Gimpel and Elka are both involved with deception in the course of the entire story. Elka, from the very instant that she met with Gimpel, started off by deceiving him. Gimpel asked her if she was "really a virgin" and if the young Yechiel was her little brother or a bastard. Instead of answering his questions, she just rambled on how people can't take advantage of her. Elka again deceived Gimpel when "their" first child was born only seventeen weeks after their marriage. "You have borne a bastard," (Singer 82) Gimpel proclaims. To this remark Elka replies, "Drive this foolishness out of your head. The child is yours" (Singer 82). Knowing full well that the child couldn't possibly have been Gimpel's, she continued to deceive him into beli

Singer, Isaac Bashevis. "Gimpel The Fool." Kennedy, 78-89.

eving her. Even toward the end of Elka's life she finally admits her deceptions toward Gimpel when she says, "It was ugly how I deceived you all these years.... the children are not yours" (Singer 86). From these few instances one can see how Elka spent her entire time with Gimpel repeatedly deceiving him. On the other hand, Gimpel was also involved with deception throughout "Gimpel the Fool". While Elka was deceiving Gimpel, he was contrastingly being the one deceived. This point of contrast show that both Gimpel and Elka were both involved with deception, only in contrasting ways.

for that matter.... I adored her every word" (Singer 82). It seems clear that the way Gimpel handles family values contrasts with the way that Elka handles them.

This paper of contrasts shows how the two main characters can be so different in their own ways. Clearly Elka is involved in deceiving not only Gimpel, but also the townspeople of Frampol. She also displays that she had no family values and cared only for herself and her joy of physical love from other men. Finally, it is seen that her personality shows traits of carelessness and her desire to self-serve. In contrast, Gimpel is always being deceived by Elka, shows that he puts his family first, and is has the complete opposite personality from Elka.

Since Elk

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Approximate Word count = 934
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)