T 1290.pdf - Pondicherry University DSpace Portal

and sorry for Bober, returns to help the old man, tobecome Bober's assistant. He has conflicting feelings aboutgoodness. In the orphanage where he was raised Alpine had beentaught about St. Francis of whom he says:He said poverty was a queen and he loved her likeshe was a beautiful woman.. . Everytime I read aboutsomebody like him I get a feeling inside of me whichI have to fight to keep from crying. He was borngood, which is a talent if you have it. (TA 31)Attracted by Bober's endurance in the face of calamity,by his acceptance of llfe with all its hardships, by hiscompassion and religion, Frank asked Morris "What it is to be aJew?" The grocer replles:.... The important thing is the Torah. This is theLaw-a Jew must believe in the Law.. . .This means todo what is right, to be honest, to be good. Thismeans to other people. Our life is hard enough. Whyshould we hurt some body else? .... We ain'tanimals .... This is what a Jew belleves.(TA 124)That Frank should have himself circumcised andformally convert to Judaism at Passover- Easter timeis highly significant: it is the season of Nature'srenewal of life in the spring and coincides with theresurrections of Christ, Attis and Adonis. It isalso the time of redemption (resurrection) of theJewish nation from Egyptian bondage. And that Frankshould drag himself around during these holidays isalso significant, for 'pesach' the Hebrew word forPassover, is etymologically related not only to\pasahuf an Assyrian word meaning to propitiate, butalso to several Hebrew words meaning lame or