Originally Written: April 1998
When we hear about the pranks and tricks that the people of the village of
Frampol play on Reb Gimpel, an ordinary village baker in Isaac Bashevis Singer's
"Gimpel the Fool", most of them being ridiculous or mean, it would be
generally assumed that anybody who would take all that they were told seriously
would be considered a simpleton, or to the point, a fool. Gimpel, the
narrator, who by telling us how he really feels, comes across to us as being
anything but a fool. In fact, he is a very intelligent person who more than
often
knows when he is being tricked, yet allows others to take advantage of him,
deciding that "..if people want to make fun of him, they must have a
reason" (Hadda 123).
By telling us the story from a first person point of
view, we can understand what Gimpel is going through and feels when being
taunted by others. If the pranksters knew the real Gimpel, they obviously
wouldn't trick him - give Gimpel a handful of goat droppings, and he'd return
the favour with a slap in the face. Who would have known the shock Gimpel got
upon learning that Elka, his bride, was both a widow and divorced - and pregnant
with
another man's child to boot? If life in the village is tough enough for poor
Gimpel, things aren't any better at home. Elka is totally boorish and crude,
swearing and hitting Gimpel, who has to do all the housework. Elka's
younger brother is also hitting Gimpel, but he can't hit back, because he is
threatened with disruption of the family - Elka would divorce him.
The first attempt of not believing anything he hears proves to be unsuccessful, as people start to deliberately confuse Gimpel - by telling the truth in addition to tricking him, so that he "...didn't know the big end from the small" (Singer 99). Knowing that he wouldn't be able to live this way, he goes back to his old self. Ironically, this is what Gimpel feared beforehand - he would think everyone was lying to him - an attitude he wanted to avoid, thus being the reason he remains the target of cruelty.
It is not Gimpel's nature to cast off troubles, but once
he decides to stand up for himself, the satisfaction is short-lived, and he
eventually regrets what he does, trying to reconcile. When he tells the rabbi
that his wife was unfaithful to him, and gets a divorce - in which a condition
is that he shall not go near her again, he has second thoughts - maybe he was
hallucinating? And to make matters worse for Gimpel, he wouldn't be able to see
his
child again. Although illegitimate, he took great pride in the child, which was
also a reason for staying with his wife, even though life with her wasn't
pleasant. After a bout of depression, Gimpel sees the rabbi, explains he made a
mistake, seeking reconciliation. Upon the redemption, Gimpel becomes more optimistic;
that is, he acts in good faith, having no concerns with anything except looking
forward to being "...a husband of a fine wife, the father of promising children" (Singer 105). It is obvious that Gimpel can't
live any other way.
The burden that Gimpel bears for years, leads to a feeling of surprise when his wife asks him to be forgiven while on her deathbed. Being used to the bad treatment he has received for all that time, he tells his wife she was good and faithful. Just before she dies, he is startled to hear his wife confess that her children were in fact, never Gimpel's to begin with. He had not expected the truth to come out at all. Not after twenty years of tranquility, in which, according to Janet Hadda, Gimpel "Blossoms with wisdom and achieves worldly riches" (123).
After his wife's death, Gimpel dreams about meeting the spirit of evil, who encourages (Gimpel) to deceive the world as a form of retaliation against those who deceived him. When Gimpel asks about what consequences he may face when he dies, evil tells him not to worry about facing judgment day - there is no afterlife, and there is no God. As a form of revenge against the townspeople who deceived him, Gimpel is enticed by evil into adding urine to the bread. When his task is accomplished, Gimpel dreams, and sees his wife. She tells him that it is wrong to punish others for doing the same thing as her - deception. Realizing that he had listened to evil when God had helped him out over the years in dealing with his cruel treatment, and that he would lose eternal life, Gimpel removes the loaves of tainted bread, and buries them in a hole, to the surprise of his apprentice, wondering what Gimpel is doing. Any other point of view would not have given any explanation as to why Gimpel would suddenly add urine to bread, then suddenly withdraw and bury it - the reader would most likely assume Gimpel was insane. The quote - "I know what I'm doing" (Singer 108). would have no real meaning.
From what's explained to us by means of a first person point
of view, we discover that behind that feeble, ordinary exterior, one recognized
as the village idiot - there exists a totally different personality - one
that could only be interpreted to us by one person - Gimpel, the main character.
In order for us to discover how Gimpel "Combats evil by conveying a
simple goodness for which he is eventually rewarded" ("Isaac Bashevis
Singer"
301). We must find out what is going on within Gimpel's mind, and in order to do
so, first person narration is the appropriate method of telling this story.
WORKS CITED LIST
Fuchs, Daniel. "A Skeptical Believer." The New York Times (Book Review) 27 October 1985: 20.
Hadda, Janet. Isaac Bashevis Singer: A Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
"Isaac Bashevis Singer." Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 69. Ed. Roger Matuz. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. 300-302.
Kafner, Stephen. "The Last Teller of Tales - Isaac Bashevis Singer: 1904-1991." Time Magazine August 1991: 13.
Kennedy, X.J. , and Dana Gioia. An Introduction to Fiction. 6th Edition. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1995.
Kresh, Paul. Isaac Bashevis Singer: The Magician of West 86th Street. New York: The Dial Press, 1979.
Madison, Charles A. "I. Bashevis Singer: Novelist of Hasidic Gothicism." Yiddish Literature: Its Scope and Major Writers. New York: Ungar , 1968. 479-99.
Madison, Charles A. Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vol. 23. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton. Detroit: Gale Research, 1983. 414.
Maling, Irving. Isaac Bashevis Singer. New York: Ungar , 1972.
Singer, Isaac Bashevis. "Gimpel The Fool." An Introduction to Fiction, 6th Edition. Trans. Saul Bellow. Eds. X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1995. (orig. publ. 1953) 98-109.
Zamir, Israel. Journey To My Father, Isaac Bashevis
Singer. Trans. Barbara Harshav. New York:
Arcade Publishing, 1995.