The 1960's brings about more change in American history, it was a turbulent time for Americans. Americans were coming to terms about what happened during WWII, the Korean War in the 50's, and the entry of the war in Vietnam. Civil Rights was a hot topic and weighed heavily on everyone's mind. In the 60's we saw the assassination of a president, as well as the assassination of his brother, and civil rights leaders Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. I was a child of the 1960's, on one of our travels as a family to NJ to see family my father accidentally drove us into Harlem during this time of unrest.
"The German Refugee" by Bernard Malamud is a sad story about a Jewish German immigrant, Oskar escaped to America during WWII. He was able to immigrate to America because he had been hired as a lecturer of German Poetry. Our narrator is the young college student who was trying to teach Oskar the English language. The struggle Oskar felt to learn the language and adapt to a new country was very real, while many immigrant's before him felt this anguish they embraced it because they chose to be here for a better life. Oskar chose to be here only because he would have surely been killed by the Nazi Germans. Bernard showed us Oskar's pain of losing his "voice". He a man of many words was unable to communicate because of the language barrier, but in addtion to that the very poems he once loved no longer held the same meaning because of what was happening in his native Germany. The author also showed us the relationship that Oskar and the narrator share, how Oskar's despair had become his despair as well. Oskar was finally able to lecture and communicate with others again, but the joy was short lived when he received the news that his wife had been executed by the Nazis. Oskar ends his own life.
"The Defender of the Faith", is a story about soldiers preparing for war during World War II. Sergeant Marx, a man of Jewish descent, was sent to be a drill sergeant for a group of new recruits. Sheldon, also a man of Jewish descent, was a new recruit under Marx's command. Having gone through Navy boot camp in the 1980's I find Sheldon to be very presumptuous when dealing with Sergeant Marx. And in the end when Sergeant Marx gets Sheldon's orders changed from a home post in NJ to the Pacific, I do not feel sadden for Sheldon. While Sheldon's intentions in the beginning were to get him, Fishbein, and Halpern prayer and food rights that they they were justified in having he took it too far. One might think Sheldon should be commended for his resourcefulness and that he was a protector of the other two men's well being, but in the end he only thought about Sheldon.
"The Ledge" when the story begins I couldn't help thinking what a wonderful coming of age piece, rite of passage. The boys received new guns for Christmas and they were going hunting with the fisherman, the 13 year old's father and the 15 year old's uncle, on the ledge. The ledge was only exposed during low tide and the boys had only hunted on land, it was going to be an adventure. The writer gives us the impression that the fisherman was a hard man, who strived for perfection and the best equipment was important to him. He was not a easy man to live with, his wife imagined that it would have been nice if the ocean "kept" him but felt guilty afterward for the thought.
Christmas Day was the perfect day for the hunt, the weather was good and the ducks were getting ready to migrate. A perfect day...we are first lead to believe. He first had thoughts of why don't I just stay in my warm bed with my wife, but he gets himself moving. He then forgot his pipe tobacco which made him cranky, and there are times that the boys wished he had not forgotten it as well. The day proceeded and the fisherman and the boys have a great day, they have shot many ducks and enjoyed the day together. While the fisherman had the best of equipment and kept his equipment in perfect condition, a simple insignificant skiff brings about their demise. Someone had not properly secured the skiff and it drifted away, stranding them on the ledge with the tide coming in. It was winter time and the ocean was frigid, so there was no way to get back to the boat. What happens next was the sacrifice of a father in order to prevent his son's death for as long as possible. All I could comment at the end of this story was my heart was broken. The image of the fisherman frozen with his foot twisted in order to hold his place on the ledge to keep his son above water as long as possible, with the boots sticking from his suspenders and his arms pulled back. The fisherman who was not an emotional man endured incredible pain in order to keep his son safe for a little longer.
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