Mediating Between God And Satan——Exploration Of Singer’s Ambiguous Religious Thoughts In Satan In Goray

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991), an American Jewish writer of the twentieth century, won the Nobel Prize in literature in1978. Singer is a skeptic and his attitude toward God is ambivalent. He is a firm believer of God, but his God is always hidden from His suffering people. Satan in Goray is one of Singer’s challenges to God. This novel is Singer’s first novel that depicts the stories happened in Goray after the1648Cossacks massacres. The massacres cast a deep gloom over the whole community and the people experienced severe belief crisis afterward. The townsmen were waving between God and Satan, not knowing whether to firmly believe in God or fall low to be Satan’s adherent, which helped to show the complexities of the human conditions. Those characters were all spokesmen of Singer, presenting his speculation of the elusive God, and showing the ambivalence of his religious thoughts. This thesis tries to explore the ambiguity of Singer’s religious thoughts, with Satan in Goray as an example.In the beginning of the thesis is the introduction of Singer’s life and major works, especially, Satan in Goray, and a literature review on Singer and Satan in Goray. Chapter one discusses the ambiguity of Singer’s religious thoughts. Singer’s ambiguous thoughts towards God find expression in his search for the existence of God, his challenges towards God’s covenants with His chosen people and God’s redemption, as well as his attitudes towards human free will guaranteed by God. Chapter two undertakes a comprehensive and detailed analysis of Singer’s Satan in Goray, in which Singer’s ambivalent thoughts are well expressed. It explores Rabbi Benish’s and Rechele’s self-conflict, the religious conflicts and power shift in Goray under the variety of faith, and the recurring subject of deviation and return. Chapter three focuses on the development of the ambiguous thoughts of Singer by penetrating into the cultural, social and political, and even the individual background in which his thoughts shape. Finally conclusion is drawn that Singer is mediating between the traditional and the modern, critically assimilate whatever is beneficial to him from both sides, and develops his own unique religious thoughts. His unique vision gives to Jewish tradition new meaning.