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"Gimpel the Fool"

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Isaac Bashevis Singer, in the short story "Gimpel the Fool," presents the pitiful character Gimpel and takes him on a journey of spiritual awakening which allows him to transcend all the ridicule to which his tormentors have subjected him all is life. The most particular and painful mockery in this story concerns Gimpel's being made a cuckold, many times over, by his adulterous wife Elka. When we consider the question of how love and desire transform Gimpel, the only answer is that Gimpel's love for his wife (as misplaced and even deranged as that love certainly is), his desire to believe in other people no matter how often they mistreat and deceive him, and finally his faith in God at the moment of temptation, are what save and transform him. The problem with seeing Gimpel as a transformed man is that he is a good man from the very beginning of the story, so that it is difficult to see him as radically changed in the sense that we normally understand the word "transformed." It is true, nevertheless, that Gimpel does come to a new appreciation for his own faith and love, and a new convincement with respect to the goodness and righteousness of his role in life.

Early on in the story, as the butt of many a joke and trick in his town, Gimpel seeks advice from the rabbi, who tells the poor man:

It is written, better to be a fool all our days than for one hour to be evil. you are not a fool. They are the fools. For he who causes his neighbor to feel shame loses Paradise himse

. . .
confesses the truth to Gimpel---she has cheated on him countless times, and none of the children he believed to be his are in fact his. He is so devastated that the devil sees him as finally vulnerable and tempts him to do evil in return for the evil he has been given by Elka and the others all his life. Specifically, he devil tempts him o urinate in the dough he uses, as town baker, to bake bread for the town. Tempted, Gimpel does so. That night, as the bread baked, he has a dream in which Elka visits him. She has a warning for him. She is in torment for her sins, and clearly warns him away from doing evil to repay evil. He awakens and immediately buries the bread: "God gave me His help" (108), Gimpel says. Gimpel leaves the town to travel the world. This he learns: "There were really no lies" (108). He refuses to judge, no matter how much others have tried to hurt him. He has compassion for others and finally for himself. Elka visits him again in a dream. She comforts him and he pleads to be with her. She tells him to be patient, that the time will come. He reflects on his life and on the fact that he is ready for death because "Whatever may be there, it will be real, without complication, without ridicule, without decept
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Gimpel Fool, John Updike, Gimpel Gimpel, Tempted Gimpel, love desire, Bashevis Singer, Updike John, gimpel indeed, gimpel fool, faith love, Isaac Bashevis, neither nor heard, six children, goes outside, gimpel transformed, radically changed, elka visits, nor heard,
Approximate Word count = 1781
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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