T 1290.pdf - Pondicherry University DSpace Portal

takes up employment ln a dlstrict forbidden for Jews. Insteadof l~vlng like a Jew and facing llfe, Bok indulges lntransgression- Whlch a Jew is not expected to do (concealinghls legltlmate JewishhCCS) - and comes to pay a heavy prlce forthls concealment. Bok 1s suspected and arrested when aChristian boy 1s found dead. Hls concealment of Jewlsh falthcanflrms the S~Splci0n of the prosecuting officers. Bok pleadshls lnnocence In vain. He 1s thrown In prlson and kept therefor three years wlthout trlal or Indictment. Some men "grow asnen In prlson". (TF 72) The super human endurance of Boksustalns the indomitability of human splrit.Plctures of Fldelman is a burlesque of an American-Jew'sadventures wlth painting and sex In Italy. The crux of theproblem for Fldelman sprlngs from hrs concept of relationbetween art and llfe. He occaslonaly reallses theresponsibllltles of llfe gulded by the symbollc flgures llkebusskind and Beppo. Durlng hls travel through varlous Itallancltles, ~n pursult of different occupations, Fldelman comes toknow of hls own inadequacies and failures. Malamud 1slnterested more in "the wear and tear of hls soul rather thanthe trlals of hls ineptitude " (Davenport 1969,549)Regardlng the problem of cholce referred to by Yeats Inthe eplgraph of the novel that "the Intellect of man 1s forcedto choose-perfection of llfe, or af the work,"(MB 330).