Yiddish Heroes Analytical Essay by Nicky

The paper looks at the poor men, simpletons, innocents, and charming well-meaning tricksters that are common heroes in Yiddish tales. The paper discusses Tevye the Milkman, one of Sholem Aleichem's many characters, Gimpel from Isaac Bashevis Singer's story "Gimpel the Fool" and Bontshe the Silent from I. L. Peretz's work. The paper also discusses how Benjamin the Third, the protagonist from Mendele Mocher Seforim's novel "The Travels and Adventures of Benjamin the Third", is with more modern sensibilities and character traits, while Vasil from Lamed Shapiro's "White Challah" is drastically different from all the other characters listed here. The paper points out that these heroes are arguably unique, when compared to the heroes of other genres, in their ability to resist adversity or even succeed in spite of it without actually demolishing or conquering the forces against them.