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Universal Themes
Pinye Salzman
A complicated character, "a skeleton with haunted eyes," which shows his lack of success at matchmaking, his care and his worry. He is very concerned with the happiness of others, yet worried that "[his] baby girl is going to hell".
Resourceful and manipulative, Salzman spends his last bit of hope on the redemption and happiness of both Finkle and his daughter, Stella.
Finkle alludes to this when he says, "Salzman had planned it all to happen this way".
Leo Finkle
In a stage of despair over his inability to find love, even his appearance alluded to this disheveled state.
"His beard darkened and grew ragged"
"In a small, almost meager room, though crowded with books" It is evident that he is interested in learning.
"He was alone in the world" and although he began the story looking for a wife, through this search he was able to also find redemption and love both for himself, God, and a wife.
Love is a universal theme throughout many short stories and is one that is the basis for a wide variety of outcomes. It is an emotion that surpasses time, brings about birth and death. It does not choose good vs evil, yet relies on the heart to lead it. Love can be directed at oneself, towards another, or God. But above all, love is needed. It is the foundation of marriage, of self worth, and rebirth. It is not only the theme of many, it is a fundamental necessity of a life that is lived.
Noah Lee
Eileen Blackburn
The Road to Redemption?
Abandoning his Rabbi duties?
The Road to Redemption
Redemption is a theme that is disagreed upon in this short story. The word redemption implies that the character has in some way made a mistake or an error that needs to be atoned for.
In The Magic Barrel, Leo arguably had not strayed from him path of righteousness, he had fooled himself into thinking he was on it, when he was not. Although some would like to view his lustful nature towards a prospective wife, there are others that disagree and claim his rabbi teachings were not lost in his search.
"He was struggling against his own Creator, only halting his struggles after being emotionally wounded by Salzman’s lies, and then realizes that “he did not love God so well as he might.”
-Noah Lee
"Not once did I see him ask Salzman about if any of these girls were Jewish or not". -Seth Taylor
"I think that the story is about the Rabbi giving up everything to "dance with the devil."
-Tasha Savelle
Abandoning his Rabbi duties?
Whether Leo abandoned his duties and chose worldly ways, left them temporarily to pursue love and happiness, or never embodied a rabbi's true calling, one can argue that Leo Finkle spent at least the better part of the story, pretending to perform the original task of procuring a congregation.
Salzman himself could also be seen as a cipher for Finkle’s descent into worldliness. Each time Finkle encounters Salzman, Salzman becomes more skeletal and less substantial, until at last he is portrayed as “transparent to the point of vanishing.” (Norton 188) And it is ultimately Salzman’s own child Stella that Finkle finds most compatible, despite Salzman’s warnings to the contrary. (as quoted from Kelly Digh)
"I believe in his quest to become a Rabbi, Finkel found that everyone has a life to live and each person must bear the consequences of their own actions. No matter the life they lead or the person they choose to marry, it is their life and their life alone. I do believe he chose to give up on becoming a Rabbi and that to me symbolized how Finkle was also giving up those traditional values as he was more Americanized than the Jewish people of the previous generation living in New York City".
-Daniel Greene
"I do not think that Finkle abandons his duty as a rabbi. I think he is modernizing or even challenging the traditional ways."
-Sasha Quezada Espinoza