T 1290.pdf - Pondicherry University DSpace Portal

a sacred covenant. America has made it both possible andimpossible for ethnic groups to trust each other and to treat,ach other as equals. Sustained by ancient traditions andvalues, by the promise of American freedom , the Jewishsettlers in America reacted differently in the country of theiradoption. Malamud'sprotagonists respond differently toalienation, prosecution and suffering. The interaction of JBWSand Negroes in Malamud's work reveal an ambivalence aboutBlack-Jewish relationship.Bernard Malamud describes in a letter his childhoodimpressions of Negroes who lived In the nelghbourhood. Theyoung "basketball players (appeared) vital, vigorous, skilled,a laughing kind of people (who) enjoyed their game and made mellke it". (Hershinow 1980 b.140)As an adult in the late 1930'sMalamud taught English and creatlve writlng In Harlem. Here onestudent Alexander Levine, a black Jew "provided material forthe short story "Angel Levlne". " I llked the concept of ablack Jew", Malamud wrote in the same letter .... "Perhaps itwas then I thought '~ll men are Jews, though they may not knowlt'. (Hershinow 1980 b,l4l) ~ hls remark has been grosslymlslnterpreted by critics. He never intended to Suggest thatall men (Jews, Blacks and Italians among others ) are identicalin behaviour and culture. The fact remains that beyond a commonVulnerabilityto misfortune and suffering, people have