An Analysis of Jewish Identity in Neighbors

【Abstract】Issac Bashevis Singer is a Jewish writer， whose masterpiece is a collection of short stories. One of his short stories， Neighbors， describes the experiences of two Jewish people. In this paper， the process of seeking identity recognition of two protagonists is analyzed. First of all is the reasons for the alienation of the protagonists， followed by the analysis of the final process to find a sense of national identity.

【Key words】Jew； Identity； Neighbors

As a successful Jewish writer， Issac Bashevis Singer has a unique writing style， and has made a great contribution to the literature. Neighbors is his short story， in which Singer vividly describes the life of the two Jewish neighbors in their later life. As Jewish immigrants， they have not been fully accepted by American society. Therefore， in this cold world， they seek for the sense of identity as a Jew.

Alienation of the mainstream society is the reason why the two characters seek for sense of identity. Morris is a Jewish writer for Yiddish newspaper. After the deeper understanding， the author realizes Morris tells him many lies， like many lovers， love letter and so on. Morris does so， because he tries to hide the sense of loneliness and loss as a Jewish immigrant. Whats more， as a writer， he is not accepted. The discrimination and isolation make the old Jewish man feel emptiness and frustration. In addition， Morris doesnt live like a real Jew. He lives in an other peoples society， a family which does not bring him warmness. Though Yiddish is his mother language， he is forced to learn other languages， which means that he lives under the interference and control of other cultures. Thus， Morris loses his identity as a Jew and he wants to seek for it. Margit lives in a single room. She also suffers from lots of unfortunate treatment. All the way she isnt able to get rid of the discrimination and isolation of non-Jews. These make her confused and helpless， and loses her identity. Thus， Margit seek for the identity as a Jew. The two old persons have experienced many vicissitudes and feel lonely in their life. They live in an area， which doesnt belong to them. They want to find the sense of identity as a Jew under the other cultures.

In the process of pursuing the identity Morris and Margit have struck a responsive chord in their hearts. At the beginning of the story， the authors two neighbors doesnt meet with each other. Because they visit the author frequently， they gradually become familiar with them， but most of the time they are mutual mockery and ridicule. However， since the author come back after his long holiday， the relationship between them has a great change. When Margit has been thrown out into the street， the person who ever feels sympathy is Morris. He takes in the poor old lady. As a Jew， Margit obtains the help of people from the same race， and feels the warmth of human nature， and regains the peace and stability in her heart. Therefore， she has self-identification that she has pursued for a long time and fraternity from other persons. Meanwhile， when her friend Morris is sick， Margit gives a hand to him and shows him consideration. In addition， she takes Morriss works as world-famous ones and respects him. When Margit is humiliated by the press， she would try to refute him. In her view， Morris inherits and carries forward the precious national culture and the unique ideology of the Jews. Identity is an mutual affection in the same race， therefore， Morris also has a sense of identity.

In this cold world， Morris and Margit yearn for love and approval from other people eagerly. Based on this， he enthusiastically helps Margit. Margit calls Morris a talent. They depend on each other for survival in this cold world. The feelings of race make them be linked together， so that they can gain the trust and warmth and succeed in the pursuit of a sense of identity. Because of their common origin and common destiny， they come together. More importantly， their Jewish heritage make them have the identity that they have been longing for a long time.

References：

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[2]胡藝萍.尋找缺失的猶太身份[D].江西師范大學，2011.

[3]李乃剛.辛格短篇小說的敘事學研究[D].上海外國語大學， 2012.

作者簡介：于洋（1994-），女，滿族，內蒙古通遼人，內蒙古大學在讀碩士，主要研究方向：英語語言文學。