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The Magic Barrel:
An Analysis of Leo Finkle’s Attitude to Love and God
In Bernard Malamud’s short story “the magic barrel”, the main role Leo Finkle, a rabbinical student, was advised that he might find it easier to win himself a congregation if he were married. So Leo went to the matchmaker Salzman’s for a bride. In the process, Leo Frinkle’s attitude to love and God changed obviously. This article will analyze the changes in detail by comparing Leo’s different behaviors form different aspects.
1.First meeting with Salzman
Firstly, w e take a look at Leo’s answers towards Salzman introduction of some girls. The first Sophie P, young, healthy, smart and of high knowledge but a widow, was refused because “marrying a widow has never entered my mind” (p133), said Leo. Though Salzman spoke many good words of Sophie P, Leo still shook his head without hesitation. The second was Lily H, from a well Americanized family, beautiful and having her own career but of high age compared with L eo’s.When hearing Lily’s age, Leo directly turned down Lily. Well, on the other hand, when asked “if Rothschild’s a daughter wants to marry you, would you say on account her age, no?”(Rothschild was a well-known and wealthy German family of bankers.) (p134) Leo answered no. We know from his answer that age is acceptable if a person’s status for Leo is good enough. The third was Ruth K, a student quite young and from a good family. “‘Did you say nineteen?’ Leo asked with interest.”, “‘Is she attractive?’ He blushed. ‘Pretty?’” (p135) From these two sentences and the case of Lily, we know Leo wants a young bride. After asking about the appearance, Leo thought about love, “But don’t you think this young girl believes in love?” Not getting a clear answer, Leo cleverly asked, “How is her health?” The answer was depressing that “she is a little lame on her right foot from an auto accident when she was twelve years old.”(p135) Now, Leo felt curiously bitter and upbraided himself for having called in the marriage broker. Shaking his head, Leo gave a reason which obviously was a lie and refused.
From the three cases above, we can have a general understanding of Leo’s requirements of his future bride. Although his original purpose was to find a bride just to meet the needs of his work, when he learned about the girls Salzman described, he asked for more things: young age, beautiful appearance, healthy body and love. But here, he did not long for love strongly.
2. Meeting with Lily
Now l et’s see how his feeling of love was developed. The second time Salzman came, Leo “disturbed to see him again, yet unwilling to ask the man to leave” (p136) which reflects that Leo still had hope in Salzman. When hearing that Lily was in fact younger than the age Salzman said before, and that she was particular and wanted the best, Leo’s interest in Lily H. was aroused, and he began seriously to consider calling
on her.
Leo had a good impression of Lily immediately and had a beautiful illusion about her. “Lily, petite and not unpretty, had on something signifying the approach of spring. She was au courant, animatedly, with all sorts of subjects, and he weighed her words and found her surprisingly sound---score another for Salzman, whom he uneasily sensed to be somewhere around, hiding perhaps high in a tree along the street, flashing the lady signals with a pocket mirror; or perhaps a cloven-hoofed Pan, piping nuptial ditties as he danced his invisible way before them, strewing wild buds on the walk and purple grapes in their path, symbolizing fruit of a union, though there was of course still none.”(p139) From these sentences we can see Leo’s good emotion because of Lily.
Soon Leo sensed that Lily must have had some experience with men. But he was not displeased with her honesty. However, when Lily asked him something about Judaism and God, he gradually realized that Salzman had described a total stranger to Lily rather than himself.
When asked “was it a sudden passionate inspiration?” “Leo, after a time, slowly replied, ‘I was always interested in law.’”(p140) Here, Leo was a bit displeased because he didn’t want to talk about Judaism.
Then one more question came, “You saw revealed in it the presence of the Highest?” “Leo nodded and changed the subject.” (p140) From this we know Leo was impatient with this topic which was disliked by Leo.
Once again when asked “did you become enamored of God?”, “he stared at her. Then it came to him that she was not talking about Leo Finkle, but about a total stranger, some mystical figure, perhaps even passionate prophet that Salzman had dreamed up for her---mo relation to the living or dead. Leo trembled with rage and weakness. The trickster had obviously sold her a bill of goods, just as he had him, who’d expected to become acquainted with a young lady of twenty-nine, only to behold, the moment he laid eyes upon her strained and anxious face, a woman past thirty-five and aging rapidly. Only his self control had kept him this long in her presence.”(p140) Now, Leo became angry with Salzman because Salzman had created a mystical image of him in L ily’s mind, which was not really himself, just as Salzman had made a false about L ily to him in the first place. Leo’s interest in Lily was suddenly gone. The last sentence reflects that he would have left Lily as quickly as possible if it were not for his patience. “‘I am not,’ he said gravely, ‘a talented religious person,’ and in seeking words to go on, found himself possessed by shame and fear. ‘I think,’ he said in a strained manner, ‘that I came to God not because I loved Him, but b ecause I did not.’” (p141) His answer expressed his attitude towards God clearly and broke his former good image in L ily’s heart.
3. The self-analysis of attitude to love and God
The unhappy meeting with Lily led Leo to think about something, “the true nature of his relationship to God, and that apart from his parents, he had never loved anyone. Or perhaps it went the other way, that he did not love God so well as he might, because he had not loved man. It seemed to Leo that his whole life stood starkly
revealed and he saw himself for the first time as he truly was---unloved and loveless.”(p141) From here, we learn that Leo came to learn about himself because of his demand of love.
Then, Leo decided to seek a lover in a different way and admitted the necessity of premarital love. He wants to be in love with the one he marries. His attitude towards love changes greatly after the meeting with Lily. He started to believe that love should be a by-product of living and worship rather than its own end and that it is necessary to establish the level of his need and fulfill it. Just so, he could pursue Stella firmly no matter how bad her dad Salzman said of her.
4. Meeting with Stella
Finally, let’s see how Leo behaved when Leo saw Stella’s picture. There i s a detailed descripti on of Leo’s felling as follows:
“Her face deeply moved him. Why, he could at first not say. It gave him the impression of youth---spring flowers, yet age---a sense of having been used to the bone, wasted; this came from the eyes, which were hauntingly familiar, yet absolutely strange. He had a vivid impression that he had met her before, but try as he might he could not place her although he could almost recall her name, as if he had read it in her own handwriting.” (p144)
“It coul d be seen in the depths of those reluctant eyes, and from the way the light enclosed and shone from her, and within her, opening realms of possibility: this was her own.” (p145)
“Again with excitement he examined the face and found it good: good for Leo Finkle. Only such a one could understand him and help him seek whatever he was seeking. She might perhaps, love him.” (p145)
From these sentences above we can see Leo had already loved Stella deeply and hoped she would love him too. And later on, he found Salzman and asked him about Stella. We need pay attention to their conversation in which Leo mentioned God unconsci ously, namely “in God’s name”. We can know that Leo already believed God. His attitude towards God changes obviously. And because of the words what Salzman said about Stella, Leo then decided to convert her to goodness and himself to god.
So far, Leo’s attitudes towards love and god had changes completely. Never love God to believe in God. Never believe in love to fall in love.
At the end, I want to finish with what Leo said, “Love has at last come to my hear t.” (p149)
References:《A Journey in English Literature---Unit 10 The Magic Barrel》。