A Comparative Study Of The Images Of Morris Bober And Gimpel The Fool

Jewish American literature is an important part of modern American literature.The full arrival of Jewish literature came after World War II,with a large number of outstanding Jewish writers appeared in the United States and the world.They integrate the Jewish traditional culture into the life of the United States skillfully.And they explore the general problems of human nature and morality of the western society from the perspective of Jewish culture.Their common attitude toward writing arises from the similar cultural background,and a similar history of being persecuted and endangered as a people.Among them,Bernard Malamud and Isaac Bashevis Singer are representatives.In their works,they created characters who are in pursuit of morality and self perfection in tragic fate.For example,Morris Bober in The Assistant and Gimpel in Gimpel the Fool are such kind of characters.No matter how hard life is,Morris is always kind to others and help others selflessly.For Gimpel,no matter how unfair life is,he endures it silently and always believes in God.Morris Bober and Gimpel are typical Jewish figures in Jewish American literature.Based on that,this thesis analyzes the image of two characters from three aspects through close reading and textual analysis,with the guidance of the principles and methods of Archetypal Criticism.Firstly,from the aspect of biblical image,Morris is similar to Job in the Bible.While Gimpel is different in thoughts and actions from Morris,he is taken more as the biblical image of Scapegoat.Secondly,from the aspect of suffering image,they share similarities in their suffering experiences.But their ways and motivations in suffering are different.There are also differences in the representations of their suffering.Morris is taken as an active sufferer.Gimpel is pushed to be a sufferer,so he is taken more as a passive sufferer.Thirdly,from the aspect of Messiah image,although there are differences in their actions of salvation on certain conditions,their sacrifice has similar significance.They are both ready to save others and themselves.Through the comparative analysis of the images of the two characters from the three aspects,it is clear that they share some similarities while retaining specific features of their own.The reason lies in the unique characterizations of the two writers.Since Malamud and Singer have the same social background,their Jewish nature is reflected in their works and the characters they created.However,there are many differences in Malamud and Singer's characterization because of their different focuses in creating the characters.Malamud pays close attention to humanity,and his characters are often “small potatoes” who have their own thoughts.They understand and bravely accept their fates.They suffer silently while still holding faith in God and in humanity.Singer's characters are easily influenced by the surroundings.They refuse to be assimilated,only to accept their fate in the end.Through a comparative analysis of the two typical figures in American Jewish literature,the thesis expounds in detail their similarities and differences in the biblical image,image of sufferer,and image of Messiah,which is helpful to the research of comparative study of Jewish characters.At the same time,this research elucidates the humanistic attitude and orientation of value of the two famous Jewish writers.