Bernard Malamud's "Angel Levine" and Lee Smith's "Intensive Care"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the increased emotional impact of "Intensive Care" was a result of the better developed characters, the informal and engaging tone, the conflict with a realistic ending, and the powerful theme. The author points out that Malamud does not provide the same background to the relationship that Smith did, which prevents the story from involving one emotionally to the same degree as "Intensive Care." The paper explains that the conflicts of the two stories are interesting because they are both very similar, while having very different outcomes.

From the Paper:

"Both their characters are then revealed further by describing their relationship, including their meeting back in high school and then their more recent relationship. This creates a love story between them which is effective at holding the reader's interest. One of the interesting things about the story is that Cherry is the character who creates the most interest, despite her remaining in the hospital bed the whole story. She is the least active character and yet the most interesting. Her energy for life is expressed throughout and I found myself wanting to see the world the way she did. Harold then becomes the character that the reader is journeying with. Harold is struggling with the idea of losing Cherry and the reader can understand why this would be such a loss for him."

More papers on Bernard Malamud's "Angel Levine" and Lee Smith's "Intensive Care":

• Analytical Essay # 2687 : "Bernard Malamud: The Man and The Writer"
• Narrative Essay # 5152 : "Bernard Malamud A Biography"
• Analytical Essay # 45781 : "Bernard Malamud's "Angel Levine"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: