Preview

Mordechai Richler's Son Of A Smaller Hero

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
513 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Mordechai Richler's Son Of A Smaller Hero
JEWS AND DOGS NOT ALLOWED

If I were to base my opinion of Jewish people solely on Mordechai Richler's "Son of a Smaller Hero", I would probably start wearing a Swastika on my arm and pledging my allegiance to the fuehrer. Richler characterizes Jews as a people who have an enormous lust for money, women, and power. Richler delivers a piece that seems the complete antithesis of his origional novel. While he crammed his former novel with soft-spoken words, which displayed his passion to inform on useful subjects, "Hero" blows its readers away by its directness and disregard of political correctness.

It tells the story of Noah Adler, a young Jewish man who feels trapped by his ghetto upbringing. He comes from a family controlled by his grandfather Melech Adler. Melech's observance of the Jewish law turns Noah off of Judaism. He leaves the family and their business, to drive a cab and attend university. Noah's departure from his family includes one from his religion as well. Once on his own, he is faced with a life unknown to him, and his morals and ethical standards are continually challenged. As he resolves his on going battles with his grandfather, he begins to realize that there is much more to Judaism then he originally though.
…show more content…
We are subject to the same comments about the same characters, chapter after chapter. These monotonous descriptions of the characters, while emphasizing characters flaws excellently, become extremely humdrum halfway through the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Storyline 1. At the beginning of the month of October, a little Canadian student named Charles had a day off from school, so he decided to go for a walk in the forest right near his house. He packed a bag, took a map, and now, he’s ready to leave his house. 2.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although not religious, the narrator's ignorance about his Jewish heritage is a significant factor in his later mental breakdown. For example, when the narrator whistles a Nazi marching song, he is truly clueless about how offensive it is. After hearing it is a racist song, he "starts to weep -- to blubber. [His] lack of control mortified [him]" (21). The narrator's strong reaction indicates that his identity is broken and he has no idea how to "fix" himself. Not understanding his own ethnic identity leads the narrator on a lost journey for his true self. At the same time, not understanding his roots makes it easier for him to deny his own identity and to adopt instead the mainstream persona of a typical prep school boy. However, the narrator's confusion about his place in the world sets him adrift in life. His later delusion then becomes a game of self-protection, where he subconsciously seeks to mask his own trauma to himself. Overall, not accepting his Jewish ethnicity parallels his inability to accept his own writing. He becomes the "perfect" self-hating protagonist, whose biggest barrier is literally…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Misha finds friends and an adopted family, then loses them all one by one to the Nazi soldiers he once admired.Misha has never known his own family, but is adopted by a band of boy thieves, then later by a young Jewish girl and her family. These relationships enrich his life, but also put him in danger and give him a heartbreaking firsthand view of the cruelties of the holocaust. The ending gets a little strange as the adult Misha seems to lose his mind for a while, but I think it's probably how most of the survivors were like. Identity and family are strong themes in the book, and in the end Misha finally finds both. Although most of the characters in this book are fictional, Dr. Janusz Korkzac was a real person. He is a very minor character in this book, but knowing his full story really makes the brief mentions of him interesting. Dr. Korkzac was a highly respected psychologist who ran an orphanage and published a mountain of work on how children in any situation could be raised with love and dignity. Although he was not Jewish, he refused to leave his orphans when they were sent to the ghetto, and later to a concentration camp where his life was ended. It's a touching story, and one that should be told more…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Contemporary Heros Quest

    • 232 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Contemporary Hero { Amy Zinn, Harry Edwards, Sean Bulenrose, Greg Celentano. And Jacqueline Sanchez September 18, 2011 Anna Copeland Wheatley  Frost     Evolutionary Conspirator Mischievous Bit Blades mother while pregnant with Blade. The Villain …

    • 232 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Packed into cattle trains, the Jews are tortured in unbearable conditions. There is barley any air for them to breath, extreme heat, very little food or water, and they are all packed. It is almost as if they are in a survival mode. In their desperation, they lose their hope in the government and their hope in people. They stop denying what is in front of them and they begin to accept and understand what might actually happen. After days of the brutal conditions, the train arrives at the Czechoslovakian Border. They then realize that they are not being relocated. Soon a German officer opens the train and says if they don't hand over their valuables then they will be shot and if there are not 80 of them, then all will be killed. This was another realization of how this situation is really bad.…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Milkman goes on a journey to escape the difficulties of home and ends up discovering a lot about his families past and being able to return home with a new outlook on life, and how his name molds whom he is. While Milkman is on his journey…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    -the story becomes so in-depth it is tedious, causing readers to lose concentration and possibly even interest in the story as a whole.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    contemporary heros quest

    • 679 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The contemporary character of Luke Skywalker in the film Star Wars undertakes the classic hero’s journey which include the processes of separation, initiation, transformation and return. This paper has therefore been written to examine the plight of Luke Skywalker and to analyze the journey that the character takes throughout the plot of the film. In addition to this, an investigation of the mythological and cultural origins of the story will be conducted while the relevance of the story to the modern world in which ordinary humans struggle for survival will be presented.…

    • 679 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It could be read as a fictionalized account of the crime story of Charles Schmid or the fading innocence of America during the sixties. Apart from a historical perspective it could also be read from a feminist perspective and the vulnerability of women or from Christian perspective as battle between good and evil.…

    • 138 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    History Fiftieth Gate

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages

    defined as “the faculty by which events are recalled or kept in mind”. Thus history…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Daniel's Story-Religion

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The first section of the story takes place in Frankfurt. Daniel lives a good and comfortable life there. One day, Daniel is unsure why the word, “Jew” is written on his Father’s store window. Daniel was very confused and asked himself, “What was wrong with that?” He doesn’t see anything wrong with the word. To him, it means a different way of celebrating religion. Unfortunately, Mr. Schneider (Daniel’s public school teacher) was always so cruel to him just because he was Jewish. One day, Mr. Schneider had told his class, “We must all thank God that he sent Adolph Hitler to us, for only he has had the courage to deal with this Jewish problem.” Daniel was angry and went to a Jewish school (he wasn’t German enough to go to a public school). Daniel knew that he was no different than the Germans, and yet sometimes - he wondered. Daniel’s Uncle was arrested the next day for pleading guilty for two parking violations. Auntie Leah had said, “Oh God help us, what is happening?” Daniel began to question God. Unfortunately, Daniel’s grandmother killed herself. Although, she made sure that she attended Daniel’s “Bar Mitzvah”. Daniel was overcome with shock, but soon regained control. Daniel thought, “Thank God she didn’t live to see us thrown out of our homes and out of our country. And right now,…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Adam’s family moved to the US from Russia but had to leave his grandfather behind. Before they left, Adam’s grandfather gave him a shawl that Adam wears every Sabbath (A Jewish Holiday). Adam takes on the role that his grandfather used to have. He tells the family stories that have been passed down. Adam feels like the shawl connects him to his culture and to the past. Eventually, he will have his own grandson, also named Adam, and he will pass on the stories and shawl to him. I think this book is a good way to show diversity not only in the Russian culture but for the Jewish religion. It also shows the importance of family and tradition that these individuals hold dear. Students from different religions would love this book because they would be able to see that not all religions in America are the same and some other students practice different religions to. It would also show the other students how to tolerate individuals with different religions and it would explain why some students have different holiday and traditions than…

    • 2050 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Long Walk

    • 1692 Words
    • 7 Pages

    novel. To understand this story one would need to understand the author himself. As his…

    • 1692 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Inch' Allah

    • 288 Words
    • 1 Page

    The movie is about a young Canadian obstetrician, Chloé, who works in a Palestinian camp and lives in Israel. Chloé develops a friendship with her neighbour in Israel and with one of her patient in Palestine. These relationships will allow her to learn about the conflicts between these countries and how horrendous this situation is for the average citizen.…

    • 288 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the story of “Angel Levine,” Bernard Malamud creates a world for the complex and perplexed character, Manischevitz, who is unable to grasp his identity; however, his drawbacks and discomforts forces him to re- examine who he is and the meaning of being Jewish. As Manischevitz discovers and explores his true self, he stumbles upon several minor characters throughout the story who help him, through their actions or words, to gain a better understanding of what entails to be Jewish.…

    • 1707 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays