The+Magic+Barrel

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'Lily startled Leo by remarking, "I was thinking of Mr. Salzman, a curious figure, wouldn't you say?"' (Malamud). Salzman is a curious figure indeed, Lily. Bernard Malamud has succeeded in making an overall uniquely interesting story. Modernist traits give it a distinct feel. The subject of the story is brought on by Malamud's own lifestyle and his views of the world. Because of Malamud's personal connection to his stories, they all tend to have the same basic elements. Despite that fact, Bernard Malamud's stories still attract the attention of scholars and are becoming widely known.

"The Magic Barrel" exemplifies Modernism in many, many ways. For example, a sense of alienation and despair is present in many Modernist works (Worthington). "The Magic Barrel" is no exception. "Like many of Bernard Malamud's short stories, "The Magic Barrel" is essentially a love story that incorporates themes of suffering and self-discovery ("Bernard The Magic Barrel Malamud Criticism"). In the story, the main character, Leo, is lonely, isolated, and wants a wife. He has been studying for years trying to become a rabbi though, which has severely impaired his social skills and dimmed his social life. His parents met by way of matchmaker, and he figures this would be the best way to find a bride. He experiences shame when going to meet the matchmaker though. After speaking with Salzman, the matchmaker, and getting no where, he realizes he is embarrassed to meet girls this way. Another Modernist trait of the story, although it is not shown as strongly, is the emphasis on the individual instead of society as a whole (Worthington). This is evident by the fact that the entire story is about one man's struggle to find a good mate, and more importantly, a life-long partner that he loves. Another minor characteristic is the movement toward character complexity (Worthington). By just using a "few strokes", Malamud could "create compelling and complex characters" according to eNotes ("The Magic Barrel Summary & Study Guide - Bernard Malamud - ENotes.com"). The story, like other stories from the Modernism period, celebrates passion and will over reason and morality (Worthington). Leo is told over and over by Salzman that love does not matter. Salzman say if the woman is healthy, the dowry is large, and the family has good connections, Leo should take her up immediately (Malamud). Leo truly believes in love though, and he eventually find it in a photograph of Salzman's daughter. Modernism is, most of all, a break from tradition (Worthington). The fact that Leo wants love goes against the Jewish tradition of marrying a suitable partner, not a person you see on the street and instantly become infatuated with ("Bernard The Magic Barrel malamud Criticism"). The last Modernist trait I noticed was the creation of the world by an individual's perception of it (Worthington). In the story, Leo realizes he has not loved anyone, even God. Considering he is studying to become a rabbi, this is a big deal to him. He wonders if one must love humanity before he or she can become close to God ("The Magic Barrel Summary & Study Guide - Bernard Malamud - ENotes.com"). Acting on this thought, he falls in love with Stella, the matchmaker's daughter. Leo changes his future all because he begins to see the world in a different light.

Malamud's life has a clear relation to his writing. He is Jewish ("Bernard Malamud Biography - Life, Parents, Story, Death, History, School, Book, Information, Born, College, House, Time"). All of his stories are about Jewish people. Malamud apparently did not even begin to write until after World War II (Gale). He had heard stories of the Holocaust and it moved him deeply. It was a horrific time, and he obviously did not want his people to be seen as evil like the Nazis had made them out to be. Some of his stories, like "The Assistant" have Russian main characters in them (Avery). Malamud himself is from Russia. He is proud of his heritage and not afraid to show the world his culture.

Malamud's other works are extremely similar to each other. He is tame compared to some other writers of this period though. "The Magic Barrel" has references Greek mythology and other mythical situations. "...perhaps a cloven-hoofed Pan, piping nuptial ditties as he danced his invisible way before them" would be one of these references (Malamud). Mythical themes are visited once again in "The Natural" and this story also touches upon initiation and isolation. The main character in "The Magic Barrel" is about to be initiated into rabbi-hood. He is also slightly isolated in his studies ("Bernard Malamud Biography - Life, Parents, Story, Death, History, School, Book, Information, Born, College, House, Tim."). These two stories are very similar. All of his characters are openly Jewish. Compared to the other authors I have looked at, Malamud has a style unlike any of them. He uses complete sentences, and words are used as they normally would be. He does not defy the laws of literature as William Carlos Williams has. Punctuation of any sort cannot be found in Williams's writing. His poems are short and simple. Malamud gives many details in his stories when compared to Williams. The same goes for Carl Sandburg. These two writers are in a different league entirely. Regardless, Sandburg splits sentences apart using dashes and commas. Malamud and Sandburg do uses many of the same types of characters in their stories. They are similar in this way. Sandburg uses poor working men whereas Malamud uses Jewish people generally from Russia.

Bernard Malamud's place in history is sealed by the fact that his works have many characteristics of modernism in them. His views and experiences in life can be somewhat seen by the subjects of his stories. For instance, being Jewish has obviously affected him because many of his stories have Jewish themes. The Jewish themes result in many of his stories being similar. He did not experiment much with style which makes most of his stories alike in that way as well.

Avery, Evelyn. "Bernard Malamud (1914-1986)." //Georgetown University: Web Hosting//. Georgetown University, 19 Nov. 1997. Web. 04 May 2010. .

"Bernard Malamud Biography - Life, Parents, Story, Death, History, School, Book, Information, Born, College, House, Time." //Encyclopedia of World Biography//. Advameg, Inc. Web. 04 May 2010. .

"Bernard The Magic Barrel Malamud Criticism." //eNotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More//. eNotes, Inc. Web. 04 May 2010. .

Gale, Thomson. "The Magic Barrel Study Guide by Bernard Malamud: Author Biography Study Guide." //BookRags.com: Book Summaries, Study Guides//. Thomson Corporation. Web. 04 May 2010. .

Malamud, Bernard. "Bernard Malamud, The Magic Barrel." //American and British Studies at New Bulgarian University, Sofia//. New Bulgarian University, 27 Oct. 2006. Web. 04 May 2010. .

"The Magic Barrel Summary & Study Guide - Bernard Malamud - eNotes.com." //eNotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More.// eNotes, Inc. Web. 04 May 2010. .

Worthington, Leslie. "Characteristics of Modernism." //SOCRATES//. Troy University, 8 May 2007. Web. 02 May 2010. .

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Bernard Malamud was a proud Jew and a prominent figure of Jewish American Literature as well as Modernism Literature (Bernard Malamud Biography). His story, “The Magic Barrel,” shows characteristics of both Modernism and Malamud’s Jewish side. With the thought of how society and religion intertwine, Malamud creates a mystical and exciting story about a soon to be Rabi and his search for a bride.
 * __Magic Barrel Essay by Veronica Tellez__**

Malamud was an imagist. He told the story in a brief clear and concrete way. Most of the time he focused on the psychological aspect, like in many Modernism works, and showed how the characters felt about certain situations. The feelings of despair and hope were both big in the Modernism time period because of all of the different events going on (Langley). Malamud created both these feelings in the main character, Leo Finkle, by his feelings of despair in never finding a loved one and hope when he finally does. Then the despair comes from the matchmaker, who feels as though he set Leo up with an evil being (Malamud). Malamud also experiments, like other Modernism writers did (Langley), and gives the story a magical sense by making it seems like the matchmaker was some angel, who could never be found unless you needed him. “The Magic Barrel” is seen as a great Modernism work and was awarded the National Book Award in 1959 (Bernard Malamud Biography).

A theme of showing the social problems of the world was also a common theme in Modernism (Langley). Malamud was a Jew who realized that the sense of religion and closeness to God had faded in the United States. This story shows how the ideal in Jew society of becoming a Rabi led this man to waste six years of his life studying (Malamud). The matchmaker respected him for it, but then when Leo, the soon to be Rabi, became obsessed with finding a bride he actually loved and settled for the matchmaker’s unreligious daughter, the matchmaker became resentful (Malamud). Leo drifted from God and did not care to be a Rabi. In the end, the matchmaker is basically saying the Leo is going to go to hell (Malamud). Malamud seems to feel that God should come before everything and people should not drift away from him.

Bernard Malamud grew up in a poor family, whose parents had just immigrated from Russia. He had little to no money, education, or books to help him, but somehow got himself to college (Bernard Malamud Biography). The horrors of World War II are what sparked his writing career. He was disgusted by how terrible Hitler and the Holocaust were and how bad his fellow Jews were being treated (Bernard Malamud Biography). In many of Malamud’s other works, you can see how this war affected him. Like “The Magic Barrel,” many of his other works have mystical elements too. His story “The Natural” has that mystical quality; it also has the sense of isolation (Bernard Malamud Biography), which was seen in “The Magic Barrel” too, when the Rabi was all alone without a partner (Malamud). This isolation feeling might have also contributed from Malamud’s feelings of the Holocaust and the poor isolated victims. Then in another story of Malamud’s, “The Assistant,” he talks about faithfulness to God and goodness of the human soul (Bernard Malamud Biography), which was the main message of “The Magic Barrel.” This short story greatly represents Malamud’s beliefs in a Modernism way.

Other Modernism works such as “Beware: Do Not Read This Poem” have similar characteristics to “The Magic Barrel.” “Beware: Do Not Read This Poem” refers to social problems in the world (Reed) like the loss of faith social problem in “The Magic Barrel.” They both also use psychology to make the writing more interesting. Another similarity are the feelings of despair and hope, which is seen in many Modernism works and also in the poem “Anyone lived in a pretty how town” (Cummings).

In Conclusion, Malamud’s short story shows how strong of a believer and Jew Malamud was. It also shows that, even though Malamud grew up in a poor family, he still used his talent and creativity to make a great story like “The Magic Barrel.” This story was a great contribution to the Modernism time period and shows this through many of its great characteristics.

"Bernard Malamud Biography." //Encyclopedia of World Biography//. Advameg, Inc., 2010. Web. 04 May 2010. <[]>.

Malamud, Bernard. "The Magic Barrel." American and British Studies at New Bulgarian University, Sofia. Web. 04 May 2010. .

Langley, John. "Introduction to Modernism (Mr. Langley's Digital Classroom)."// Google Sites//. Web. 03 May 2010. <[]>.

Reed, Ishmael. "Beware: Do Not Read This Poem by Ishmael Reed."// The Nellen Family Jewels//. Web. 04 May 2010. <[]>.

Cummings, E. E. "Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town."// PoemHunter.Com//. 03 May 2010. Web. 03 May 2010. <[]>.