Maus I & II

I have said it before and I will say it again, I really like the graphic novel genre. I really got into Art Spiegelman’s stories “Maus I and II” when I first read them a couple of years ago. I have to admit that Will Eisner is an amazing writer and illustrator, but I did prefer Spiegelman’s Tale better.

His whole idea was so clever. I really liked how he chose to represent each different group of people as different specie of animal. The Jews as mice being hunted by the evil German cats. Any individual raised on Tom & Jerry can see the irony in Spiegelman’s choices. (My favorite choice had to be making the French frogs.)

On a deeper level, this truly was an amazing text. The duel storyline of the father’s story of his time in the concentration camp, as well as his own inner struggle he faced due to the success he created on the lives of those who died. He even illustrated the piles of these dead individuals under his drawing desk.

It was even interesting to see how Art suppressed himself through the story. He seems to be a human with a house mask on. This seemed to represent to his readers that he is hiding who he really is, the man under the mask.

All this could not have been depicted so well in just words alone.

Finally Something to Read About

Finally, poetry about something I can relate to. Not only is it about baseball, yay, but the Brooklyn Dodgers no less. I feel as though every time I read a poem it is usually about love or heartache. It is a refreshing change to read about something as “All-American” as baseball.

Pinsky’s poem entitled “The Night Game” represents the assimilation of Jews in America and the problems it causes. Everyone knows there are nothing more American then our own national pastime, Baseball. When Sandy Koufax not only made it into the Major Leagues, but also helped take his team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, to the World Series, this was an amazing occurrence. It is rare that we see such a high profile sports star that is Jewish.

Nevertheless, what was truly inspirational about Koufax was that he refused to pitch the World Series game, which happened to fall on Yom Kippur. He has become a major legend for Jewish Americans all over the nation.

Yiddish in America

Ozick’s story Envy; or, Yiddish in America Edelshtein, the main character, is an immigrant, Yiddishist, and writer. He has yet to break into the mainstream market with his writing because he is unable to have his writing translated from Yiddish into English. Edelshtein believes that Yiddish is a dying language. He resents everyone who turns his or her back on Yiddish. He seems to find conflict with anyone who does not embrace this language with the same fervor and reverence as he.

Edelshtein also seems to secretly envy the fame his biggest enemy receives due to the translation of his work from Yiddish to English. What Edelshtein does not realize is Ostrover’s success lies deeper than just translation. Ostrover speaks to everyone in his writing; Edelshtein only desires to speak to Jews.

Edelshtein seems to begrudge any of the Jews in his life who choose to ignore Yiddish. He believes that turning their back on Yiddish is the same as turning their backs on their past. He is stuck in a world where no one is left to speak his language or read his writing. He wants to open people’s eyes to a dying language.

Edelshtein’s conflict with the character Ostrover represents his issue with this present generation who chooses not to promote the language of Yiddish. Ostrover, like many other Jewish writers, choose to translate writing into English. Edelshtein envies Ostrover’s success.

Edelshtein’s final conflict lies within the future generation. Hannah, the young niece of a friend, is able to read Yiddish and is familiar with Edelshtein’s writings. Edelshtein looks at Hannah as if she herself holds the future of the entire Yiddish language. He places his demand on her, but she is not looking to be the Messiah of the Yiddish language. She no longer wants to bare this burden.

Edelshtein is a walking ghost throughout the entire story. He is a faint representation of the language of Yiddish in America. He is disappointed each by the past, present, and future generations in this country in order to keep this language alive. It seems as though everyone chooses to turn his or her backs on it. Edelshtein is unwilling to accept the death of the language and tries everything in his power to revive Yiddish. However, unfortunately Edelshtein fails. The language is destined to die with him.

The True Victim of the Super

In Eisner’s story “The Super,” the reader definitely has to ask, “Who is the victim in this story?” Is it the creepy Super/pedophile who is banished to the basement? Is it the little ten-year old wanna be prostitute who the Super is accused of molesting? Or could it be the tenants at 55 Dropsie?

I would say that none of these characters are victims. They are all guilty of something in their own way. The Super, even though the young girl took him advantage of, he still was a pedophile. It is true he did show his emotional side to his dog, but still nothing out was pedophilia it is a crime.

As for the young girl, she was guilty of manipulation, stealing and poisoning the dog. Personally, I think she is the guiltiest, but that is just my opinion. Not only did she steal his money and KILL his dog, which is totally unacceptable, but she also started a series of events that resulted in the Super killing himself.

But there is also the tenants of Dropsie Ave. At first read through one might assume that they are the true victims of the story, but I don’t think so. I think they do hold a certain level of guilt in the entire situation. They are responsible for labeling and treating the Super as a “social outcast.” It is almost as if they banished him to the basement, to do their dirty work. Thus resulting in the Super becoming who he was.

In my opinion the true victim here is the poor dog!!!

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words

I had never heard of Will Eisner before this class. I have read graphic novels before, but never one like "The Contract with God Trilogy." Even the words were illustrations. It was almost as if the reader does not have to "read" the text. The entire story is told through its pictures.

Just take the first couple of pages of the first story, “The Contract with God.” The words actually seem to be raining. Eisner really gets his point across about how this poor man, walking through the rainy New York streets is depressed, in just a couple of illustrations.

Take the picture on page five alone. This man, Frimme Hersch, is walking through a monsoon of a rain with his shoulders hung low in a very depressed stance. This exact moment seems to give the reader the message that poor Hersch is having one of the worst days in the world. Everything in his life seems to be going wrong. This rain is just one more thing to add to his misery. The words of the story eventually come to reiterate this message that is initially put forth by the illustration.

As the story progresses it is interesting to see how Eisner manipulates the use of weather to create an interaction between Hersch and God. His illustrations, such as the harsh winds and lightening, as well as the calm that came after the storm when Hersch finally had “enough,” all show the reader God’s response to Hersch’s anger.

From Hester Street to Seinfeld: A Semester Wrap-Up

Everyone knows Seinfeld as the show about "nothing." However, few people have ever looked deeper into the message Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David are trying to create with this nothingness.

These two comedians created a series reminiscent of the early performances of the Marx Brothers, with a slight hint of the Woody Allen whiney self-loathing type. It was amusing to see the evolution of the Jewish performers over the twentieth century through this literature class. Ending the semester with Seinfeld created a great wrap-up to everything that we were working in this class.

It was interesting to see this progression through texts such as the early works of the Bintl Briv all the way down to writings of modern writers like Robert Pinsky. Nevertheless, it was even better to see other works of Jewish literature, beyond just textual content. The movies were very informative because they offered clarification to any images that I created in my head from what these writers were trying to talk about during each period.

It has to be said that my favorite portion of the semester was the graphic novel. I had taken a liking to this for of literature when I first came across Art Spiegelman in Holocaust Literature class. I really enjoy reading graphic novels because they allow for a more interesting creation of the text. The writer can get so much of his or her message across without ever using words, just their illustrations.

Why do we find self-loathing comedians funny?

Being raised in Brooklyn, New York I am not stranger to the works of Woody Allen. I never pass up a chance to watch this man get on screen and just proceed to rag on himself. It is always funny.

There is almost something reminiscent of Groucho in Woody, not only physically, the eyebrows and the glasses, but also his type of comedy. Woody does not offer the fast talking and quick wit like Groucho does, but both men to not shy away from pointing the finger of comedy at themselves. Is always more funny to control how the audience is laughing. It is much more positive to be the facilitator of jokes against yourself.

Woody Allen was also a filmmaker ahead of the times. He was the first to incorporate split screen and also the feature of addressing the audience in the film. This really helped get the message across that Woody was presenting to his audience. The best scene is when we are able to see Woody’s character and Diane Keaton’s character at separate psychiatrist visits, but at the same time. The audience is able to see that what one person believes to be a problem in the relationship, is something the other considers normal.

Seize the Day

The character of Wilhelm in Bellow’s novel Seize the Day was truly a pathetic character. He seemed to be more of a looser than Gimple or Bontshe. He is a self-loathing man who cannot seem to make a life for himself, and doesn’t really try to hard in order to do so. It seems to be that at the root of all Wilhelm’s problems is his father. He is the type of man who chooses to lie about the status of his children in society in order to elevate his own.

Wilhelm has obviously failed at life and now expects his father to help him. I say that Wilhelm should get off his butt and help himself. He should not expect a handout from his father just because he hit a rough patch. He was the one who chose to drop out of school, when his father gave him the opportunity to go to college in the first place.

Wilhelm needs to stop complaining and trying to gain his fathers approval. At forty years old, with a wife and two sons of his own, he should be focusing on his own family. It also seems that he is wasting his time. He is looking for approval at a place where he is never going to get it. It is unfortunate that the more someone is unwilling to offer their approval to you, the more you are striving to gain it.

The Simple Things

Karl Shapiro’s poem entitled Sunday: New Guinea depicted the story of a young Jewish soldier fighting on America’s side. The basis of this poem is this solider on the frontlines dreaming for a simple Sunday at home with his family. In the times we are living in, with so many American troops over in Iraq, the reader wonders what those boys are longing for.

I doubt that the simple desires of soldiers during WW I or II, such as being home with our family or sleeping in your own bed, have changed much. The only difference these days is new technologies we have today. Through my Digital Writing class this semester I was fortunate enough to read some blogs of soldiers fighting over in Iraq. They are able to stay in closer contact to loved ones than any soldiers in the past.

Another excellent depiction made by Shapiro was his description in the first stanza of the poem. The bugle’s “call to action” was reminessent to the bells many soldiers would here at home to signify a “call to prayer.” With the many different soldiers standing around, each with their own religious affiliation, it helped the author to see all the different people standing their willing to fight for America.

The Bottom of the Barrel

One would think that the idea of a matchmaker for a young Jewish Rabbi might sound absurd to our generation. But know it is quite common these days for young adults to register themselves online in order to find a suitable spouse.

I was recently informed that there are specific matchmaking sites for every different ethnicity or religion, for example J-Date. Think match.com or e-harmony, but specifically for Jews. It is crazy what people will go through in order to find a spouse.

Bernard Malamud’s cute tale entitled The Magic Barrel has many creative nuances for the reader to pick up on. For example the character of Salzman, who plays the matchmaker. He almost reminds the reader of a used car salesman. This must be why Malamud names the character Salzman, because it sounds almost like salesman.

One also has to wonder why Malamud chose to entitle his story The Magic Barrel. There is no mention of any type of barrel anywhere in the entire story. To me the meaning of the barrel might refer to the expression “the bottom of the barrel.” This is what people usually say when they are referring to something as someone else’s leftovers. This might be used to describe Salzman’s daughter in the story. She is a woman who is not as innocent as women were supposed to be at this period in time. She might be considered one man’s leftovers and Finkle chose her from the bottom of the barrel.

Stand Here Ironing- “I think I saw a movie like this on Lifetime!!!

I truly enjoyed the short story by Tillie Olsen, I Stand Here Ironing. It takes reading over a few times before the reader can truly appreciate the message Olsen was trying to get across. This piece seems like it could have taken place in present day just as well as back in the 50s when it was written.

The theme of this story sounds very common of the society we live in today. Woman gives up her dreams of creating a successful life for herself when she marries at a young age and becomes a mother. When her husband leaves her she has trouble supporting the child and they fall on hard times. Eventually the woman remarries and creates a new family with the second husband. Thus leaving the first daughter to feel left out and alienated. (I can see the Lifetime movie now.)

The narrator of this story admits that there is no hope for her life to gain any success; she is stuck where she is. But she believes her daughter is lucky enough to have a talent to entertain in order to take her somewhere. The mother realizes that she is as helpless as the dress she is ironing. She is stuck in that kitchen and there is no chance of that ever changing. But she believes there is more out there for her daughter. She wants her daughter to experience the life she never had the chance to live.

She Nags Because She Loves

Awake & Sing by Clifford Odets like many other stories we have read so far this semester, shows the struggle between two very different generations. Bessie, the main character, plays the role of the stereotypical Jewish mother. She is always instigating in her children’s lives by trying to marry off her daughter or never think any woman is good enough for her son.

But we must look deeper at this woman. She is a very complex character. As we analyze her more throughout the story we learn just how strong of a woman she actually is, and that she only wants what is best for her children. (She nags because she loves.)

Bessie is playing both mother and father to her children, due to an incompetent husband. Bessie is like most mothers that we know of today. She sacrificed her happiness in order for her children to have a better life. At the time when this story took place the main goal was for most children to become successful in a world where their parents had not.

Comedy is an Excellent Coping Mechanism

During the Great Depression people needed an outlet to turn to in order to escape the unfortunate lifestyle they were forced to live with day to day. Many of these people turned to the movies for this exact reason. The form of escapism was more entertaining and better for your liver than the alternative of turning to drinking, which is the road most people take when life gets to tough.

But thankfully for many others there were entertainers like the Marx Brothers who can make people laugh in almost any situation. They were able to turn around the problems that society was facing, and turn it into pure comedy.

Films that were humorous to audiences in the 1920s when they were first released are still entertaining to our generation almost eighty years later. Why? Well I honestly don’t know why some Jewish guy with a fake Italian accent saying “Why a duck?” is funny, but it sure is.

I think that we as a society can find the form of comedy the Marx Brothers were performing all those years ago because we are a generation raised on “Saturday Night Live.” Every Saturday night we turn on our television and watch the latest generation of entertainers mock the current political party. This is why I believe that we, as a generation totally different than the one during the Marx Brothers time, can still enjoy their movies.

The Lost Generation

The character of Rachel in Anzia Yezierska’s story Children of Loneliness seems to be part of a “Lost Generation.” Her parents sacrificed to come over to America in order to make a better life for themselves. She was successful in her education; she was able to attend college. But she now feels that she is unable to relate to her family. She feels like an outsider. The closer she is to becoming an American, the further away from her family and her culture she moves.

So many people are part of this generation. Even today, every freshman who goes off to college comes home at Christmas break convinced that they know everything and that they have now become smarter than their family. Many of these kids think that their parents are from an entirely different world and would not understand the youth of today. These kids forget that their parents were once students, just like themselves.

In Yezierska’s story Rachel acts like that typical college freshman. The main difference between Rachel and the college freshman of today is that she is really from an entirely different world than her parents were from. They were raised in an entirely different country, with a very different belief set.

Women and Education: Only in America

Coming to America offered many immigrants new opportunities and new experiences. Children were given the chance to gain an education. Many of these students, for example the character of David Rudinsky in Mary Antin’s short story The Lie, absorbed the knowledge they received in school like a sponge.

They realized that it was a privilege and an honor to be given the opportunity. David understood the advantage he was given. He knew the struggles his family went through in order to make their way to America, the “Land of Opportunities.”

One of the many changes most immigrants faced in the “Land of Opportunities” was the differing role of women in the States. Women were given more opportunities in America than most of the countries the immigrants were coming from. This is also represented in Antin’s story through the relationship between David and his female teacher.

To most of these immigrant children, usually boys because girls rarely attended school, it would be unheard of to have a woman teacher back in their homeland. Women’s lives were no longer limited to getting married and raising a family. They were now capable of going out and making a life of their own, independent from family or a husband.

To be an American or a Jew on Hester Street

The film Hester Street offered viewers an excellent representation of the life of a young immigrant coming to America in the early 1900s. These men and women faced many hardships, such as those one could read about in the Bintl Briv. The characters of this movie, like many of these people, were forced to adapt to a whole new form of living.

The character of Jake seemed to succumb to the Americanization process more quickly and willingly than others. For example, his wife and tenant were more reluctant to give up their traditional Jewish ways of life. His wife was only willing to adapt to the American lifestyle, at her own terms. She was not going to be forced into that lifestyle until she was ready. The same is true for the tenant. He still chose to remain true to his religion and study the Torah.

Lives of these immigrants were very different than the ones they lead back in their homeland. The film represents the struggles many of them faced at this time. Many, like Jake, relinquished their names and even their traditions. They were determined to become Americans, in anyway they could. But it was at the cost of their old traditions. The most heartbreaking scene in the movie was when Jake could not remember how to say the Kaddish for his dead father.

There Wont be a Big Fat Jewish Wedding

The interaction between Tevye and his third daughter Chava seems like an early example of the generational differences later seen in works by authors such as Odets or Yezierska. Chava chooses to look at people as individuals. As for Tevye he sees the world as divided by those who are Jewish and those who are not. (Think the father from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.) Tevye spouts the Bible just like Tula’s father quoted Greek history.

The more that I think about it, My Big Fat Greek Wedding does seem like a modern version of Chava. The daughter chooses to marry outside her religion and ethnicity, and the father has a very hard time with acceptance. The big difference between these two stories is the times they are set.

Tevye’s story is during a time when inter-faith marriages were an unheard-of occurrence. In our day in age, when the movie was set, it is more common for children to marry outside of their race or religion. But there are still those few “Old World” parents who have trouble accepting their children marrying someone “different.” Most of these parents have the same reaction as Tevye. They feel ashamed and only think of how they will look throughout the whole situation. Not many stop to think about how their son or daughter feels.

Another difference between this story and the movie is reflected through the differing times. In Tevye’s story he disowned his daughter. He was unable accept the choice that his daughter made. He took a drastic, but not uncommon approach for this time. He disowned his daughter. The same was not true in the movie. Tula’s father eventually caved and they all had their “Big Fat Greek Wedding.”

Bontshe the Humble

The character in Peretez’s short story Bontshe Shvayg is like no character I have ever read about. Nor is he like any person I ever met. Bontshe just sits back and lets the world walk all over him. He constantly stayed silent and lived a ridiculously unjust life. Bontshe was an invisible man that lived his life in a shadow.

Bontshe lived and died in silence. The same was not true in the other world. He was honored and praised for living a meager life and never uttering a single complaint. It is ironic that he was never considered extraordinary throughout his life, when his actions after death clearly portrayed him as one. When he was rewarded for his silence during his unjust life, all he asked for was a “warm roll with fresh butter every day.”

With the terrible life he experienced during his years on earth, he never complained. Bontshe seemed to be the type of man who acted this way not to be repaid in the afterlife, but because he is just a humble man. He is simple and sincere, and none of this was done with an ulterior motive. He was a character that made the Angels and the Judges feel ashamed of how truly humble of a man Bontshe was.

Peretez may have written this story to send a message to his readers. This message may be that Bontshe is the type of character that people should strive to be like. Humble and sincere in ones desires and never questioning the life you were given, no matter how horrible. In the end you might also be rewarded, as Bonshe was rewarded.

Old World Solutions to New World Problems

With many young Jews immigrating to America from other countries, they began to experience a whole new world of problems in America. The Bintl Briv was set up in Forvet’s as sort of a “Dear Abby” for this Generation in transition. At first I asked myself why these people weren’t turning to Rabbis, like many Jews in the Old Country did when problems arose.

But I soon realized that these problems were secular. Not the type of situation a Rabbi was used to handling. These people were seeking to problems that no other Jew ever experienced before. For some of these Jewish men and women writing these letters, it was their first time living and working in a world with non-Jews. They were faced with new issues, such as the conflict of a young girl who wanted to obey her parents but at the same time help to support her family. Another letter written to the editor was from a man who was struggling with the fact that he was expected to send a portion of his earnings in America to his father back in his homeland.

The interesting part of these letters is the answers that the editor presented to the writers. The editors are giving an Old World answer that one might expect from their Rabbi, with a new world spin. Readers are told to follow and respect their parents, no matter what it is they say. So the young girl who wanted to drop out of school to earn a salary to support her ever growing family was told to stay in school as her parents suggested. The young man, who was wavering between sending his earnings back to his homeland to help support his aging father, was also reminded of his obligation to family. Support and respect for ones family, especially parents, is a key foundation in the Jewish religion.

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