Angel Levine Character Analysis

Characters’ Clues In the story of “Angel Levine,” Bernard Malamud creates a world for the complex and perplexed character, Manischevitz, who is unable to grasp his identity; however, his drawbacks and discomforts forces him to re- examine who he is and the meaning of being Jewish. As Manischevitz discovers and explores his true self, he stumbles upon several minor characters throughout the story who help him, through their actions or words, to gain a better understanding of what entails to be Jewish. From the beginning Manischevitz is presented as a character that has lost his self-identity and has morphed into a hopeless human being after his entire world has collapsed. Manischevitz’s life crumbled and disintegrated in the aftermath of the
To the author, Malamud, the word “Jewish” takes a distinct meaning in this story: it is anybody who suffers without any justification and yet is capable to remain stoic and with faith in humanity, or to certain God, regardless of how terribly complicated is the individual’s plight. In this story, Manischevitz is not the only character who faces hardships and hindrances; angel Levine, from the moment he is introduced into the story has a sense that he, too, carries a burden over his shoulders, but his dejection is written in a subtler way in comparison to Manischevitz. During the first encounter between Manischevitz and Levine it is noted that, “His eyes seemed sad, but his lips, above which he wore a slight mustache, sought to smile,” (Malamud, 45). Even though readers don’t have a complete access to the Levine’s background as a character, there is a reason that causes his sadness but which the author intends to only reveal furtively, therefore, angel Levine is also another character in the story who suffers without any justification—perhaps on purpose to make him part of the redefinition of what it is to be Jewish. One may argue that the cause that may influence Levine’s grief is, “due to the fact that I am in a condition of probation,” (Malamud, 47); if so not only does Manischevitz decides to remain miserable himself by rejecting Levine’s help, but his pride deters the angel from being able to exit out of his misery as well—assuming that by assisting the tailor it will enable the angel to get out of probation. Furthermore, as the story unfolds, angel Levine goes through tough, hard times and it is visible in Levine’s physical appearance, “Manischevitz felt a touch of pity for him, for Levine had deteriorated in appearance.