Bernard Malamud

Bernard Malamud (1930-1986) was a Jewish-American author known for his many novels, such as The Natural (1952), The Assistant (1957), and The Fixer (1966). He is also the author of short stories. He was incredibly influential in the Jewish-American Literature Movement that began in the 1930s as Malamud's writing primarily focused on the lives of Jewish immigrants.

A Biography of Bernard Malamud

Bernard Malamud was born on the 26th of April 1914 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants and were poor. The Jewish immigrant experience would frequently appear in his work. Malamud also had a younger brother who had a severe mental illness, and when Malamud's mother died, Malamud took the role of caring for his brother. Malamud attended City College of New York, graduating with a B.A. in 1936. He received his Master's at Columbia University in 1942.

Malamud was exempt from fighting in WWII to take care of his father, but what Malamud had learned about WWII and the Holocaust would later impact his writing. Throughout his lifetime, he held many teaching jobs at various high schools in New York City, Oregon State University, and Bennington College.

Fig. 1 - Malamud is from Brooklyn, New York.

Malamud wrote his first novel in 1952, titled The Natural. He wrote a second novel titled The Assistant in 1957. In 1959, Malamud was awarded a National Book Award for his short story collection The Magic Barrel (1958). Malamud's next novel was partly based on his teaching job at Oregon State University. It is titled A New Life (1961).

His novel The Fixer (1966), about a wrongfully imprisoned Russian Jew, won Malamud the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Malamud's book, Dubin's Lives (1979), took over five years to write.

Malamud's final book is titled God's Grace (1982), which was inspired by what Malamud had learned about the Holocaust and imagined a future Holocaust. Although Malamud finished his last novel in 1982, he continued to write for American Magazines. Malamud died on the 18th of March 1986. He had been working on a piece titled, The Tribe; however, it remains unfinished.

Works by Bernard Malamud

Bernard Malamud wrote many novels and short story collections. His work mainly focused on the lives of Jewish immigrants and modern-day social problems such as rootlessness. Malamud is most well known for his novels The Natural, The Fixer, and The Assistant. He is also most well known for his short story collections The Magic Barrel and Rembrandt's Hat (1974).

The Natural (1952)

In Malamud's 1952 novel, The Natural, Roy Hobbs is a baseball prodigy. A woman shoots him and his career becomes sidetracked. The novel jumps sixteen years into the future, and now Hobbs is trying to make a comeback in baseball. When he begins playing for the fictional team, the New York Knights, he proves to be a natural with his "Wonderboy" Bat. The novel follows themes such as The American Dream, ambition, and the rise from destruction.

Fig. 2 - The Natural is about a baseball player.

In 1984, The Natural was adapted into a film of the same name and was directed by Barry Levinson. It stars Robert Redford, Glen Close, and Robert Duvall.

The Assistant (1957)

The Assistant is set in Brooklyn, New York, in the early 1950s. It explores first and second-generation immigrants: A Russian Jewish refugee named Morris Bober, who owns a grocery store, and a young Italian American, named Frank Alpine, who becomes the grocer's assistant. Frank falls in love with Bober's daughter causing many conflicts. The novel contains themes such as the pursuit of The American Dream, immigrants' struggles, and the relationship between a father figure and a son. The novel won The National Book Award in 1958 and was adapted into a film of the same name in 1997.

The Fixer (1966)

The Fixer is a fictionalized account of the real 1913 case of Mendel Beilis. Mendel Beilis was a Jewish handyman living in Tsarist Russia. The Fixer follows the story of Yakov Bok, who lives in Tsarist Russia. He moves to Kyiv seeking fortune but becomes a handyman. Bok is wrongfully imprisoned after he is accused of murdering a Christian boy as a ritualistic act. The novel primarily focuses on the life of Bok while he waits for his trial in prison for two years. There he is humiliated and teased and realizes Russia is a broken world that requires repairing. The novel explores antisemitism and themes such as freedom, man versus man, and responsibility. The novel won Malamud both The National Book Award and The Pulitzer Prize. In 1968, the novel was adapted into a film by the same name that received an Oscar nomination.

The Writing Style of Bernard Malamud

Bernard Malamud became an incredibly important figure in the Jewish American Literature Movement that began in the 1930s. He developed a unique writing style with key characteristics that engage the reader. Most notably is his use of the limited third-person point of view.

By using the third-person limited point of view, Malamud can keep the reader at a distance and only allow the reader to know what the protagonist knows and feels.

This is an example of the limited third-person point of view. First, the narrator will describe the character's actions allowing the reader to first evaluate those actions. Then the narrator will describe the character's feelings, responses, and emotions intimately.

Fig. 3 - Malamud had a unique writing style.

Another key characteristic of Malamud's writing is his unique sentence structure.

Malamud will write long, detailed descriptions of the novel's setting, surroundings, and main events.

However, Malamud will also write short, direct sentences when anything is revealed about the character. By mixing two sentence types, Malamud creates movement in his writing that is slow then fast. This is highly engaging to readers.

Themes in the Works of Bernard Malamud

Bernard Malamud focused on a few key themes in his work. The two main themes are journeys and suffering. Many of Malamud's characters are on a journey of some sort. Usually, the journey is when a character embarks on a path to a new life or greater achievement. Journeys are never easy in the stories of Malamud and often come with much suffering and pain.

Fig. 4 - Suffering is a major theme in Malamud's work.

Suffering is tied to the theme of journeys in Malamud's work. As the characters go on their journey, they are met with many sufferings. These sufferings are never straightforward and are intertwined with moments in which the suffering has the potential to be relieved. Just when it seems things are finally about to become better, they suddenly worsen again. However, without suffering, the characters in Malamud's work would never reach success or happiness.

Quotes by Bernard Malamud

Here are some quotes from the writings of Bernard Malamud.

Malamud, who was in his young adulthood when the Holocaust occurred, knew the horrors Jewish people had faced. In his novel The Fixer, he explores the tragedies and suffering Jewish people felt even before WWII in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Yakov Bok is representative of the sufferings Jewish people had faced and will continue to face due to antisemitism. However, keeping in theme with much of Malamud's work, suffering will eventually lead to success.

In this excerpt from The Assistant, Malamud relays an important ethical tenant of Morris's Judaism. To sacrifice oneself and suffer for others simply out of love for humanity is essential for Morris. To care for others regardless if they belong to your faith, race, or ethnicity takes the religious aspect of Morris's faith and brings it to a modern, secular level of understanding. In this way, the novel deals with the modern-day.

Roy Hobbs had dreams of becoming a professional baseball player. His dream was cut short when he was shot. In this quote, the theme of the journey, commonly found in Malamud's work, is apparent. The journey to achieve Hobbs's dreams wasn't straightforward and easy. There were many challenges that Roy wasn't expecting. However, because of these challenges, he can achieve success with the New York Knights.