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2008-11-16
The Comparison of Gimpel and AQ
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When I first read “Gimpel the Fool” written by Isaac Bashevis Singer, I felt that Gimpel was like AQ, one of the character in Lun Xun’s novel. I looked down upon him for his acting as a coward. But when I read it for the third time, I gradually realized that this was a “warm” story. In my article, I will compare Gimpel and AQ.First, both of them were insulted and played tricks on, but their spirits were totally different. In AQ’s heart, “the spirit victory” took up his heart. This kind of spirit caused the distraction of his personality, loss of self-consciousness and the disappearance of Subjective initiative. As a typical spirit of Chinese at that time, it has historical reasons. Thousands of years Chinese traditional culture----Rujia culture------made generations attach importance to the harmony of their inner hearts, so our Chinese people was good at solving conflicts and contradictions by a special way called tolerance. On another hand, the feudal autocracy and the invasion of the foreign countries made helpless people hind in their own inner world, so they used imagination to fight against the confusion in the real world. Gimpel didn’t fight against the persons playing tricks on him even if he knew that he was deceived. Could it be called tolerance? I don’t think so. “Better to be a fool all your days than for one hour to be evil.” He totally believed in it. What he thought and what he did were all completely from his unweaving belief. If AQ was an representative of Chinese people at that time, Gimpel was a typical of the Jewish people, who were homeless, terrified but kind and ------.Second, what they seek for was totally different. Gimpel wanted to be kind and full of love. He accepted all of the sufferings God gave. The Paradise was the final destination of him. In common people’s eyes, this kind of dream made Gimpel a fool. However, it was this dream that purged Jewish people’s soul; it was this dream that encouraged them to spend dark days. This kind of holy dream was like a spirit harbor and a oasis full of hope. But AQ just sought for large amount of money, a woman and several children.Finally, their attitudes to others were different. AQ was the man who was insulted before the stronger men but when he met someone who was weaker than him, and he couldn’t help to seeking for the happiness and pride by bullying them. However, in those situations, the foolishness of Gimpel sparkled with the light of kindness. He looked his sufferings as the road of atonement. “Shoulders are from God, and burdens too.” He still believed the kindness of God, though God was unfair to him and cruel to him. He was deceived again and again, but he always hoped those could be good for them. He saw his wife sleep with other men, but he thought that was the fault of those guys. They must lead her on and give her presents and women were often “long on hair and short on sense.” When he thought those, he began to weep and believed it was his fault so he sent her bread and money. He loved other’s children madly. What’s more, at the end of his life, he thought of his wife. In his words, she was waiting for him and kissed him. His wife deceived him all of the 20-year marriage life, but he used his kindness to fight with evil. He was once seduced by “the Spirit of Evil”. “A false step now and I ‘d lose eternal life.” He pulled himself back to God. This was Gimpel who used the religious kindness to hug the evil of the world.To conclude, I totally appreciate the spirit of Gimpel. Through this short story, I know better about the characteristic of Jew.
http://duillongtian.blogbus.com/logs/31432553.html
When I first read “Gimpel the Fool” written by Isaac Bashevis Singer, I felt that Gimpel was like AQ, one of the character in Lun Xun’s novel. I looked down upon him for his acting as a coward. But when I read it for the third time, I gradually realized that this was a “warm” story. In my article, I will compare Gimpel and AQ.
First, both of them were insulted and played tricks on, but their spirits were totally different. In AQ’s heart, “the spirit victory” took up his heart. This kind of spirit caused the distraction of his personality, loss of self-consciousness and the disappearance of Subjective initiative. As a typical spirit of Chinese at that time, it has historical reasons. Thousands of years Chinese traditional culture----Rujia culture------made generations attach importance to the harmony of their inner hearts, so our Chinese people was good at solving conflicts and contradictions by a special way called tolerance. On another hand, the feudal autocracy and the invasion of the foreign countries made helpless people hind in their own inner world, so they used imagination to fight against the confusion in the real world. Gimpel didn’t fight against the persons playing tricks on him even if he knew that he was deceived. Could it be called tolerance? I don’t think so. “Better to be a fool all your days than for one hour to be evil.” He totally believed in it. What he thought and what he did were all completely from his unweaving belief. If AQ was an representative of Chinese people at that time, Gimpel was a typical of the Jewish people, who were homeless, terrified but kind and ------.Second, what they seek for was totally different. Gimpel wanted to be kind and full of love. He accepted all of the sufferings God gave. The Paradise was the final destination of him. In common people’s eyes, this kind of dream made Gimpel a fool. However, it was this dream that purged Jewish people’s soul; it was this dream that encouraged them to spend dark days. This kind of holy dream was like a spirit harbor and a oasis full of hope. But AQ just sought for large amount of money, a woman and several children.Finally, their attitudes to others were different. AQ was the man who was insulted before the stronger men but when he met someone who was weaker than him, and he couldn’t help to seeking for the happiness and pride by bullying them. However, in those situations, the foolishness of Gimpel sparkled with the light of kindness. He looked his sufferings as the road of atonement. “Shoulders are from God, and burdens too.” He still believed the kindness of God, though God was unfair to him and cruel to him. He was deceived again and again, but he always hoped those could be good for them. He saw his wife sleep with other men, but he thought that was the fault of those guys. They must lead her on and give her presents and women were often “long on hair and short on sense.” When he thought those, he began to weep and believed it was his fault so he sent her bread and money. He loved other’s children madly. What’s more, at the end of his life, he thought of his wife. In his words, she was waiting for him and kissed him. His wife deceived him all of the 20-year marriage life, but he used his kindness to fight with evil. He was once seduced by “the Spirit of Evil”. “A false step now and I ‘d lose eternal life.” He pulled himself back to God. This was Gimpel who used the religious kindness to hug the evil of the world.To conclude, I totally appreciate the spirit of Gimpel. Through this short story, I know better about the characteristic of Jew.
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