A Wedding in Brownsville by Issac Bashevis Singer (Questions & Answers)

A Wedding in Brownsville

by Issac Bashevis Singer

(Questions & Answers) 

Answer the following Questions:

1.               What do you understand of Dr. Margalin's past? How does it affect his present life?

-    A mixture of grief and tragedy is Dr Margalin's past. He was considered as a genius in his childhood days. The expectations of the people around him were too much. His life was not bed of roses instead he faced a lot of hardships and his family suffered a lot, they were tortured, burned and gassed. The loss of Raizel, his true love, affected his present state of mind. He lost complete faith in humanity in the reign of Hitler. He constantly defeated death. In spite of all the hardships he faced in his personal life, his professional life was a success. He was highly regarded and respected by the people. There was an office on West End Avenue and wealthy patients too in his life.

2.               What was Dr Margolin's attitude towards his profession?

-    As a professional Dr. Margolin was truly great person. He never broke his oath and was always respectful towards his patients. In his professional field, he was held in high esteem. People around him held him in high esteem because of his dedication towards his profession. He had wealthy patients, but always considered humanity above everything this was visible when he would treat the refugees and rabbi for free, would supply them with medicines and a hospital bed too, if required.

 

3.               What is Dr. Margalin's view of the kind of life the American Jewish community leads?

-    According to Dr. Margolin the kind of life American Jewish community lived was totally unaccepted. He felt Jewish ways of living were completely distorted. He found their ways of celebrations irritating and annoying. He disliked the Anglicized Yiddish, the Yiddishised English, the ear-splitting music and also the unruly way they danced. The new style of living embarrassed him as there was no culture left in it. He felt ashamed to take his wife at such gatherings. So, he did not want to take her to those places.

 

4.               What were the personality traits that endeared Dr. Margolin to others in his community?

-    He was the son of a poor teacher of Talmud. He was a self-taught man. He could easily recite long passages of the bible, studied Talmud and commentaries on his own. He learned geometry and algebra on his own. At a very young age, he was declared a child prodigy. At the eleven, he was sent for a Responsum to the rabbi of Tarnow, there he was referred to as "great and illustrious". At a young age of seventeen, attempted translations that made him considered really great and genius.

 

5.               Why do you think Dr. Margo had the curious experience at the wedding hall?

-    Dr. Margolin met with a deadly accident on the wedding day. The things that happened in the marriage hall were the consequences of the accident. Raziel was the doctor's true love whom he wanted to marry with all his heart and soul. She was married to someone else and later shot dead by Nazis. The mysterious encounter with her could only be explained through his past experience. It is really heart touching experience.

 

6.               Was the encounter with Raizel an illusion or was the carousing at the wedding - hall illusory? Was Dr. Margolin the victim of the accident and was his astral body hovering in the world of twilight?

-    Yes, the encounter with Raziel was an illusion. She was dead long ago when shot by a Nazi and the union with Dr. Margolin was only possible because of his own death. Yes, he was faced with a fatal accident and himself the victim. They were both in spiritual forms. Carousing at the wedding hall was illusionary.

 

7.               Fiction often deals with human consciousness, rather than with the reality of existence. Discuss.

-    Fiction is that genre that deals exclusively with invented events and people. Fiction deals exclusively with real life events and people. In fiction the sole purpose is to entertain the readers by depicting the depth of human thoughts and consciousness. Fictions are constructed on the inner thoughts of the writer. What the writer thinks is expressed through his writings.

 

8.               Explain the ways in which survivors of holocausts deal with life.

-    A holocaust survivor's life is not easy. They are constantly haunted by the dreadful thoughts of those past days, that leave huge mark on their brain. The first thing they did was to find a roof to lead their life. They believe in constantly keeping themselves occupied with work and reunite with their left relatives and be each-others strength. So, it is not too easy to lead a life like other people.

 

9.               Surrealism was an artistic and literary movement in France between the two World Wars. Its basic idea is that the automatic, illogical and uncontrolled associations of the mind represent a higher reality than the world of practical life and ordinary literature. Do you think this story could be loosely classified as surrealistic? What elements in this story would support the idea?

-    Yes, the story could be considered as surrealistic. The last part of the story gives evidence of surrealism. Dr. Margolin is not in his physical form but still, he is among the people talking to them, seen dancing and enjoying to the fullest and he remains unaware of his spiritual form. His union with Raziel is also in the form of spirit.

 

10.        Comment on the technique used by the author to convey the gruesome realities of the war and its devastating effect on the psyche of human beings through an intense personal experience.

-    The conversational technique has been used to depict the cruel effects of war. At the party, people discuss war among each other and talks about the death of their loved ones and also their community. The cruel aftermath of war is shown vividly in a conversational tone, which makes it more realistic and believable for readers. The cruelty of war has been unfolded to the readers realistically.

11.        Why did Margolin not want his wife to go with him to the wedding?

-    Margolin did not want his wife to go with him because he felt ashamed of his community which was a mess.

 

12.        Why did Jews leave their home town?

-    Jews left their home town because the Nazis killed them and survivors took refuge in U.S.A.

 

13.        Why couldn’t Margolin marry Raizel?

-    Margolin couldn’t marry Raizel because they had different social status.

 

14.        Who was the lady to whom Dr Margolin suddenly came across at the wedding?

-    The lady was Raizel whom Dr. Margolin loved and wanted to marry.

 

15.        According to Jewish law, Dr Margolin was unmarried. How?

-    According to Jewish law, Dr Margolin was unmarried because he and Gretl had only a civil ceremony.

 

16.        Was Raizel a hallucination or was she really alive?

-    Raizel was a hallucination. It was caused by Margolin’s suppressed desire of marrying her.

 

17.        Who were the Senciminers?

-    Sencimin was a town in Poland hence Senciminers belonged to Poland. They were Jewish people. During Hitler’s rule in Germany, all the Jews were exterminated and wiped out mercilessly. The people who survived, somehow, ran away and took shelter in North America (USA).

 

18.        What is the Hippocratic oath?

-    Hippocratic oath is an ethical code which governs the professional conduct of doctors. This oath is taken by the scholars who complete their medical degree. There are eleven promises in it, which are made by the prospective doctors in order to stay honest and dedicated to their patients or profession.

 

19.        Why had the wedding been a burden to Dr Margolin?

Or

In the opening line of the story, the author says, “The wedding had been a burden to Dr Margolin from the very beginning.” Why was it a burden?

-    The wedding had been a burden to Dr. Margolin for following reasons:

·      He was very dedicated and honest to his profession hence he was the busiest physician in the town.

·      Except Sunday he had no spare time for his wife Gretl.

·      He was the member of different Jewish organizations so he attended all the meetings regularly.

 

20.        How can you say that Dr Margolin was an honest and dedicated doctor?

Or

What was Dr Margolin’s attitude towards his profession?

·      Dr Margolin’s attitude towards his profession was very honest and dedicated. As a doctor he strictly practiced the Hippocratic oath (code of conduct for doctors).

·      He was so dedicated to his patients that he hardly had any off day to spend time with his wife Gretl.

·      He treated rabbis, refugees, and Jewish writers without charge, supplying them with medicines. Thus, we can say that he was an honest and dedicated doctor.

21.        What was Dr Margolin’s past?

Or

What do you know of Dr Margolin’s past?

-    Dr Margolin was from Sencimin, Poland. After surviving from Nazi attacks in Germany, he along with other Senciminers, had come to New York to take shelter. He was a very bright child. He recited long Bible pages and studied the Talmud on his own. In his teenage he loved a girl, Raizel.

 

22.        According to Dr Margolin “American Judaism was a mess”, comment.

Or

-    What is Dr Margolin’s view of the kind of life the American Jewish community leads?

-    Dr Margolin thought that American Judaism was a mess. Dr Margolin’s view is not good towards the American Jewish community. He observes that the Jewish laws and customs were distorted by them. They showed their disrespect for Jewish laws by wearing skull caps. Ear-splitting music and unruly dances had no place in Jewish culture but they were enjoying it all in the USA. Jewish people had started setting marriage ties with Christians in the USA. And Jewish people were simple fellows in Poland but in the USA. they had turned drunkards. Stacks of liquor bottles could be seen in wedding parties.

 

23.        Dr Margolin says that his wife has mania for cleanliness while Gretl says that: Margolin’s sense of honour amounted to a mania. Clarify.

-    Mania is extremely strong desire or enthusiasm for something. It is a craze. Gretl has mania for cleanliness. Every day she cleans everything in her kitchen, scours the oven daily, polishes windows of her apartment on the sixteenth floor, that too without using a safety belt. She insists on doing all the household work herself. She keeps everything neat and clean. Gretl says that Dr Margolin’s sense of honour amounted to a mania. People frequently comment on him but still he remains non-responsive to them and maintains self-restraint. He believes in humanity and honours mankind.

 

24.        Why did Dr Margolin not particularly want his wife to accompany him to the wedding?

-    Dr Margolin did not want his wife to accompany him to the wedding because whenever he took her to a wedding, he was ashamed of celebrations made there. Besides this, Dr Margolin had married her not abiding by Jewish customs so he thought Senciminers would not like this.

 

25.        What topic does the merry banter at the wedding invariably lead to?

-    The wedding hall was filled with people, food, wine bottles, and music. People were dancing and enjoying. The merry banter at the wedding invariably led to the bitter memories of the past. People were frequently discussing cruelties done to Jews during the despotic rule of Hitler in Germany.

 

26.        Who was the woman that Dr Margolin suddenly encountered at the wedding?

-    In his teenage Dr Margolin loved a girl named Raizel. Due to different social status, he could not marry Raizel. Later she and her husband both were shot dead by Nazis in Sencimin, Poland. Dr Margolin had not forgotten her. At the wedding it was his illusion that Raizel was there. In fact, Raizel was not there.

 

27.        What were the events that led to Dr Margolin’s confused state of mind?

-    The events that led to Dr Margolin’s confused state of mind were:

·      His sudden encounter with a woman who had a familiar face and voice and the same name Raizel (Raizel was Dr Margolin’s beloved in his teenage).

·      His wallet was missing which he could not find till the end.

·      His thought that the lady might be Raizel’s daughter, not Raizel, because she was very young.

 

28.        What were the personality traits that endeared Dr Margolin to others in his community?

-    The traits of Dr Margolin’s personality were:

·      He had a strong affection for Senciminer society in New York.

·      He was a cultured man.

·      He was a veteran and scholar.

·      He was kind hearted.

·      He had been very regular in attending all the meetings of the Jewish community.

·      In his professional life he was very honest and dedicated to his patients.

·      His personality was impressive. He was tall and handsome and had a way with women.

·      All these traits of his personality endeared him to others in the community.

 

29.        Do you find the marriage party as the predominant essence of this fiction?

-    Yes, the marriage party is the essence of this fiction. During the party itself Dr Margolin falls under the influence of illusion. In his illusionary state, he meets Raizel, his old beloved who was killed by Nazis after her marriage with someone else. In the party people discuss their painful experiences and memories of the war. And they discuss how Jews were exterminated.

 

30.        Do you think that because of different social status Dr Margolin was not allowed to marry Raizel, his beloved?

-    Raizel was the daughter of a watch maker. Dr Margolin belonged to high society. He was a talented writer, doctor, and a social worker, and was born in a priest family. In those days the profession of watch-making was looked down upon, and hence this difference of status separated him from Raizel.

31.        Dr Margolin was dedicated to the community and his profession to the extent that he had no time for his wife. Comment.

-    Dr Margolin attended all the meetings and programs of his community regularly. He was fully dedicated to his profession. He served many of his patients without charges, and treated all his patients respectfully. Many times, he had to cancel his personal programs. Thus, he didn’t have enough time to spend with his wife Gretl.

 

32.        According to Dr Margolin, ‘American Judaism was a mess’. Comment.

-    The Jews after the holocaust, took shelter in America. Gradually they started getting married to Christians, as Dr Margolin did. Hence American Judaism, according to Dr Margolin, was a mess in the form of mixed cultures. It was reflected by their dressing sense, ornaments, make-up, ear splitting music, and unruly dances, etc.

 

33.        Write in short about Gretl’s family.

-    Gretl had been a nurse in the Berlin hospital. Her one brother, a Nazi, had died of typhus in a Russian prison camp. A second, who was a communist, had been shot dead by the Nazis. Her aged father stayed at the home of his other daughter. Gretl regularly sent him money.

 

34.        Why do you think Dr Margolin had the strange experience of the wedding hall?

Or

Dr Margolin wished to marry Raizel at the wedding in Brownsville. What made him realize that he could not do so?

-    Dr Margolin had the strange experience at the wedding hall because the memories of his old love still haunted him. He had not forgotten his beloved Raizel who was killed by Nazis after her marriage with someone else. Because of their different social status, he (Margolin) had not been able to marry her. He was under the influence of hallucination at the wedding hall, and hence he felt that Raizel was present there. He wanted to fulfil his teenage wish of getting married to Raizel but soon his hallucination was gone. And he realized that Raizel could not be there.

 

35.        Was the encounter with Raizel an illusion or was it due to his being drunk in the wedding-hall? Was Dr Margolin the victim of the accident and was his astral body hovering in the world of twilight?

-    It was not an illusion because Dr Margolin was conscious of the fact that his beloved Raizel was killed by Nazis. He had neither enjoyed food nor sipped liquor. He had not become victim of an accident because at the end of the story we find him in full consciousness. However, it can be said that it was his astral body (the body sub-conscious) which had wished a meeting with Raizel at the wedding hall. While talking with Raizel, he was fully conscious. Considering all these factors it can be said that it was his deliberate wish to enjoy his fanciful scene of romance with his old beloved whom he loved deeply.

 

36.        In what way do the survivors of the holocaust deal with life?

-    Despite all hardships or circumstances, life goes on. The Nazis slaughtered a large number of Jews. They tried to exterminate the whole population of the Jews. The survivors left their homeland and took shelter in other countries.

The following points throw light on their lives after the holocaust:

·      The survivors always feel the pain of leaving their own country.

·      They always miss their family members, relatives, and friends lost in the holocaust.

·      They have to live in a mixed culture, the culture of a foreign land (where they have taken shelter) and that of their own country.

 

37.        Surrealism was an artistic and literary movement in France between the two World Wars. Its basic idea is that the automatic, illogical and uncontrolled associations of the mind represent a higher reality than the world of practical life and ordinary literature. Do you think this story could be loosely classified as surrealistic? What elements in this story would support the idea?

-    Yes, this story can partially be classified as surrealistic. The protagonist’s illogical and uncontrolled association of mind support this view. Dr Margolin’s thoughts make us aware of his past and its impact on his present. In the story the author tells us about the childhood of Margolin, his love with Raizel, and his married life with someone else than his beloved. Dr Margolin has an illusionary encounter with Raizel and wants to fulfil his suppressed desire of getting married with his beloved Raizel. Hence the entire atmosphere in the story is illusionary that allows it to be classified as surrealistic.

 

38.        Comment on the technique used by the author to convey the gruesome realities of the war and its devastating effect on the psyche of human beings through an intense personal experience.

-    The author has used very special and effective technique to convey gruesome realities of war and its devastating effects on the psyche of human beings. Dr Margolin is the protagonist of the story. Through Margolin, the author has used his technique. The writer has described Margolin’s distorted relation with his wife Gretl, his dedication to his profession, his illusionary encounter with Raizel, his beloved. All this is the result of devastating war. Even in wedding parties, people have painful discussions about the war. This also conveys the gruesome reality of the war.

 

39.        Why did Dr. Margolin suffer from hypochondria?

-    ‘Dr Margolin suffered from hypochondria because he had been shocked by the massacre of Jews and extinction of his family. It had destroyed all his faith in humanity and rooted out his last hope of better days. All these incidents filled his mind with pessimism and later on developed into hypochondria. ‘Besides this, he did not believe in God which could have relieved him from his depression. He always brooded over his dark past which aggravated his problem. The memories of his beloved killed by Nazis were filled in his mind.

 

40.        Why did Dr Solomon Margolin, a prodigy in childhood secretly feel that he was a failure?

-    Dr Soloman Margolin was a prodigy as a child. He could recite long passages of the Bible. He studied the Tulmud and commentaries on his own. When he was still a boy, he was sent for a Responsum to the rabbi of Tarnow who referred him as ‘great and illustrious. He had also become master of the Kuzari. He taught himself algebra and geometry and translated Spinoza’s ethics. Yet he squandered his talent by changing his field of study again and again and wasted his years in learning languages, thus he feels that he was a failure and he could not reach there where he could.