Analysis Of Malamud's The Magic Barrel

In Malamud’s “The Magic Barrel”, Leo Finkle, has been studying at Yeshiva University for the past six years. He immerses himself in his studies so that he can achieve his goal of becoming a rabbi, leaving no time for a social life. It can be inferred that because he leaves no room to familiarize himself with women, he became socially awkward around them. After an acquaintance of his said that he “might find it easier to win himself a congregation if he were married”, he contacts Pinye Salzman, a matchmaker, after reading his “two line advertisement” in the paper. With Leo’s fate in the palm of his hands, Salzman orchestrated events in ways that led Leo to discover his shortcomings and eventually find love.
Leo doesn’t try to find a wife for …show more content…
The date with Lily made him discover some things about himself like that he lacks all knowledge of what love really is and what it entails. His desire to become a rabbi suddenly seems so pointless because he lived such a lonely life while studying hard; he never made time to make connections with women. The inner monologue he had with himself shows this perfectly, “…He called in the marriage broker to find him a bride because he was incapable of doing it himself”. This train of thought led him to another discovery, “that apart from his parents, he had never loved anyone. Or perhaps it went the other way, that he did not love God so well as he might, because he had not loved man." At this point he realized that he has not been able to connect with any of these women because he had been lying to himself that he knew what love was. When Leo finally came to terms with his situation after a horrible week, Salzman “randomly” reappeared and gave Leo the manila packet that contained the information of the women that he had picked out for Leo when they …show more content…
He came to the conclusion that the women were all past their prime and none of the pictures had shown him, who they were aside women with personalities he had no connection with. Then suddenly Leo finds a picture of a woman the matchmaker did not previously introduce him to. “He gazed at it a moment and let out a low cry”, this is a turning point in Leo’s attitude. He fell madly in love with the hauntingly beautiful girl in the photograph. He proceeded to race over to the matchmaker’s house and is faced with Salzman’s wife, who says he isn’t there. When Leo arrives home he is surprised to see none other then Salzman himself. Its as if Salzman had planned it out that way from the start, to be there when he found the picture and he was just waiting for the moment that he did. He demands to know who the woman in the picture is and she is revealed to be Salzman’s daughter, Stella. The matchmaker tells him “She is not for you. She is a wild one- wild, without shame… to me she is dead now”. In the beginning of the story Salzman was described as a man who has an amiable manner contrasted by mournful eyes, as if he “mourning” for his daughter and his eyes reveal a depth of sadness that highlight his words now that she is ”dead” to him for committing a sin so unforgivable that he had to disown her. Though the matchmaker provides a logical argument against falling for Stella, his actions have led