
The groundwork for understanding the strange Mr. Sammler is set in these first two
chapters.
Sammler is incredibly perceptive and is a fiercely critical of the free-love culture that
envelopes him. Sammler appears to us as a sort of moral compass in a sea of depravity.
But despite his keen social critiques, Sammler finds himself mostly powerless to change
the situation around him. As, Professor Wisse pointed out, Sammler is in a constant state
of impotence. Sammler is old and has lost much of his former virility of vigor. To his
dismay, no one takes Sammler seriously. He calls the police to report the pickpocket and
they brush him off; he is heckled off the podium and Columbia; and, most disturbingly he
is powerless to stop the pickpocket’s advance and exposure.
Sammler’s outlook seems to cached in distinctly sexual terms. He sees women—even
those who are related to him—in a basic, almost animalistic way. And yet Sammler
seems to be deeply critical of all the sexual promiscuity that surrounds him in the era.
Grunner is another interesting character in Sammler’s world. Our interactions with
Grunner are a little odd—the man is dying and we know that he knows that he’s dying
yet he doesn’t feel the need to reminisce. Grunner’s children, seem more immersed in
their own endeavors, than in caring for him. Elya loves Sammler and Sammler Elya, yet
Elya’s Uncle is completely unable to give Elya the type of satisfaction that he craves.
Sammler cannot make Elya’s children better people and in this way is also powerless to
help those around him.
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Mr. Sammler’s Planet - Chapter 3
On the way home from the hospital, Sammler sits on a bench in Stuyvesant Park,
to read Dr. Lal’s manuscript about the lunar colony. It is difficult for him to stop
thinking about Gruner. He is very observant of what is going on around him, noticing the
flowers, the beggars, the young people. The environment reminds him of the HG Wells
fantasy The Time Machine. He looks up and sees Feffer walking hastily towards him.
Feffer apologizes for the students’ behavior at the Columbia lecture hall. He says that he
had to leave the lecture because he had received a very important call.
Feffer tells Sammler about a girl who stole Dr. Lal’s lunar colony manuscript,
and that it was the only copy. Feffer asks Sammler if he knows anything about the
manuscript and Sammler redirects the conversation. As the two of them walk to the
subway together, Sammler decides that he has to get hold of Shula straight away and tell
her to return the manuscript. The narrator tells us that Feffer had been admitted to
Columbia without a high school diploma, but his extreme intelligence had got him
“unheard-of marks in the entrance examination.” Feffer suspects that there something
about the pickpocket incident that Sammler is not telling him. “The man has done
something to you… You may be in trouble, and you shouldn’t keep it to yourself.”
Feffer pushes Sammler to tell him exactly what happened after the pickpocket chased
him off the bus. Sammler is very reluctant, but eventually tells him. Feffer starts
cracking joke after joke about the incident. Feffer wants to come with Sammler on the
bus and try to take a photo of the pickpocket.
When Sammler gets home, he tries to call Shula, but no answer. He thinks that
she has turned off her phone because “now a thief she, she very likely was in hiding.” He
goes to Shula’s apartment, screams for her to open, to no avail, and then slips a note
under her door saying telling her to call him immediately. He then sees that her mailbox
is full, so she must be away, maybe in New Rochelle because she had a key to the Gruner
house. When he comes back, Margotte tells him that his son-in-law Eisen called, and that
he was hurt that no-one calls him up when they’re in Israel. Eisen did not even mention
Shula’s name in the duration of the phonecall. She also tells Sammler that Elya is not
doing well.
Sammler goes to his room and writes a letter to Dr. Lal, telling him that the
manuscript is safe and that the girl who borrowed it is his daughter and she meant no
harm. Sammler apologizes for the incident, and gives Dr. Lal his contact information so
that they can arrange for Sammler to return it. Sammler then tells Margotte what
happened, and they discuss how to get the letter to the Prof./Dr. Margotte offers to deliver
the letter to Dr. Lal. Sammler agrees because a woman may have a softening affect on
the incident. Margotte anxiously gets ready, and seemed excited to help out with a
situation of such magnitude. If she meets Dr. Lal, she will invite him back to the
apartment to get the manuscript. Sammler thinks about the content of the manuscript.
“He recognized by these thoughts that he was preparing to meet Govinda Lal.”
After a sequence of thoughts about Dr. Lal, Feffer, New York, Sammler thinks
back to when he was a partisan in Zamosht Forest when they “drifted out at night to
explode bridges, unseat rails, kill German stragglers.” He recalls disarming and shooting
a man in the forest and then taking all his supplies and clothes. (Very moving description
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about how the man begged for his life, before Sammler shot him). Toward the end of the
war, he had to hide from the Polish partisans, because they too had decided to try kill the
Jews before the war ended. He hid for weeks, in swamps, cemeteries, and came within
inches of his life. Killing a man was pleasurable for him in the midst of all of this. He
had been on the verge of death for so long, and killing the man made him feel alive.
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Saul Bellow, Mr. Sammler’s Planet: Ch. 4-5
Contributor: Sarah Satinover
Summary:
Sammler goes to visit Elya Gruner in the hospital. There he runs into Angela
Gruner, Elya Gruner’s daughter, who is crying, but Sammler can tell she is crying over
something other than her father. She talks about how neither she nor her father liked her
brother Wallace. Eisen, Shula’s ex-husband, also came to see Gruner and show him the
Jewish medallions he’s begun making. Angela then tells Sammler that she and Wharton
Horricker, her lover, had a fight because when they were in Mexico, they have a sexual
foursome with another couple. Sammler doesn’t want to insult her choice because he
depends on her and Elya. Sammler then thinks of Shula’s stealing and compares her to
the black pickpocket. Margotte then calls the hospital to tell Sammler that Dr. Lal is in
their apartment, but the manuscript is gone. Sammler realizes that Shula must have taken
it to New Rochelle, to Gruner’s old house, so he goes with Wallace to the house to
retrieve it. Before leaving, he talks to Gruner, who calls Anglea a “dirty cunt” and
Wallace a “high-IQ moron.”
Emil, Gruner’s chauffer, takes Sammler and Wallace to New Rochelle in his Rolls
Royce. In the car, they discuss moon travel, and Sammler says that he has no desire to go
to the moon, or even to Europe. Wallace presses Sammler for details about the
pickpocket’s penis. They discuss whether Tolstoy was right in saying that if two men
have exchanged looks, they cannot kill each other. Wallace reminisces about a kid who
saved him from falling into ice when he was a child. When they arrive at the house,
Sammler remembers playing hide-and-seek with Shula there, and regrets that she has
become a thief. When he finds her, he reprimands her, and she tells him that she made a
copy of the manuscript, and both copies are in lockers in Grand Central Station.
Sammler realizes that Shula was testing to see if he was a truly creative person who
would do anything, even steal, for his book on Wells.
Dr. Lal and Margotte arrive at the house, and Dr. Lal is angry and anxious about
the manuscript – Sammler assures him it is safe. Dr. Lal says he expected find this kind
of terror in America. Shula then comes down, dressed in a makeshift sari, with a dot of
lipstick on her forehead – she speaks and acts over-the-top. She almost seems to be
flirting with Dr. Lal. Sammler sends her to the kitchen with Margotte, and the two men
talk. They both have experienced extermination. Dr. Lal asks Sammler to tell him about
H. G. Wells. Sammler says that while most writers try to replace actions with words,
Wells did not do that. Wells believed that “the minority civilization could be transmitted
to the great masses,” that mankind was governable. But then he despaired with WWII.
Then Dr. Lal talks about how we’re too packed on earth, and people just create war to
deal with it, so we should move to the moon – it would be a waste if we didn’t. However,
only trained professionals could actually make the trip. Dr. Lal is very taken with
Margotte. Then they eat, and Sammler talks about how he has not lost his capacities as
he’s grown old, and how he thinks that the “liberation into individuality” over time has
not been a success. He feels sometimes that he doesn’t belong in this society.
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Shula then notices water on the floor, and it turns out that Wallace broke a pipe in
the attic while searching for money that he believes his father has hidden in the house.
Dr. Lal turns off the water supply, but the firemen have already arrived. Wallace doesn’t
want Sammler to think less of him because of this incident.
Important Themes/Analysis:
Modern family:
• Gruner insults his children
• Sammler insults his daughter
• The families are all mixed up – it almost seems as if Margotte is Sammler’s
daughter, not Shula
Disappointment with youth:
• Gruner is disappointed with his children
• Sammler is disappointed with Shula, with her theft, and is disappointed with
Wallace and with Angela for her sexual habits
- Dr. Lal and Sammler are both foreigners, both experienced extermination, both trying to
find ways to resolve problem of human condition, but Sammler tries to solve it by
philosophizing, while Lal tries to solve it with science
- Is Sammler powerful or impotent?
• The younger generation wants his approval
• But all he does is talk – no action!
• He is half-blind, frail, sexually impotent, needs to live with other people, depends
on Elya and Angela
• But he can kill a man
Belonging – none of the characters seem to belong somewhere
• Sammler is a foreigner, and feels like an outsider
• Dr. Lal is a foreigner
• Margotte is a widow
• Wallace wants to move to Cuba
• Angela has sex with tons of people
• Shula is divorced
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Sammler Chapter 6
Dr. Lal sleeps in the guest room, and in the morning Dr. Lal has left and Emil has taken
Wallace to the airport. Shula is the only other one at home, and there are no cars, so
Sammler cannot go back to New York. He is irritated that Shula didn’t wake him before
everyone left. They discuss the little crush between Dr. Lal and Margot.
Sammler realizes that he should be at the hospital to give his support to Elya,
although he did not know exactly what kind of things he should say to Elya. He gets
through to Elya at the hospital and Elya tells him that he wants to see Sammler and talk
about some things. He asks Sammler to stop off at his apartment and bring the clippings
of Sammler’s articles in the Polish paper to show a Polish doctor who had seen Elya.
Sammler suspects that Shula likes Dr. Lal, and says that he would never allow her to
marry an “Asiatic” (Indian).
Sammler waits for Emil. Emil arrives, and then Margot calls to say that in the
first locker was just Shula’s shopping mags, but that they found the manuscript in the
second locker. She tells him that she is inviting Dr. Lal back to the apartment for lunch.
She asks Sammler to come have lunch. He says that he’s coming past (to pick up the
clippings) but will not have lunch. Margot talks about a number of things but Sammler
doesn’t really listen.
Emil takes Sammler back to the apartment in the city. Margot and Dr. Lal are not
back yet. On the way to the hospital, they get stuck in traffic and see that something has
happened across the sreet. It turns out that Feffer and the black pickpocket were having a
fight over Feffer’s camera. The pickpocket was trying to take Sammler wanted to break
the fight up, but no one would help him. Eisen also happens to be there. Sammler greets
Eisen and then continues trying to resolve the fight. He shouts at Feffer to just hand over
the camera. Eisen refuses to help in any way. “Sammler was powerless” (very important
line). Eventually, Eisen swings his bag full of iron, across the pickpockets face, and
hurts him badly. Eisen then gets ready to slam the bag over the man’s skull and Sammler
stops him and tells him that he is crazy; that he was about to kill the man. (I honestly
cannot even tell if this is meant to be amusing or scary, but it is so random and weird).
Eisen justifies his extreme action by reminding Sammler of the war, and saying that when
you hit, you have to hit to kill otherwise your own life is in danger. Sammler, in anger,
tells Eisen to leave because he would be in trouble. When the police come, Emil takes
Sammler to the car, and they make way to the hospital. Sammler is enraged at Eisen, and
sympathetic to the black pickpocket.
Sammler has a long conversation with Angela, about Elya, about Angela’s mother.
Sammler leads the discussion towards trying to get Angela to apologize to Elya for some
of the deprave things that she did in her life (primarily the sexual decadence), and Angela
gets very upset with Sammler for expecting her to do this.
Shula calls Sammler at the hospital and tells him that she has found Elya’s case of
money. Shula wants to keep the money, but Sammler insists that she give every cent of it
to Widick. Sammler knows that Shula will keep some of it. When Sammler gets off the
phone with Shula, the doctors tell him that Elya is gone, and that Elya especially asked
the doctor to say good-bye to Sammler for him. Sammler insists on seeing Elya’s body,
with resistance from the doctor. The doctor then agrees to have Sammler escorted to see
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his body. The book ends with Sammler giving saying a prayer to G-d over Elya’s dead
body. The prayer asks G-d to remember Elya Gruner, because of Elya’s generosity.
Sammler says that Elya fulfilled “the terms of his contract.” “The terms that in his
inmost heart, each man knows. As I know mine. As all know. For that is the truth of it –
that we all know, G-d, that we know, that we know, we know, we know.” The end.