"Gimpel the Fool," by Isaac Singer is a story about a man named Gimpel, who goes through his life constantly made fun of and joked about, does not see himself as a fool. As a child, Gimpel who is an orphan, was raised by his grandfather who is "already bent toward the grave," so the townspeople turn him over to the baker and the townspeople tease and taunt him more, especially the women. Gimpel, treated with little and no respect from his peers or the society of Frampol where he is from. Gimpel's life filled with tricks and lies from the townspeople for as long as he can remember. No one respects Gimpel or have sympathy for him, and he does not let it get him down.
Gimpel decides that it is best for him to leave Frampol; unfortunately, the townspeople do not want him to go so they find a wife for him. Gimpel knew that she was a whore and had a son but the townspeople convinced him that was her little brother. The townspeople try to tell him his perceptions are wrong about her. He marries her, Elka does not allow him to sleep with her, and she gives birth to another man's child. The town's people tease and torment him, the Rabbi says to divorce her, and however, he missed Elka and the baby. Gimpel decides to stay married to her and brings her food from the bakery left in the pots from the local women. He stays with her, she bore him six more children that are not his, and during their marriage, he stays faithful and true.
Elka becomes very ill and on her deathbed, she asks him to forgive her because "it was ugly how she had deceived him all these years and that none of Gimpel's children were actually fathered by him." This does not change the way he feels about his family or his life for he saw her as "good and faithful wife." Later the "Spirit of Evil" pays him a visit and tells Gimpel because "the whole world deceives him, he should deceive the whole world back." Gimpel is able to resist the Devil's temptations to get revenge when Elka's ghost shows herself to him and asks him to continue in the path of righteousness.
The story shows the reader how Gimpel was able to deal with all the taunts and jabs that he was forced to suffer throughout his life. Gimpel survives his hard life by being a good man with complete faith in God. He takes life for what it is, even calmly dealing with his wife Elka, who constantly cheats on him. Gimpel is a gullible man who responds to a lifetime of backstabbing, taunting, and deception with naivety and complete religious faith. Though he is aware of his own suffering, he is not grumpy or angry no matter what. Rather than a fool, which he was often called, Gimpel is an honest man who simply could not comprehend that anyone would ever lie to him. He is the essence of a decent, upright outstanding citizen. Gimpel even has the power to make other people good as well. Even when tempted by the devil to get revenge on the people that hurt him, his faith, and his wife kept him from compromising his virtues. When Gimpel's wife died, Gimpel left his family, "he wandered over the land, and the good people did not neglect him." Gimpel went "from place to place eating at strange tables, spin yarn, and told stories to children that would call him grandfather." Although Gimpel appeared to be a fool, he was really a wise man. He showed he was a wise man by loving the children that were not his, being a believer in his Jewish religion and not taking advice from the Devil.
"The Jewbird," written by Bernard Malamud, is a short story that has been interpreted as a parable about "Jewish self-hatred." The black bird fly's in into a Jewish family's New York, apartment looking for a safe sanctuary from the anti-semeets that are prejudice and hostile towards the Jews. Cohen, a frozen-foods sales representative, is angry and frustrated by his relative poverty, by his dying mother in the Bronx, and by the general mediocrity of his family and his life.
It is said in the Bible that Jews were slaves in Egypt, eventually; Jews have spread to countries in many parts of the world. For hundreds of years, the Jews have lived and worked as citizens in different countries, some were scholars, writers, artists, and scientists which helped increase the world's knowledge. Jews have been treated with tolerance and understanding, and they have been discriminated and hated in most areas they have lived in. Properties belonging to the Jewish people were seized and their lives threatened. More than six million Jews were murdered in Europe during the Holocaust in the 1940's. The Holocaust is an example of the war crime of genocide, or the mass murder of a people because of race, religion, ethnicity, politics, or culture. The Jews almost have the same history as the South Americans in chapter 26, when settlers came to their land and began new colonies.
"Country Lovers," by Nadine Gordimer, is similar to both chapters 26 and 27 because of the two young lovers were of different color and race. The settlers pushed Africans off the best land, set up farms and plantations, and brought many laborers from India to work on the plantations. The country lovers were not allowed to be with each other so this story must be during the apartheid, which made it illegal for different races and ethnic groups to mix, and limiting the rights of blacks. This law forced black South Africans to live in separate areas and people with non-European background were not allowed to vote.
