The Study of Leo Finkle in“The Magic Barrel”

Abstract：Leo Finkle， the hero of short story “The Magic Barrel”， was a rabbinical student. He was created by Malamud very successfully. In order to find a congregation， he was advised to get married. Since he drowned himself in reading sacred books during the six years and was indifferent to what was going on around the world. With his immature mind in love， it was too difficult to find an eligible bride by himself. He resorted to Pinye Salzman， a marriage broker. After seeing several women pictures provided by Salzman， he felt disappointed. Finally， Leo agreed to have a blind date with Lily， one of the girls presented to Leo by Salzman. While chatting， accidentally， she touched a secret that he was not so devotional towards God. This matter chagrined him very much. After a great deal of torments and struggles in mind， he was determined to love a problem girl to accomplish redemption to others as well as himself and sublimation in his mind.

Key words：Leo; redemption; torments

Introduction

Bernard Malamud， an American novelist and short-story writer. He began his creation from 1940s. In his whole life， he has produced seven novels and more than fifty short stories in total. As an important Jewish writer， he has received numerous literary awards， including National Book Awards and the Pulitzer Prize. In his literary works， the theme， characters， writing style， etc.， these compositions are all deeply rooted in traditional Jewish history， religion， ideas， and culture. So the readers can receive the full-bodied Jewish breath emitted from his works. He is extremely good at depicting all flesh portrait of the poor people in the American Jewish community. He creates a series of image of small potato， such as Leo Finkle. His works which usually focus on good and evil of human nature， retribution and moral conscience almost have no very specific context and no full story-telling， but it is not difficult for people to understand the profound meaning contained in its background and plot because of his unique writing style. The “Magic Barrel” is a very well-known short story of Malamud. This paper will analyze characteristics of the hero of short story.

Ⅰ. Torments in Spirit

The reason why “The Magic Barrel” is so popular not only lies in its ingenious and unexpected plot， but also the authors good expression about what he wants to say. The story mainly concerned a rabbis growth in spirit and sublimation in mind.

Finkle who was diligent in his studies for six years was about to be a rabbi. An acquaintance advised that if he were married， he might find it easier to win a congregation for himself. Since he drowned himself in reading sacred books during the six years and was indifferent to what was going on around the world. With his immature mind in love， it was too difficult to find an eligible bride by himself. Therefore， he could not do otherwise than resort to the marriage broker， Pinye Salzman. In this case， we can also accuse him of solitude. He was lonely in spirit， too. His purpose to find a bride is not for the true love， but just for having more believers. He， at that time， had no idea about his spiritual needs. As a rabbi， one should get to know others spiritual needs and know how to meet them.

Subsequently， Salzmann brought him a few pictures of other girls. Disappointingly， he was not tempted by any of them. In the following day， he was in a low spirit， hesitated and confused. His mind went blank about what to do next. “In a whole day， he ran around in the wood—missed an important appointment， forgot to give out his laundry， walked out of a cafeteria without paying  and  had  even  not  recognized  his  landlady in the street when he passed”（Malamud 430）. He was uncertain about Salzmann， and did not know whether he should turn to another more polished marriage broker. His struggle and helplessness in his spirit at this time was showed obviously and completely. By the pomposity of his tone， finally， Salzmann made Leo agree to have a blind date with Lily， one of the girls he presented to Leo. While chatting， accidentally， Lily touched a secret that he was not so devotional towards God. This matter chagrined him very much. While he was about to be a rabbi， he had no mellow and profound attitude to life. Except for his father and mother—in fact， himself—he did not love anyone else. Just as what he said， “he saw himself for the first time as he truly was—unloved and loveless” （Malamud 440）.

As a clergy， even about God， about the Judaism dogma he preached for life， he had no thorough understanding. After thinking it over bitterly， he had to accept the fact that “I am not a talented religious person.” “I think，”he said in a strained manner， “that I came to God not because I loved Him， but because I did not” （Malamud 438）. This revelation threw him into a point of panic. He tried his best to find his conversion for spirit， but he did not know where to turn. “He can not eat much and lost weight very soon. His beard darkened and grew ragged” （Malamud 440）. He felt no one can help him， and in the complete loneliness he was at a loss. Whats more， his bitterness in heart was exacerbated by the loneliness. But from this displeasure， after all， he also drew a consolation that he came to see himself in a new light. With his bitter struggle， even though the religious way for spirit was still not reachable， at least， he knew he should not live a drifting and muddling life as before， without knowing what life is really for.

Here the story took a dramatic turn suddenly. When looked through the photographs left by Salzman， Leo happened to discover a snapshot. As his eyes rested on it for a while， a sudden vivid likeness passed before him At once， he was deeply moved by the familiar appearance. He hurried to find Salzman for his matchmaking. Unexpectedly， Salzmann turned pale with a big scare and refused him coldly. He told Leo there was a mistake about this photo. It was not for him. The girl is Salzmans unclean daughter who he thought was not qualified to marry with Leo. But it was too late for Leo who already fell in love with Stella. Lying on the bed， he thought his life. Though he prayed to get rid of her， he was scared he did not love her any more. The struggle in his spirit tormented him continuously. In this suffering， “He then concluded to convert her （Stella） to goodness， himself to god” （Malamud 452）.

Till now， Leo finished his self- sublimation ultimately. Wanting to be loved， one must love others at first. It was through loving other that one can really love God. And loving a problem woman would better show what a noble height his spirit soar up to. It was holy for spiritual growth and leap， but the loneliness and torment through its process was unbearable for ordinary persons. Having experienced pains and failures again and again in the course of blind date， the hero Leo managed to root out his “one and only”. In spite of all manner of difficulties raised by the marriage broker， he never gave up. By redeeming Stella， he attained a self-redemption and came to spiritual conversion in the end.

Ⅱ.The Process of Redemption of Leo

The process of redemption and sublimation in mind is not very simple. Through helping and saving others， Leo obtained the ability to love others， and he truly believed in God. After suffering and struggle in mind and by loving the problem girl， Leo accomplished the redemption to others as well as redemption to himself.

2.1 The difficult process of redemption

Perhaps in addition to point out that the Jewish people have to endure the misfortunes， the “suffering” also carries their responsibilities and hopes， so in Bernard Malamuds works， the “suffering” is developed to be a kind of moral pursuit and a key and indispensable step to establish and improve their selves. Specifically， for Malamud， the suffering not only plays a role of salvation， but also provokes a vision of the better future.  Thus， in the short story “The Magic Barrel”， the author not only reflects the Jewish concept of suffering， but beyond this point. Just as Leo said in the short story “he was a Jew and that a Jew suffered” （Malamud 440）. It focuses on the soul sublimation and moral perfection of the characters after suffering. In the story， Leo was determined to save the degenerate prostitute by love so as to accomplish the redemption to others. Meanwhile， he was also in the process of his self-redemption. Through helping and saving others， he obtained the ability to love others， and he truly believed in God. Leo is a typical character of completing the redemption to others as well as the self-redemption.

The process of looking for the marriage partner is a suffering progress for Leos soul; Meanwhile it is a progress of self-discovery and self-fulfillment. This point is the shining point of Malamuds works. In the short story， Leo， who would become a rabbi， was an admirable and promising young man， but he chosen the evil girl Stella as the fiancée by accident. Although the unimaginable ending seems a trap set by the marriage broker Salzman elaborately， it is obviously farfetched and unconvinced without the support of the Jewish spirit of suffering which is that one can get redemption after suffering and struggling. “After Leo met Stella， he pictured， in her， his own redemption” （Malamud 454）.

2.2 From winter to spring——Leos spiritual rebirth

The conversion of the seasons is taken as the natural symbols. And in “The Magic Barrel”， the conversion of the seasons is closely related to the fates of the characters. It symbolizes the changing process of Leos rebirth. When he first met Salzman， it was a winter. Winter is a cold and lifeless season， which symbolizes the loneliness and hopeless.  And during the winter， Leo had experienced the terribly mental torture. In the story， Leo had followed an acquaintances advice to find a marriage partner. His desire was good， and he was longing for a happy life. However， in the process of pursuing the happiness， he suffered a lot. The conflict emerged between the good wills and the cruel reality， which reveals obvious contradiction. The contradiction brewed the bitterness. The character Leo was drowning in it， so he felt very painful. However， the author also wrote in the story that “although it was still February， winter was on its last legs”（Malamud， 422）. This means that the emergence of the matchmaker brought hopes to Leo， and the winter of Leo would be over and the spring of him would come soon. And then when he saw the girl Stella in the snapshot， the face of Stella deeply moved him.“It gave him the impression of youth”， which was like the “spring flowers” （Malamud， 444）. Later when Leo saw Stella in the real world on one spring night， the spring which represented the hope and rebirth， arrived truly. At that time， the rose which symbolized love and desires was in full bloom against the wind. From the end of winter to the coming of the spring， and from the coming of the spring to the arriving of the spring， he had changed himself gradually， and finally got his spiritual rebirth.

Conclusion

The process of looking for an ideal marriage partner is not easy at all for an inexperienced rabbi. In the process， Leo went through a lot of torments in his mind. Meanwhile he realized his attitude toward God after talking with Lily. Having experienced many torments in his mind， he was determined to get redemption and sublimation for himself through helping and saving Stella who was a prostitute. As a Jew， Leo is full of the spirit of sacrifice and the glory of the human nature.

WORKS CITED

[1] 陈鸿琴. 人物性格在碰撞中凸现——读马拉墨德的短篇小说“魔桶”[J]. 重庆交通学院学报（社科版）， 2002（3）.

[2] 马拉默德， 董衡巽译. 人一生要读的经典英文[M]. 云南人民出版社， 2012.

[3] 孙小小. 短篇小说 “魔桶”中马拉默德的犹太情结研究[D]. 辽宁大学， 2013.

【作者简介】

张瑞琴（1989—），女，汉族，陕西安康平利县人，西安外国语大学英文学院2014级英语语言文学专业硕士研究生，主要研究方向：美国文学。