T 1290.pdf - Pondicherry University DSpace Portal

the law, or as with Leo Finkle, a romantic illusionof love, they all have enough light in theirdarkness to know their ways are "hid" .... Thisglimpse gives them a contagious strength ascharacters, which can be seen in the effect thatMorris Bober's inner security has on Frank Alpineaneffect which leads to Alpines conversion toJudaism. This also invests the characters with acapacity for evoking pathos, as with Kessler, theegg-candler, whose glimpse of light awakens in himan acute sensitivity to the wretchedness with whichhe has lived his life. (Rovit 1960,8-9)TO treat and present Judeo-Christian traditions as twoslightly different brands of the same wonder-working drug isnot sound reasoning. As a humanist, Malamud is commited to aposltlon that is neither wholly Jewish, nor Christian, norexlstentlal. As there is no statement or reference to God, wemay conclude that he does not believe in a supernatural deity.Nor does " his work fall withln the Greek and Christiantradition of tragedy. However, in his writing Malamud draws onhls understanding of all these traditions". (Hershinow1980 b,135-136) His fiction suggests that life is a search tomake unavoidable suffering meaningful, atleast to the good andhumane people. All his eight novels deal with the conflictbetween human freedom and human limitation. He stresses on thelimitations of his protagonlsts- Roy Hobbs (W NatuTal), FrankAlpine (m Bssitant), sy Levin (AL&), Yakov BOk (T!Eu) Arthur Fidelman (pictures of Fiedelman), Harry Lesser(a-) William Dubin (pubin's Llves) and Calvin Cohn