A Wedding in Brownsville by Issac Bashevis Singer (Summary)

A Wedding in Brownsville

by Issac Bashevis Singer

(Summary) 

Issac Bashevis Singer was a Polish – American writer who used to write in Yiddish language. He received a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978. This story basically points out the emptiness, that overpowers the protagonist of the story, that is, Dr. Solomon Margolin.

The story starts with the portrayal of marriage as a burden in the eyes of Dr. Solomon. Dr. Solomon was basically a Jew, who initially used to reside in Poland where his family was killed in the holocaust that was enforced by Hitler. Dr. Solomon ultimately escaped to America along with the other Jews who survived the holocaust. In America, Dr. Solomon had been appointed as the board member of a Jewish scholastic society and co–editor of an academic Jewish quarterly. However, the brutal treatment that was imposed on his family in Poland had an adverse impact on the mind of Dr. Solomon, he seemed to have lost his faith in humanity and the fear of death often used to haunt him. Dr. Solomon often used to keep thinking about his past memories, his first love, Raizel, who was a beautiful Jewish girl and the daughter of a Jewish watch–maker, Melekh. He also recalled that Raizel got married to someone else which disheartened him at that time but she and her entire family was later killed by Nazis. This thought further used to intensify his depressive tendencies.

Dr. Solomon’s wife, Gretl, was also a German, but she was anti - Nazis. Dr. Solomon used to treat rabbis, refugees and Jewish writers without charging any money from them and he also used to provide medicines and hospital beds to them in case of necessity. Dr. Solomon and Gretl used to live a life of simplicity and modesty. Gretl used to manage all the household chores herself without ever thinking of appointing a maid or helper. Sometimes, Dr. Solomon used to ponder about the transformation of his wife from a German blonde to a Jewish home–maker. Even after originally being a German, Gretl had begun to embrace Jewish culture and befriend Jewish women. This was primarily because one of Gretl’s brothers was killed by the Nazis, merely because he was a communist and he opposed the idea of exterminating the Jews.

The story further begins to unfold. A Jewish wedding was about to happen in a town, that is, Brownsville and Dr. Solomon had been invited to attend that wedding ceremony. The wedding ceremony was of Sylvia, daughter of Abraham Mekheles, an acquaintance of Dr. Solomon. Abraham Mekheles was a Senciminer, that is, he too belonged to Sencimin (a small town in Poland) just like Dr. Solomon. However, Dr. Solomon was hesitant in attending that wedding ceremony because he was making attempts to distance himself from the Jewish community. This is because, Dr. Solomon had begun to feel that the Jews did not maintain the trueness of their culture after they had gone to America. Dr. Solomon used to feel that the Jews were breaking their cultural legacy, for instance, Jewish men had started consuming alcohol in excess. This drove Dr. Solomon away from his own community. Gretl noticed her husband’s aloofness from his own community. But since Dr. Solomon occupied a prominent position in Jewish community, therefore, he finally decided to attend the wedding ceremony in Brownsville. He hired a taxi to reach Brownsville. Suddenly, the taxi in which Dr. Solomon was going to Brownsville, stopped abruptly and Dr. Solomon witnessed that an accident had taken place on that road. A man was being taken on a stretcher and Dr. Solomon apparently seemed to recognize that person. Nevertheless, the driver again started driving the taxi and finally, Dr. Solomon reached the wedding destination, that is, Brownsville. Upon reaching there, he discovered that the wedding venue was full of mirth and festivity, ladies were dancing around and people were getting drunk. He came across Zissel, a person from his hometown, who narrated the old stories that described the brutal way in which the Jews were killed by the Nazis. He described that the Jews were compelled by the Nazis to dig their own graves and then those Jews were shot and buried in the graves that were dug by themselves. Many Jews were starved to death, burnt alive and many were transported to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland which had over 40 extermination camps. Each camp was filled with poisonous gases in order to kill the Jews mercilessly.

Dr. Solomon felt suffocated when he recalled the ways in which the members of his community were killed and suddenly, he saw the face of a lady amidst the chaos of people. When he tried to get closer to that lady in order to recall who she was, that lady turned out to be his long–lost love, Raizel. He went ahead to confront Raizel and shockingly discovered that it was not a dream rather Raizel was really there at the wedding venue. The old romance between Dr. Solomon and Raizel rekindled. Dr. Solomon held the hand of Raizel and took her away from the crowd of people. Dr. Solomon did not want to lose Raizel amidst the chaos of life all over again. A thought came to Dr. Solomon, that he was still single according to Jewish Law as he got married to Gretl in a civil ceremony. Therefore, he took Raizel in a secluded place and expressed his desire to get married to her. He needed only a penny in order to get married to her. However, when he searched for his wallet in his breast pocket, he was surprised to discover that he has lost it. Moreover, suddenly it occurred to him that Raizel seemed much younger than the way she should have looked. Dr. Solomon started feeling devoid of life, he was not able to feel the weight of his body and his body seemed to be deflated as if his body did not exist. This made Dr. Solomon wonder whether the accident and the body laid on the stretcher, that he witnessed on his way to Brownsville, was his own accident and his own body. Dr. Solomon was perplexed and wondered whether he was really alive or it was only his soul that was floating on Earth in order to seek his long–lost love. He also wondered whether Raizel was real or she was just a figment of imagination. The story ends on the note of this ambiguity and finally, Abraham Mekheles led his daughter, Sylvia, down the aisle for her wedding ceremony.