Fiddler On The Roof Analysis

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Fiddler on the Roof (the movie) was shown in theaters for the first time on November 3, 1971 and was directed by Norman Jewison. It focused on the life of the poor Jewish dairyman Tevye and his family in the small town of Anatevka, Ukraine during 1905. Besides the main plot of Tevye’s daughters Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava, getting married, persecution of Jews in this village is highlighted with scenes of violence implemented by Russian guards. For example, there was a scene in the movie where a guard who berends Tyeve tells him that the guards are obligated to riot in Anatevka. later, Tevye's daughter Tzeitel wedding is crashed by the guards as they set fire to and break things, and rip off tablecloths. The wedding guests all flee and …show more content…
According to Bernard Pares, a British academic who made regular visits to Russia during the reign of Nicholas II, “the favourite object of persecution was the Jewry of Russia, which was in 1914 nearly one half of the whole Jewish population of the world. And here Nicholas was as bad as Alexander. It was not just a question of what rights the Jews did not possess, but whether they had the right to exist at all. But for special exemptions, the Jewish population was confined to the so-called Jewish Pale of Settlement” (Pares). It is apparent that through Pares’ visits showed his how badly the Jews were persecuted and exiled. It also reinforce shirt idea of the Jewish diaspora in America in the early twentieth century. While accurately portraying the life of Russian Jews in Tsarist Russia, Fiddler on the Roof focuses mainly on Jewish traditions- particularly marriage and changing times. The storyline may be historically accurate, but it is not totally fixed on the interactions between Russia and Jews and the Pogroms that took place. It seems the intention of this movie is to show core aspects Russian Jewish culture at the time and how certain cultural boundaries were passed, like intermarrying. Ultimately, Fiddler on the Roof was an artfully and accurately constructed representation of the history of Russian Jews despite its

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