The Fixer Essay - 900 Words

The Fixer In the novel, The Fixer, the author, Bernard Malamud, presents to us a poor Jewish handyman living in Russia during the early 1900’s, before the Russian revolution had begun. Destroyed by his wife’s disavowal, Yakov Shepsovitch Bok leaves his shtetl in search of opportunities for a better life. After a few months of desperate searching, Yakov sneaks out of the ghetto to look for work among the goyim. As he searches the streets, he stumbles upon a man who lay drunk on the floor. Yakov immediately recognizes a pin on the man’s coat as belonging to the anti-Semite organization called the Black Hundreds. Putting his doubts behind him, Yakov decides to help the fat Russian. Not aware of Yakov’s origins, the Russian offers him a†¦show more content†¦He states he is a Jew only â€Å"by birth and nationality,† though nobody understands what is meant by that. To the Russians he is legally a mere Jew. At one point Yakov says to himself â€Å"Iâ€⠄¢m Yakov Fixer... the kind of man who finds it perilous to be alive. One thing I must learn is to say less-much less, or I’ll ruin myself. As it is I’m already ruined.† During his first few months in prison, Yakov does not seem to get accustomed to the hardships. As time passes him by, however, he grows used to life in a prison cell, but it only gets worst. As the novel unfolds, Yakov becomes extremely weak and thin and he looses the trifling faith that was still left in him. Throughout the novel, the main idea is very obvious. It is Yakov falsely accused of the murder of a young boy in order to drain his blood for the baking of the Passover matzos. The theme of anti-Semitism in Russia during the time of pogroms and of Tsar Nicholas the second is a universal theme presented to us as the book unravels. It is evident that if Yakov had not been born of the Jewish faith, he would not have been charged with the murder of Zhenia Golov. He was being used only as an example to the three million Jewish residents of Russia. He was being used as a warning. The meaning of the title The Fixer,Show MoreRelatedIdentity and Responsibility: Fatherhood in The Fixer Permit me to ask, Yakov Shepsovitch, are800 Words   |  4 Pages Identity and Responsibility: Fatherhood in The Fixer Permit me to ask, Yakov Shepsovitch, are you a father? With all my heart. Then you can imagine our anguish, sighed the sad-eyed Tsar. (Malamud, 332) This passage, coming in the final pages of Bernard Malamuds The Fixer, represents a human reality commonly portrayed in both real life and fiction: the truth one feels is often much more significant than the sum total of the events that have actually transpired. In actuality, YakovRead More The Fixer 2397 Words   |  10 Pagesoccupations, and extreme racism. They were not allowed to marry out side their race and people were willing to show their hatred (anti-Semitism) via decals or pins such as the two-headed eagle of the Black Hundreds on Mr. Maximovitch. In his novel The Fixer, Malamud tells the story of Yakov Bok, a Jew born in Russia during the very early 1900’s. Aspiring to a good future, he leaves his home for Kiev to start a new life. While living here he must hide his cultural background, even though he doesnt believeRead MoreLeadership Analysis : Kotter, Fixer And Fire Fighters756 Words   |  4 Pagesconcept is very vast so to summarize the following concept is based on as follows such as Mintzberg (1973) asserted that management is not a pre-planned process but the managers needs to spend more time in order to adopt such skills as problem-solver, fixer and fire-fighters. However Bass (1985) characterised the transformational leaders as a vision, optimistic, integrity and intellectual challenge and Alban-Metcalfe (2003) further elaborate the notion of transformational leadership in terms of innovationRead MoreMy Car, My Fixer-Upper587 Words   |  2 PagesI had been watching Craigslist for a deal on a car like a hawk watching for prey. Finally the day came when I struck gold, â€Å"2002 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport $2800†. It had just been posted and I know that Subaru’s sell fast and this one was posted especially cheap. I contacted the owner and he said it was cheap because it had transmission problems according to the dealership and the owner was moving to Mexico in the next month to study iguanas. Unperturbed I scheduled to meet up and see andRead MoreCola Wars HBR Essay example1609 Words   |  7 Pagescontingencies (recall product costs), while still conforming to GAAP? 2. Brief Summary of the Economic Purpose of the Transaction To better match revenues and expenses, Frequent Fixer has proposed recognizing all of its recall product costs at the time of sale to match its competitors. Currently, Frequent Fixer only recognizes â€Å"small campaigns† (projected product recall costs of less than $100,000) at the time of sale and delays recognizing â€Å"major campaigns† until occurrence. 3. ListRead MoreQuality Assurance At Industrial Products Plant1329 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Cody Fixer is director, quality assurance at industrial products plant having 1600 employees. Cody met with his subordinate Mark Hamler to know what happened last week as he was busy in seminar â€Å"Quality in the 2010’s†. He came to know that they had problem on the grease line. As Cody Fixer started inspecting and understanding the work culture of the company, he figured out there were lots of problem in the marketing, manufacturing, plants and equipment and product designing area. TheyRead MoreFilm Photography Process Analysis Essay982 Words   |  4 Pageson the film. You normally pour the stop bath back into the container you got it from because it can be re used a few dozen times until it grows exhausted. Now, the film is washed in a diluted fixer chemical that stabilizes the film by removing the excess silver from it for about 3-5 minutes. Now this fixer cannot be poured out because it carries the silver metal left from the film, so if poured down the drain, i t would mix into the town’s water supply and that’s a whole different sad story. It canRead More John Steinbecks â€Å"The Chrysanthemums† Essay1286 Words   |  6 Pagesshe leads her husband to believe that she is content with being a mere housewife. In the portion of the story where Elisa is talking to the Fixer-Guy who happens to pull down the road to her farm, Steinbeck shows Elisas eagerness for attention and how she comes to the realization that there is a more exciting life outside the farm. In the â€Å"Fixer-Guy†, Elisa finds somebody who sees her as more than a housewife, someone who can appreciate her from an unbiased viewpoint. He offers his servicesRead MoreThe Right Of Freedom Speech1186 Words   |  5 PagesSlaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, The Fixer by Bernard Malamud, Go Ask Alice by anonymous, Black boy by Richard Wright, and A Hero Ain’t Worth Nothin but a Sandwich by Alice Childress. Slaughterhouse-Five was a book about a man named Billy Pilgrim who travels back and forth in time visiting his birth, death and other moments alike. The reason for the ban was that the book was riddled with unnecessary profanity. 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