Double Standards In Gimpel The Fool

It is within human nature to both witness and partake in the application of double standards at some point in the course of one’s life. Whether this occurrence takes the form of a trivial or pivotal event will depend upon a great many variables, including an individual’s tendency towards honesty or deception. There may be vast differences between innocently-intended “little white lies” and selfishly-maneuvered “whoppers,” whether the untruths are told to oneself or to another. This is exemplified in the stories of Gimpel, in “Gimpel the Fool” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Jack, in The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde. An orphan dubbed “the Fool,” Gimpel is the target of his town’s (shtetl’s) repeated …show more content…
His friend Algernon is similarly creative with facts and likewise falls in love with young Cecily, Jack’s ward, creating additional complications for Jack/Ernest. During the process of untangling fact from fiction, Jack uncovers more than he had dared hope: the truth of his origins, ultimately restoring him to an acceptable social status through which he gains approval of his marriage to Gwendolen. A vast ocean may separate their individual circumstances and lifestyles, but Gimpel and Jack share a surprising number of cogent parallels on their paths to claiming their unique identities: each instills the meaning of a name with inordinate power, both must manage the repercussions of intentional deception, each character inserts himself willingly into the machinations of women, and both men originally believe the security they seek will be found within a marriage; however, their similarities sharply diverge when Gimpel brokenheartedly divests himself of his woeful identity and Jack happily reclaims the uncovered truths of his