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Bernard Malamud's 'The Magic Barrel' is the title story of a collection that received the 1959 National Book Award. The story has been anthologized frequently and analyzed from various points of view. The younger reader tends to read the story from the protagonist's point of view and they often sympathize with his difficulties. A brief synopsis of the story line that is discussed in class is given here.
Leo Finkle, a rabbinical student in New York, hears that he may have a chance at a better position if he is married. He approaches Salzman, a povertyridden matchmaker who smells of fish, who wears old clothes, and whose suggested brides are not shall we say big winners. After rejecting the few suggested by Salzman, Leo finds a picture in the file of a different girl and immediately falls in 'love.' The picture is of Salzman's daughter and the story does not make clear whether the picture is there by mistake (as Salzman says) or by design (as Leo suspects). It is made clear that Salzman has indeed disowned his daughter who has gone completely bad. Leo demands to meet her, no matter what her background and condition. As the story closes, Leo is rushing toward her with a bouquet while she is standing under a streetlight dressed in red and white. The last paragraph then reads:
Around the corner, Salzman, leaning against a wall, chanted prayers for the dead.
A key question that needs to be answered in the criticism is: 'For whom is he chanting?' A close look at the words and behaviors of Leo move us closer to the answer to that question. Some of those words and actions are then discussed in class.
On the first date with one of the young women that were suggested by the matchmaker, Leo tells Lily that he had 'come to God not because he loved Him' but precisely because he did not. Later in the story, when asked a question, Leo responds with 'In God's name, what do you mean?' When staring at the picture of the matchmaker's daughter - whom he has never met - Leo senses 'he had received, somehow, an impression of evil.' Even so, he 'desires' her and makes her his 'good'.