Bernard Malamud

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes and discusses Bernard Malamud's interest and concern for minority and subordinate groups in America and how this concern is conveyed in his stories. In particular, the paper focuses on Malamud's concern for the plight of the elderly and how three of Malamud's short stories, "In Retirement," "The Model," and "The Mourners", reflect this concern. The paper explains that these stories show some aspects of the plight of the elderly in America today and ways in which they are marginalized in society, facing a situation that everyone may face one day but that most people do not recognize until it happens to them.

From the Paper:

"The central character in "The Model" is Ephraim Elihu, a man who takes up painting and hires a model to pose for him. Ephraim is 70 years old and wants a model not just as a subject but because he is lonely and knows no women. The model sees through him and challenges him as a pervert, though he tried to explain to the school where he hired her that he was not an experienced painter but only taking it up late in life. The model then turns the tables and makes him the model, and after she leaves, his shame and sadness overwhelm him: "Is there nothing more to my life than it is now? Is this all that is left to me?" (Malamud 592)."

More papers on Bernard Malamud:

• Narrative Essay # 5152 : "Bernard Malamud A Biography"
• Analytical Essay # 2687 : "Bernard Malamud: The Man and The Writer"
• Analytical Essay # 54817 : "Bernard Malamud"

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