The German Refugee

The narrator in The German Refugee is significant. For Oskar finds himself dislocated in a harsh new environment. He is Jewish but he is also German. He speaks, writers, dresses, and thinks like a German. He feels at odds with his German heritage because of the Nazi atrocities toward Jews. He describes his own German as a ôfilthy tongueö (Malamud 24). He also hates Germany and its people. As he expresses, ôhumanityàdoes not grow on Germany earthö (Malamud 29). The detached nature of Oskar from himself is related to the workman-like nature of the detached narrator. Before Oskar kills himself, the detached narrator makes an inquiry that seems to imply that Oskar will not be

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y. As Unger notes, ôThe German Refugee is a superb rendering of the culture shock the educated, previously successful Jews encountered when they fled Hitlerö (436). Ironically, in many Malamud works the protagonist is Jewish and attempts to conceal his Jewish identity or experiences self-hatred because of Jewish loathing. In The German Refugee, a German loathes his German identity but ironically this self-loathing only symbolizes how such feelings destroy Jews since his OskarÆs Jewish identity is also destroyed. Malamud uses OskarÆs German self-loathing as a symbol for Jewish self-loathing and the destructive forces of self-loathing in general to humanity and the human soul. As Mesher notes, ôMany of MalamudÆs works are predicated upon the protagonistÆs necessary acceptance of his Jewish identityö (18). The question the detached narrator asks in The German Refugee might easily be asked of Jewish protagonists in other of MalamudÆs works. The use of Martin Goldberg, also adds to the irony of OskarÆs self-loathing in addition to illustrating a first-person point of view that provides a Jewish interpretation of a German-Jew. Ironically, Goldberg admits he was a failure when young at figuring out how to connect with other peop
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Jewish German, MalamudÆs Jews, Weimar Republic, German Refugee, Whitman Oskar, Jews Ironically, Barrel Fidelman, OskarÆs German, Ironically Goldberg, Germany German, german refugee, heritage identity, detached narrator, jewish identity, hatred german, german heritage, hatred german heritage, bernard malamud, ôthe german, jewish german, oskar kills, dual heritage identity, narrator german refugee,
Approximate Word count = 1327
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)