Where The Outsiders

The Hunger for Recognition
Since the time of the biblical narrative, Jews have been typified as outsiders. As a result, the role of the outsider is a motif central to Israeli literature. Looking through the lens of the outsider, not only demonstrates a unique component in Israeli literature, but also serves as a universal message and adds another dimension on the Israeli Cultural Identity. Using the motif of the outsider, “The Way of the Wind” from Amos Oz’s Where the Jackals Howl, combines a number of aspects of the Israeli Cultural Identity and complements various narratives and poetry relating to not only the Kibbutz, but also Youth Aliyah and the Israeli military. Additionally, these works encompass a variety of literary techniques, but most importantly encompass in depth-characterization, which further construct many of the important concepts that constitute the Israeli Cultural Identity and the role of the outsider. The role of the starving outsider in Israeli Literature is apparent through the lens of Oz’s “The Way of the Wind;” especially in relation to other texts concerning the Kibbutz, Youth Aliyah, and the military.
Outsiders shake the fundamentals of society and many authors employ them as a way of criticizing specific societies or illustrating interactions between
Raya of Oz’s “The Way of the Wind” is the antithesis of Megged’s character Bella; while Raya represents the stubborn women of the Kibbutz who is also characterized poorly by the dominant male character in the narrative, her ex-husband Sheinbaum, she does not know display the level of sacrifice that the ideal Kibbutz women, such as Bella would. Regarding her son’s service, she refuses to allow him to join the paratroopers: “But Raya Greenspan’s stubborn opposition raised an unexpected obstacle to Gideon’s plan.” This is the first piece in what is effectively starving the outsider in Oz’s