The Fixer

A detailed Summary of The Fixer

Malamud ' s The Fixer is a novel which was written in a time of extreme prejudice

and inequality. Malamud fought this struggle in a very powerful way - through writing.

Perhaps the strongest styles he used to fight against the Jewish oppression are irony, and

the use of dreams and hallucinations.

Irony is an overpowering force in Bernard Malamud's The Fixer. The sequence of

events which Yakov Bok goes through makes the entire novel ironic. The chief irony of

the novel lies in the fact that what Bok is attempting to escape, he cannot escape. To

understand the irony in the novel, it is necessary to examine two major events in the

circular life of Yakov Bok. Bok is attempting the escape his life in the shetl. He is wrongly

persecuted for a ritual murder and attempts to escape his physical and mental torture. In

each case, Bok is attempting to escape his Jewishness. The novel has an overall ironic

Bok leaves the shetl in which he has lived the majority of his life to go to Kiev. In

Kiev Bok hopes to find opportunities for work and education. Mainly, though, Bok seeks

relief from his earlier shame of being cheated on by his wife. While in the shetl Bok sees

himself as a victim of his wife's barrenne

One of the most important freedoms which Bok finds within himself is the freedom

Bok has no physical freedom, the longer that he is imprisoned, the more true freedom he

that his freedom is not the important issue. It is the freedom of those who will come after

Bok's dreams and hallucinations take up a large part of the novel because of his lengthy

(189). When he is brought the confession by Raisl, he signs the line where his name

Approximate Word count = 1489
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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