The Fixer, by Bernard Malamud, starts off with the main character, Yakov Bok, learning about the death of a Russian child. The Jews are blamed for the murder of this child, claiming it to be a ritual murder (or a religious sacrifice). Yakov is frightened, fearing that the police will accuse him because he lives in the city of Kiev, where Jews are forbidden to live in.
The book subsequently proceeds to tell the story of Yakov’s life 6-8 months before the timeline in the first chapter. The authors captures the reader’s attention by going back in time, before Yakov’s initial ordeal. Will they capture Yakov and accuse him of the murder? What will happen to him? These were some of the questions that were aroused by the use of the authors method to go back in time. …show more content…
Yakov rose, enraged. ‘Don’t talk to me about charity. What have I had all my life? What have I got to give away? I was practically born an orphan---my mother dead ten minutes later, and you know what happened to my poor father. If somebody said Khaddish for them it wasn’t me till years later. If they were waiting outside the gates of heaven it was a long cold wait, if they’re not still waiting. Throughout my miserable childhood I lived in a stinking orphans’ home, barely existing. In my dreams I ate and I ate my dreams.’ ”(Malamud, 6)
At this point in the story, Yakov is talking to his father-in-law, Shmuel, about Raisl, Yakov’s wife, who left him. Yakov is angry and wants to know why she did so. Shmuel tells his son-in-law that you have to be patient and give charity to achieve peace and calm him down.
During Yakov’s rant, the lack of pauses shows how irritated Yakov is. Yakov is angered by the fact that people expect him to give charity. After all, how can Yakov give charity if he doesn’t have much? Yakov uses rhetorical questions to effectively convey this
The book subsequently proceeds to tell the story of Yakov’s life 6-8 months before the timeline in the first chapter. The authors captures the reader’s attention by going back in time, before Yakov’s initial ordeal. Will they capture Yakov and accuse him of the murder? What will happen to him? These were some of the questions that were aroused by the use of the authors method to go back in time. …show more content…
Yakov rose, enraged. ‘Don’t talk to me about charity. What have I had all my life? What have I got to give away? I was practically born an orphan---my mother dead ten minutes later, and you know what happened to my poor father. If somebody said Khaddish for them it wasn’t me till years later. If they were waiting outside the gates of heaven it was a long cold wait, if they’re not still waiting. Throughout my miserable childhood I lived in a stinking orphans’ home, barely existing. In my dreams I ate and I ate my dreams.’ ”(Malamud, 6)
At this point in the story, Yakov is talking to his father-in-law, Shmuel, about Raisl, Yakov’s wife, who left him. Yakov is angry and wants to know why she did so. Shmuel tells his son-in-law that you have to be patient and give charity to achieve peace and calm him down.
During Yakov’s rant, the lack of pauses shows how irritated Yakov is. Yakov is angered by the fact that people expect him to give charity. After all, how can Yakov give charity if he doesn’t have much? Yakov uses rhetorical questions to effectively convey this