A New Beginning

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The Magic Barrel is a moving story of emotional birth for the character Leo Finkle. The author, Bernard Malamud, explains the first inkling of Leo's revival by using the seasons to explain the changes in Leo. "Although it was still February winter was on its last legs, signs of which he had for the first time in years begun to notice" (Malamud 45). Leo Fickle, a rabbinical student in the Yeshivah University, finds his life to this point although satisfying, completely devoid of any emotional development, which the author shows us by Leo's use of a marriage broker. "He remarked in passing that the function of the marriage broker was ancient and honorable, highly approved in the Jewish community, because it made practical the necessary" (44). Leo was clearly approaching marriage like a business transaction. Although his parents were dedicated to each other, Leo grew up in a home devoid of love. The author explains Leo's parent's relationship clearly as "their everlasting devotion to each other" (44). Leo, through the marriage broker, Pinye Salzman, discovers that what he wants most in life is to know God so he can love and be loved.Leo was about to graduate and become an ordained Rabbi. An acquaintance advised Leo to find a wife. Winning a congregation would be easier if he was married. Leo set about finding a wife like he did everything else in life, very cold and professional. He answered an ad placed by a marriage broker. Leo took even the joyous occasion of meeting a girl and falling in love like a lesson in a book to be researched and analyzed. We can see the mind set of Leo by the authors words. "When Leo's eyes fell upon the cards, he counted six spread out in Salzman's hand" (45). "So few?" "he asked in disappointment" (45). How could Leo make an informed choice with so few to choose from? Coming from such a rigid academic background Leo was sure it would take many more choices for him to make a logistically sound choice of the type of woman that is suitable for him. Leo became embarrassed about sending Piney Salzman his curriculum Vitae with such strict standards. Leo felt "he had told the marriage broker more than was absolutely necessary" (45). Pinye Salzman begins to go through his short list and with each and every girl Leo manages to find fault in her. Leo had a myriad of reasons why each woman just did not quite meet with his high expectations of the perfect wife such as, "Marrying a widow never entered my mind" (45) or "I'm afraid that seems a little too old" (46). Pinye becomes frustrated with Leo's stringent standards of what his wife must meet. The frustration becomes evident when Pinye raises his voice and cries "Why not?" (47) to one of Leos refusals. Leo begins to wonder if a marriage broker is really the answer to obtaining a wife. He begins to think that finding a wife should be more of a personal endeavor. Leo reflects back on his parents marriage, which was arranged through a broker and wonders "although he honored his father and mother---that he did not, in essence, care for the matchmaking institution" (47). These thoughts were totally foreign to Leo and confused him completely. He became disoriented and unable to concentrate. His whole life was built on the premise that everything in life is methodical and follows a strict set of rules. During the remainder of the day Leo "Ran around in the woods" (47) trying to understand these new thoughts. Leo was unable to find solace until "he sinks his nose in a book and there finds peace from his thoughts" (47). Leo's peace did not last long. Pinye Salzman returned to see if Leo had made a choice from the short list. Leo was angered because Pinye returned. He would have preferred to put the entire business out of his mind, but Pinye was eager to revise his first information on Lily, the schoolteacher. This still did not interest Leo. He wondered, "If she's so wonderful, why wasn't she married ten years ago?" (4). Pinye was cleaver in his response when he told Leo "Why?" said Salzman with a heavy laugh. "-Why? Because she is partikiler. This is why. She wants the best"(4). Leo still had a long way to go to understand what marriage was really all about. He was still looking for someone who would measure up to his perfect ideals of a wife. Pinye had finally hit the right chord with Leo and he decided to call Lily.Leo handled the first meeting like he would any subject. He watched and listened and yes judged Lily on her looks, actions, and her words. He found her competent until she started delving into areas that Leo himself had never thought about. Lily made him pause and look at himself. Leo was not prepared to answer Lily's probing questions. Lillie asked "How was it that you came to your calling? I mean was it a sudden passionate inspiration?" (50). Leo was not sure how to respond. He had never considered God a part of his life. He was an educated man. What did God have to do with it? Leo finally answered, "I was always interested in the law" (50). Lillie thought she understood Leo and continued her questioning Lily asks Leo "You revealed in it the presence of the Highest?" (50). Leo was becoming frustrated. He really did not have proper answers for Lillie. It was now clear to Leo that Lily thought he was someone he was not. He tried to change the subject but to no avail. Lillie continues by asking "When did you become enamored of God?" (50). Leo now beyond anger replied "I am not, he said gravely, a talented religious person" (50), and in seeking words to go on, found himself possessed by shame and fear "I think"(50), he said in a strained manner, "that I came to God not because I loved him, but because I did not" (50). Leo had never admitted that to himself let alone a complete stranger. To be able to justify his confession he turned his anger on Pinye Salzman. He was angry because he felt Pinye misrepresented him to Lillie as well as Lillie to him. He believed at first her age was part of the deceit. He expected a younger woman but "The moment he laid eyes on her strained and anxious face, a woman past thirty-five and aging rapidly" (50). Leo realized Pinye had been anything but honest. Pinye also led her to believe he was a man of God. Only when Leo said "I am not a talented religious person" (50), did Lillie understand that Pinye had misrepresented Leo to her. Leo realized once his anger started to abate that it was his insights into himself that truly angered him. Leo slipped into a funk and vowed he would dismiss Pinye the minute he saw him again. He slowly became aware that the reason he had called in the marriage broker in the first place was because he had no idea how to go about finding a wife on his own. Not until he realized his true reasons for involving Pinye Salzman did his anger subside. Leo was totally unaware himself until he met Lillie that he loved no one and no one loved him. Leo "saw himself for the first time as he truly was---unloved and loveless" (50).

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Leo became unable to read, eat, or even care for his own personal needs. He had studied for years but nothing in his books had prepared him for the truth. Leo decided now that he understood himself better maybe he could find love without the help of a marriage broker. Pinye Salzman came back but Leo was ready for him. He told Pinye "I want to be in love with the one I marry" (5). Pinye Salzman believes he can find someone Leo can love, but Leo declines. It is obvious Pinye does not understand that this is something Leo must do on his own. Pinye was not ready to give up so he left some pictures for Leo to review hoping he could still arrange the perfect union for Leo. Leo had made up his mind that he would find love on his own, but as time went by and his social life had not improved. Leo finally tore open the envelope of pictures and shuffled through them. Leo was disappointed in what he saw and was putting them back when he noticed a snapshot of a young woman that stood out among the rest. Leo was not sure why the picture moved him so. The girls face seemed familiar but yet at the same time she seemed a stranger. Something about the picture spoke to Leo. When he studied the photograph "She leaped forth to his heart----had lived, or wanted to-more than just wanted, perhaps regretted how she had lived---and some how deeply suffered" (5). Leo seemed to identify with these same feelings. He had been dead, but now for the first time felt truly alive. He desperately tried to find Pinye Salzman. Just as he was arriving home from his fruitless search, as if by magic, Pinye Salzman stood waiting for him. Leo described the beautifully haunted woman in the picture but Pinye was against her because he felt she was not a fit lady for a Rabbi. Pinye tells Leo "She is a wild one--wild without shame" (54). Leo was not to be put off; he insisted that Pinye introduce them. Pinye Salzman had to reveal that this was no lady. She was his daughter, Stella. Her life was far to wild for her to become his wife. Leo realizing that she would not be a fit Rabbi's wife tries everything to rid her from his mind. Leo finds that "Through days of torment he endlessly struggled not to love her; fearing success, he escaped it" (55). Leo decided that he could not live without her so he would try to "Convert her to goodness, himself to God" (55).Leo had not realized his final decision was made until he met Pinye Salzman at a diner. He new for certain then that love was what really mattered and told Pinye "Love has at last come to my heart" (55). Pinye tried one last time to change Leo's mind, but Leo was unshakable. Pinye arranges the meeting between Leo and his daughter. When Leo saw Lily for the first time, "he pictured his own redemption" (55). "Leo runs forward with flowers outthrust" (55). Leo realizes that he now knows God, he can love, and he can be loved. Only the author knows for sure if this was a match made in Heaven. Could it be that Pinye Salzman, the marriage broker, was really a loving father with a plan? Works Cited Malamud, Bernard. "The Magic Barrel." Fiction 100 An Anthrology of Short

Stories Ed. Leah Jewel, et al. th ed. New Jersey Prentice-Hall, 15

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