An angel named Levine

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Bernard Malamu, portrait around 1979

Angel Levin (dt. An angel named Levine , 1962 from the American transferred from Annemarie Böll ) is a short story by Bernard Malamud , in the collection in 1958. The Magic Barrel (dt. The Zauberfaß and Other Stories , 1968) was published. In this allegorical parable , Malamud thematizes the crisis of faith and the eventual redemption of the Jewish protagonist and his relationship with converted black Jews in New York in the 1950s in a new design of the biblical story of Job .

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The elderly, Jewish-American tailor Manischevitz, once a wealthy man (see p. 22), lost his business and all his property and thus his livelihood overnight in a fire. His son died in the war, his daughter ran off with an adventurer and good-for-nothing. He himself is plagued by excruciating back pain, which makes it impossible for him to do a worthwhile new job. His wife Fanny becomes terminally ill and bedridden; the previously well-to-do couple has to move into a poor apartment and seek welfare support.

Although Manischevitz is a devout Jew and sees this chain of strokes of fate not as senseless coincidences but as "trials" (p. 23), his belief in a benevolent and gracious God is severely shaken. From childhood he was “a pious man”, “lived in the synagogue” and was always “concerned with the word of God” (cf. pp. 23 and 25); his suffering is therefore incomprehensible to him (“My dear God, my beloved, do I deserve this to happen to me?”, p. 23). He asks himself the question of the meaning of life in religious dimensions (see p. 26f.), But initially continues to ask God for support (p. 23). As with Job, his increasing crisis of faith and the ensuing confrontation with God takes place in three stages, which are reflected in Malamud's story in the choice of verbs. So it says at the beginning: He “humbly prayed for help” (p. 23), then: He “asked about the meaning of this pain, rebelled against it and, even if lovingly, resented God” (p. 26) and finally after visiting a synagogue again: “He accused God” (p. 29) The doubt about the meaning of his suffering grows; from being close to God in prayer for help the feeling of despair of a godforsaken man thinking of suicide becomes : "God had withdrawn [...] - can one love a rock, a bush, an emptiness?" (p. 29)

The final and decisive test, however, does not lie in the blows of fate and the suffering associated with them; she faces Manischevitz in the form of a black man who appears one day in his apartment and introduces himself with the Jewish name Alexander Levine (see p. 24). Levine poses as an angel sent by God ("I have recently been transformed into an angel. As such, I offer you my humble services, as far as this offer is within my being and my abilities - in the best sense", p. 25 ).

Manischevitz has to recognize this angel as a messenger sent by God in order to prove again his trust in God, which he has broken through all the suffering, but he does not succeed at first. On the one hand, Levine's skin color confuses him: “The tailor hesitated. He had heard of black Jews, but had never met one ”(p. 25), on the other hand he lacks the visible signs of being an angel, since Levine has no wings:“ Manischevitz was very disturbed. […] To test Levine, he said: 'Where are your wings?' ”(P. 25)

When Levine explains to him that he is still an angel on probation “without privileges and characteristic qualities” and lets him know that he can only help him if Manischevitz, on the other hand, is willing to believe in him (see p. 25f.) , it is not possible for the tailor to recognize Levine as a god sent angel: "'I think you are a swindler.'" (p. 26)

Mosaic on 116th Street in Harlem , New York

Thereupon Levine recommends himself by pointing out that he can be found in Harlem on 116th Street. When Fanny's condition worsens again, she is close to death and his pain increases again after only a temporary relief, Manischevitz sets out on the way to the “dark world” in Harlem to visit Levine (p. 26f.) He finds the alleged angel in Bella's bar, a shabby dive bar, where he dances an obscene tango with the corpulent, heavy-chested black bar owner : “As Bella continued with her contortions, Levine got up, his eyes flashing with excitement. She hugged him with strength, his two hands closed around her wide, wiggling bottom, and they slid across the floor in a tango, loudly applauded by the noisy guests. "(P. 28)

At this sight Manischevitz is “too rigid to move”; “Deeply disappointed” he doubts the identity of the supposed angel once more ; the self-denial required of him is too great; he returns home without results and his alienation from God reaches its climax (p. 28f.) The doctor gives his wife only a few days to live (p. 28f.); Manischevitz denies God his faith and curses him because he believed in him (p. 29). Tormented by his oversized crisis of faith, he falls asleep and dreams of Levine in the form of an angel who stands in front of a blind mirror and cleans "small, disheveled opalescent wings" (p. 29).

The unclear dream of revelation drives him back to Harlem. But he now finds a synagogue at the place where the bar was. He overhears four black Jews discussing questions of interpretation of the Talmud . Finally, he finds Levine in a nightclub, which is both externally and morally decrepit than when he first met in Bella's bar. Nevertheless, after some hesitation and doubt, Manischevitz succeeds in confessing his faith in front of all the guests and expressing his appreciation to the black angel . (P. 32).

Levine accompanies Manischevitz home, climbs onto the roof and the tailor thinks he sees a figure with black wings fly away. (P. 32). The dream comes true; Manischevitz now finds his wife, who has just been terminally ill, healthy and says to her: "It's wonderful, Fanny, [...] believe me, there are Jews everywhere." (P. 32). The tailor shows, as Freese writes, that he has recognized the insignificance of race and skin color and "the divine in fellow human beings" and thus recognized the ubiquity of God.

Ethnic tolerance and humanity

A first significant area of focus in An Angel Called Levine is the relationship between the two major ethnic minorities, Jews and blacks, in the United States . During the great waves of immigration from Eastern Europe to the USA between 1880 and 1920, the Eastern European Jewish immigrants hired themselves primarily as workers or artisans; The name Manischevitz also suggests an Eastern European origin. In many cases, the second generation of immigrant Jews achieved social advancement into the urban middle class ; a not inconsiderable part of the key economic positions in the USA has since been occupied by Jews. Black Americans, on the other hand, belonged to the socially less privileged classes , especially in the 1950s, but in some cases up to the present day . Assimilation into American society was much easier for the Jews, who generally did not differ externally from the American establishment , compared to black Americans. Against the background of the desired social advancement, as Pointner explains, Jewish immigrants tried to differentiate themselves from the black minority and were often even more condescending to them than the established upper class, which in turn led to a hostile attitude on the part of the black minority towards the Jews .

Against this socio-economic background, Angel Levine can be interpreted as Malamud's attempt to show a way in which Jewish and black Americans could meet. Since the group of Jews is defined by their faith and that of blacks by their skin color, similarities or overlaps can only occur in one direction, according to Pointner: A (white) Jew cannot become black, while a black person can become a Jew through conversion . Although, according to the Orthodox view, only a Jew who was born to a Jewish mother can be a Jew, conversions to Judaism are quite possible in recent times. Levine overcame the hostile attitude and hatred of blacks, accepted the Jewish faith (see p. 25) and thereby did everything "to create a balance between himself and established Judaism". Manischevitz asks Levin at his first meeting in his apartment, when Levin imagines, whether he might even be a Jew. Levine replies: “It was me all my life, and with all my heart.” (P. 24f.) It is significant that Levine converted of her own free will without dealing extensively with the Jewish religion. In this regard, he is portrayed in Malamud's narrative as an embodiment of tolerance and impartiality. It is the black of all people who takes the first step towards reconciliation; thus it is up to Manischevitz to find a balance by recognizing Levine's Jewishness. Only in this way can he himself be redeemed by redeeming Levine at the same time, and only in this way can the two find their rest; only mutual acceptance and tolerance can save them both at the same time.

The longer Manischevitz's indecision and doubts persist, the more Levine deteriorates both externally and internally. Only when Manischevitz has overcome his hesitation and his doubts, sheds his pride, accepts all humiliations in front of the guests in the nightclub and recognizes Levine as an angel, the deepest wishes of both protagonists are fulfilled. Levine loses his probation status as an “angel on probation” (see p. 25f.), Receives his wings and becomes the “real” angel, while Manischevitz's wife, who was believed dead, heals again (see p. 32). Manischevitz's statement to his wife at the end of the short story is particularly expressive; the tailor's statement at the end: "There are Jews everywhere" is deliberately left ambiguous by Malmud. On the one hand, this can mean that Jews can be found everywhere, even in black Harlem, without everyone necessarily being Jewish. On the other hand, this statement can also be understood to mean that wherever you are, only Jews can be found. In this form, being a Jew becomes an allegory of being human: wherever you are, you meet people. Manischevitz recognizes that there is no difference between him, the Jew, and Levine, the black, and thus ends the mutual torments and, on a symbolic- allegorical level, the hatred and incomprehension or intolerance between the two major minorities in the United States. As Freese emphasizes in his interpretation, Malamud's narrative “depicts an event of tragic proportions in a humorous way”, in which “realistic details fit into an allegorical frame of reference and thus a 'surrealistic fantasy', 'a serio-comic folk tale' form ”and“ an individual event is exaggerated to become a skill for everyone ”, whereby in this way“ Malamud's much-quoted word is confirmed that every person is 'a Jew'. ”Malamud's exaggeration of his milieu study thus becomes a timeless parable about general ( inter-) human problems; For him, “Jewishness” is therefore “not an orthodox religious concept”.

Religious crisis of faith and mythological revelation

Torah shrine in a synagogue
Wall mosaic by Marc Chagall in the Knesset : Jewish candlestick and angel of redemption

For Bernard Malamud himself, the book of books was a constant source of inspiration ; so he said in an interview with Daniel Stern in 1975: “I'm influenced especially by the Bible, both Testaments” (German: “I am mainly influenced by the Bible, by both Testaments”). In An Angel Named Levine , Malamud designs the religious crisis of the protagonist and his redemption as a redesign of the story of Job as the second essential subject area in the special form of overlapping with the above-mentioned topic of ethnic reservations.

Interior view of a synagogue

In the Old Testament human suffering is presented either as a test of the believer or the pious by God, or as a divine punishment for offenses that have to be atoned for through pain and suffering . When Manischevitz considers the extent of his own suffering (pp. 26f.), He asks himself whether God “wanted to teach his servant a teaching for some reason with any intention” and “wanted to punish him, perhaps because of his weakness, his pride perhaps because he often neglected God in the good times ”(p. 26). In view of his unspeakable suffering, however, he doubts God's destiny from the start: “The loss of both children, the loss of his income, his and Fanny's health - it was more than a single weak person could endure. After all, who was Manischevitz to be burdened with so much suffering - a tailor. Certainly not a great man. All the suffering was wasted on him. "(P. 27)

Manischevitz's crisis of faith and doubts about God intensify and reach a first climax when God reveals himself to him in the form of the black Alexander Levine, who could redeem the protagonist if he were believed. Against the background of Manischevitz's situation in New York in the 1950s, however, a black Jewish angel puts the tailor's faith to an extremely hard test. Even the idea of ​​the black as Alexander Levine, d. H. with a clearly Jewish name, is understood by Manischevitz as "mockery" (see p. 25); as if a black Jew had not already exceeded the limit, the latter also claims to be an angel sent by God, who, however, still has to prove himself and is therefore limited in his scope of action (cf. p. 26f.). Manischevitz feels fooled by God: “The tailor could not get rid of the thought that he was the victim of a jester. Is that what a Jewish angel looks like? ”(P. 26) and the question arises:“ If God sends me angels, why then a black one? Why does he not send a white one, since they are in droves ”(p. 26).

For Manischewitz, the belief in the angelic being Levine stands against his skin color, because he does not deny the existence of angels per se. Levine's succinct answer to the tailor's question: "It was my turn to go next" (p. 26) makes it clear that skin color is meaningless in heaven. However, Manischevitz cannot accept this revelation and describes Levine as a "swindler" (p. 26). The idea that he of all people, the pious tailor, should get a black guardian angel hurts his self-esteem; Levine's rejection is thus also directed against God himself, who so disappointed him.

When Fanny and his health worsened again after a short improvement, Manischevitz remembers Alexander Levine and now considers the possibility that God might have sent him a black angel after all (“A black Jew and angel at his service - it was hard to believe, but what if he really had been sent to help him and he, Manischevitz, had been too blind in his blindness to understand? ”, p. 27). The color of Levine's skin still makes him doubt; However, when he asks a black tailor about Levine in Harlem and experiences that he mentions the black angel as an everyday matter of course without the slightest hesitation (cf. p. 27f.), Manischevitz is ready this time about the existence of the black angel to acknowledge. Again, as far as the Manischevitz faith is concerned, the skin color is significant, this time the skin color of his black tailor colleague.

In Bella's bar, where Manischevitz finally finds Levine, the color of his skin no longer stands in the way of his faith. Levine, however, sits miserable and drunk, as it were, like the modern version of a “fallen angel” in the dive bar; the Jewish tailor can still accept this. But when Levine dances with the bar owner in a completely immoral way, the tailor turns away in disappointment: the existence of an angel with such an immoral attitude is inconceivable for him (p. 28f.).

After returning home, he finds his wife terminally ill; the doctor has given up all hope. Manischevitz seeks the comfort and help of God in a synagogue; but his prayer remains unanswered; God forsook him, just as he had forsaken God: "God had withdrawn" (p. 29). The Jewish tailor's crisis of faith reaches its absolute climax at this point: he is no longer able to believe in God at all.

Tired of life ("He thought of taking his own life, but knew that he would never do it", p. 29) he falls asleep in complete despair and in the dream it appears to him as in a vision Levine, who is before puts his wings in order with a dull mirror (p. 29). Manischevitz sees the winged angel in his dream as a divine sign of the real Levine's angel being and decides to visit him again in Harlem. Although he is still incredulous because of the color of Levine's skin ("He knew that this was the last desperate step in his pain: he went without faith to visit a black wizard", p. 29), he sees no other way out, than asking Levine for help. In Harlem, however, he discovers that Bella's pub has changed hands. In the meantime a synagogue has been set up in this place; the ark and the holy scroll are spread out on a long table, around which four black Jews are discussing fundamental questions of the Talmud (p. 29). When Manischevitz asks her about Levine, he experiences again that for the blacks in Harlem the existence of a black Jewish angel is evidently nothing out of the ordinary (see p. 30f.).

With the help of the four blacks in the synagogue, Manischevitz finds his way to Levine. Although this is as far removed as possible from the ideal of a pure angel and, as Pointner explains, embodies rather "the amoral silky stereotype of a black", Manischevitz is unconditionally ready at this point in front of the roaring, drunk guests in humiliate the bar and acknowledge the existence of the black angel in front of everyone. With this he succeeds in publicly proving his newly found faith in God (p. 31f.); he has passed the most difficult of his tests and now finds salvation just like Levine.

The end of the story leads back to the initial question: How is belief in a just and gracious God possible when he causes unbearable pain to people despite his righteousness? The answer that Malamud gives in Angel Levine is essentially consistent with the statement of the Old Testament, as it is also interpreted, for example, in dialectical theology : God's ways are opaque; only belief in divine revelation , in whatever form, can save a person, in Malamud's story even if it appears in the form of a Jewish, temporarily decrepit and amoral angel. Above all, the final part with its echoes of the message of the Old Testament underlines the " religious - mythological ", if not mystical, basic tone of Angel Levine .

Structure and characteristic design of the narrative

The first two sections of the narrative, which form a kind of exposition, provide the essential background information for understanding the subsequent plot. The first part, narrated without any superfluous details in the third person , is followed by a second part, in which the plot clearly gains in dramatic intensity and speed. When the black Jewish angel appears in Manischewitz's apartment, the latter, quite orthodox and positivist , doubts that he is an angel; With the departure of the rejected Levine, the beginning part of the narrative closes, in which, as Haas explains in his analysis, “the miraculous meet in an alienated form and the orthodox ratio of the pious, which accepts a miracle only if it corresponds to the model that is familiar to her from teaching and tradition . "

The alleged angel, however, does not perform miracles; in the phase of "probation" only the belief of the "haunted" would have made a miracle possible for him. So the alleviation of Manischevitz's pain disappears after a short time and Fanny, his wife, is closer to death than ever before. In view of the extent of his suffering, Manischevitz now points out to God his own insignificance, since the torments for him are out of proportion to his importance. He is only “a tailor”. Shortly afterwards, Manischevitz not only questions God, but also his own doubts about the existence of the black angel. Having turned the visitor away, he goes in search of him: "After much deliberation, and still in doubt, the tailor finally decided to seek the angel in Harlem by his own grace" (p. 27). In his search for Levine, the world of blacks in Harlem becomes a “dark world of shadows” in which the lights are no longer illuminating (p. 27). A black man, a tailor like himself, shows him the way to Levine, who now has a "shabby, shabby and dirty" appearance (p. 28). The angel, obviously not only fallen on the outside, is succumbing to the temptations of the "heavy-chested" Bella in the dance bar, as Manischevitz has to see staring through a window. He winks “cunningly” at the tailor for just a second and continues dancing (p. 28). Manischevitz then turns away and goes home.

If this third part of Malamud's story represents the “equally impressive and economically designed search in Harlem”, the following section presents a short but important “interlude” that unfolds three essential thematic elements. The woman's illness increases to the point of death; even the doctor can no longer stand the sight of the suffering that Manischevitz has to endure: “He [the doctor] left immediately. He was not without pity, but could not see Manischevitz's multiple sorrow ”(p. 28f.). For him, Manischevitz is “the man who was never without pain” (p. 29). A second thematic moment expanded in this part of the short story is the increasing despair of Manischevitz; even in the synagogue he can no longer find God and breaks with the "nothing" and the emptiness that he cannot love - cursing God. (P. 29).

Exactly at that moment, when his doubts turn into despair , the vision of Levine appears to him in a dream, who is cleaning his tiny, shimmering wings in front of a dull mirror. The dream pulls him out of his despair; in a last-ditch attempt he spontaneously sets off again into the black world of Harlem.

After the rising action following the exposure, the short story reaches its climax and turning point in the fifth part . The former tavern has been transformed into a synagogue and thus changed hands, so to speak. Shortly afterwards, however, it will turn out that the dance bar still exists and that the synagogue on the other side of the street is, as it were, an opposite world.

First, however, Manischevitz listens in the synagogue to the conversation of the four blacks who read the Talmud and reflect on its statements, a conversation that deals with the ultimate questions about the essence of the soul, about the "primum mobile" and the "insubstantial Substance from which come all things that spring from the spirit ”and thus according to the nature of God and his spirit, which manifests itself in all things (p. 30). The conversation revolves around different levels and different answers are given. The black boy among those praying and meditating , of all people, gives the final answer to the question, which touches on the deeper meaning of this story by Malamud and also includes the subject of the colored Jews: “God has put the spirit into all things. [...] He sent him into the green leaves and the yellow flowers. He put it with the gold in the fish and with the blue in the sky. This is how he came into us [sic!] ”(P. 30).

In this symbolic color theory of creation or, as Haas calls it, " chromatic theodicy ", the story reaches its climax, a theological variant of the popular slogan "Black is Beautiful" , so to speak . Manischevitz gains insight into "the god-willed play of colors in creation "; the different skin colors prove to be of equal value in divine creation and love.

This realization opens Manischevitz his way to Levine, who crouches as a poor figure drunk in Bella's dive bar and in turn waits for Manischevitz's return. It's night; Manischevitz enters the bar, is mocked by the guests present, but speaks courageously to Levine without fear of humiliation and self- humiliation . As Haas writes in his interpretation, the moment of decision has come. This takes place in two steps. In this phase, Manischevitz can now inform Levine that he knows and firmly believes that Levine is a Jew - the result of overhearing the Talmudic conversation in the synagogue. Then Manischevitz, with tears in his eyes in the sudden silence in the bar, utters the decisive sentence to Levine: "I believe that you are an angel of God" (p. 32).

Levine breaks down in tears at this point. Even for him, the “angel on probation”, the test of being exposed to the doubts of the white Jew Manischevitz was hardly bearable: “How do you humiliate me” (p. 32). Symbolically significant, he changes his shabby clothes and reappears in the suit that he wore when he first appeared in Manischevitz's apartment. Both set off; no one says goodbye when they leave (p. 32).

In the final part of the story, Manischevitz and Levine, Jews and people of color, drive back to the tailor's apartment. Levine no longer enters the apartment; he goes up the stairs to the roof. Manischevitz follows him until he stands in front of the door to the roof, which has already been locked again. He looks through a broken window into the night sky and hears the flutter of wings (p. 32). He thinks he sees a dark figure "carried upward by a beautiful pair of black wings" (p. 32). A feather floats down. Manischevitz breathes deeply when he sees her turn white - but it's just a snowflake. When he rushes down to his apartment and finds his wife, who has apparently recovered, cleaning the apartment, he knows that a miracle has happened (p. 32).

The plot of this story by Malamud is “tightly organized” and achieves “an almost musical cohesion ” in its variation of the Job theme. The narrative tension increases dynamically to the relieving end and, according to Haas, recalls “ musical structures ”. Angel Levine gains narrative speed and strength from the “rhythm of arrival and departure, search and return”. The angel Levine comes and goes; Manischevitz goes looking for him twice in Harlem; after he has found him a second time and has confessed to him, both can return home and find peace.

In an alternation between “ retarded and accelerated movement”, Malamud in Angel Levine also grasps Manischevitz's repeatedly delayed development from doubt to belief. At the same time, the upswing of the black angel "on probation" is repeatedly prevented by the force of gravity of temptation ; Both lines of movement are traced by Malamud with almost " graphic precision ".

When Levine dances with Bella lifting him ("It seemed like Bella lifted Levine, his big shoes dangling loosely as they danced," p. 28), it becomes metaphorically evident, like Levine in the state of his moral decline without any Grace hangs in Bella's arms; the dance doesn't break gravity. The end of the story contrasts with this lowest point : Levine has now reached his highest point; the apotheosis begins and the wings carry; the gravity of temptation has now been overcome.

As Haas emphasizes in his analysis of the short story, Malamud draws these lines of development with “economy and almost no ornament ”. Following the classic structural principle of the short story , there are hardly any digressions in An Angel Called Levine . At the same time, Malamud uses "in the direct speech of the characters, especially Manischevitz ', effective Jewish alienation effects " and in the narrative representation "an extraordinary imagery ".

References to the Job Story

The Trial of Job: Satan Pours the Plagues on Job ( William Blake )

The echoes of the biblical story of Job give this story by Malamud, as described, its religious-mythological tone, which is expressed in Malamud's variation of previous literary adaptations of the subject of Job. As early as 1930, for example, Joseph Roth published Job, a novel by a simple man , in which the bad story is transferred to western Russia and the USA as well as to a lower social level. The protagonist Mendel Singer in Roth's novel is also saved, albeit not by an angel, but by his son Menuchim, who opens the way to God's grace through his vicarious suffering. This novel and the story of Malamud have some related thematic elements: Singer's daughter Mirjam also embarks on sexual adventures and becomes the love of an entire Cossack barracks ; Singer's son also dies in the war. Due to the difference in genre, the thematic range in Roth's novel is considerably wider than in Malamud's short story; in addition to the problem of immigration, it also includes a number of theological questions that are hardly relevant to Malamud.

In the field of drama, Archibald MacLeish in particular tried in his work JB: A Play in Verse (1956, German game for job , 1958) to transfer the bad story of the Old Testament to modern American conditions. Job does not appear here as a Jew, but as the average American citizen, whose wealth and family are destroyed by catastrophes, whose author does not appear as divine power in the biblical or Talmudic sense, but as a dark ultimate mystery , the true nature of which is unknowable.

Compared to these two works, An Angel Called Levine is an interesting literary experiment by Malamud with significant allusions to Job and his trials. Both the prelude and the extent of the afflictions and strokes of fate that hit Manischevitz are similar to the trials of Job. Although Malamud deliberately trivializes the biblical tradition in his short story , the figure of the Jewish tailor gains in dimension and expressiveness through the Job contours worked into it .

Despite the unmistakable parallels, the short story clearly differs from the biblical story: In contrast to the Old Testament material, Malamud lacks the figure of the accuser, the figure of Satan . Besides the scarcely elaborated marginal figure of the doctor, Manischevitz has no friends who can comfort him. Similar to the biblical source, however, Angel Levine emphasizes the role of women; it even gains a greater weight.

In the trivialized everyday world of the Jewish tailor and against the background of his blurred image of God, there is no room for Malamud to take on the great speeches such as the speech of God in the thunderstorm about the beginning of the world in biblical tradition. Manischevitz doubts and despairs of God, but at no point in the story does he appear as the accuser of God who asks casuistically about the cause of his suffering.

Like Job, Manischevitz did not break God's law; His complaints, which are only hinted at and which do not become charges against God, are more an expression of his resignation and despair. Through Malamud's use of stylistically effective means such as slight syntactic and general linguistic alienations , which are taken from the vocabulary of "American", New York Yiddish , Levine's language is contrasted with the dialect of colored people.

Compared with the biblical and literary models, Malamud creates a modern bad story in New York, the background of which is only sketchily outlined in the opening section as the prehistory of the actual miracle . This miracle is, as Haas writes in his interpretation, "nothing other than the intrusion of the divine into the world of human suffering and the breakthrough of the suffering person from the normal piety of the law to believe in this miracle."

Job's question about God's righteousness , which in the book of Job itself is answered in the great thunderstorm speech in such a way that man is not able to experience the truth on the same level as God, leads to the purification of Job, whose piety despite all doubts passes the exams. In the biblical tradition, God turns to man in his all-embracing love, which also includes fate and destiny. This incomprehensibility of God , which also means loving care where it causes suffering, is embodied in Malamud by the figure of Levine. The appearance of the black angel symbolizes the necessity of a decision of faith that transcends all logic and experience . In this respect Malamud's story is very close to the theological statement in the Book of Job. She becomes particularly human because the angel himself is in a state of probation or trial. At the same time, Malamud includes a central contemporary problem in the United States in the religious theme, the question of the relationship between races. The problem of racial tension is raised, if not resolved , in Angel Levine in the light of Jewish piety. In the course of the narrative, which gains general validity through its references to Job, Malamud leads the reader past the abysses of Harlem, Bella's dive bar and Fanny's closeness to death in order to show in the end that there is a religious community of people across all racial differences. As Freese writes, Malamud's Jews have a “universal, metaphorical character”.

References to Chagall

Example of an angel portrayal by Chagall

In terms of artistic design, Malumud's story An Angel Called Levine is comparable in various ways to Chagall's paintings and drawings . The common Russian background connects the narrator and the painter. Like Chagall, Malamud knows the world of Hasidic or Kabbalistic and the Jewish folklore of Belarus, even if he was born in the States. On the whole, Chagall is more of a painter of a surrealist alienated village world of old Europe, while Malamud's literary work is more oriented towards the existence of the Jewish minorities in American cities; Nevertheless, Chagall, like Malamud, repeatedly creates the theme of weightlessness as well as floating and flying in his paintings and drawings - i.e. the theme that in Angel Levine leads to the fascinating and at the same time astonishing conclusion in the sense of the short-story tradition. The black feather that floats to earth at the end is just a snowflake! Chagall also paints scenes of this kind, in which the horizontal depiction of familiar landscapes, village images or city motifs is alienated with figures that soar almost weightlessly into the vertical.

Likewise, the numerous, partly surrealistic alienated depictions of angels, especially by the late Chagall, are reminiscent of Angel Levine . In Chagall's angel depictions, however, unlike in this story by Malamud, the divine angel is not completely humanized, but portrayed as a divine messenger and as a being from a completely different world. In his study on loneliness ( Études pour Solitude , 1933) Chagall depicts the moment when human suffering intersects horizontally and divine visitation vertically; Here, too, a Jew in exile is visited by an angel and comforted with the Torah. In the same way, the motif of the angel's wings, which plays a special role in this short story by Malamud, kept Chagall occupied. In the Wedding Couple on the Eiffel Tower (1928) an angel with green wings floats towards the lovers and hands the two lovers a colorful bouquet. In his Chaplin study, Chagall shows Charlie Chaplin, similar to Angel Levine , wearing a wing under his left arm in the " bowler hat ". Colored wing motifs can also be found in other pictures by Chagall; However, it cannot be overlooked that Chagall's later works mostly have an element of horror that reflects the painter's experience of emigration and resignation.

The interesting thing about Malmud's short story lies in the fact that his portrayal of the angel differs from that of Chagall: the black angel in this Malamud's short story does not come into the Jewish tailor's apartment as a strange or overpowering being, but appears inconspicuous with a rather only hinted at Strangeness.

Other elements are also reminiscent of Chagall's features: the sketch of the interior of Manischevitz's meager apartment, the grotesque depiction of the feet of Levine lifted by Bella while dancing the tango, as well as the precise drawing of the Jewish in Malamud's story. Likewise, the design of the weightless upswing of the earthy-colored Levine, as Haas explains, is undoubtedly influenced by Chagall. This gives Angel Levine a surrealistic tone, as Haas and Freese determine in their analyzes.

Impact history

From the point of view of literary studies and literary criticism, this short story published in 1958 in the collection The Magic Barrel makes Malamud's “an essential contribution to American short history”. Angel Levine not only belongs to the already extensive tradition of American short stories, but above all embodies Jewish-American storytelling in the field of short stories . In more pronounced form of Jewish than other American writer Origin Malamud decorated in an angel named Levine as well as in his novels, for example in The Assistant 1957 (dt. The assistant 1961), the ethnology and the history of religion independent experiences of the Jewish subculture that their autonomy despite the ongoing process of assimilation into American civilization and society, and also expresses it clearly.

While the early days of American short prose were shaped by authors such as Poe , Hawthorne , Bret Harte or Stephen Crane , to name just a few, modern American short stories are devoid of the contributions and literary experiments of Jewish narrators, especially the works of Roth and Malamud, no longer to think. As Haas states in his assessment of the development of American (short) prose in the history of literature, Malamud is "assigned an essential position."

Angel Levine not only varies the job story into the modern, as already shown above, reflects the ethnic problems of contemporary American society and recalls Chagall's techniques in the artistic design, but also transforms typical elements of American short stories within the framework of a narrative experiment. The religious myth of the biblical Job and the modern Jew in New York's everyday life merge in Angel Levine in a form that turns the problem of the Jewish existence in a historically specific socio-cultural milieu into a universally valid metaphor or allegory of being human .

Others

Malamud uses the meaningful name Levine , which relates to Levin in Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and refers to Joyce's Ulysses , as well as for Seymour Levin , the hero of A New Life , and Henry Levin in The Lady of the Lake . According to Malamud's own statement, the name Levine represents a “pun” (German: word play) on “leaven” (German: “yeast”), so it indicates a changing or expanding influence in the sense of Matthew XIII, 33 and can also be related to the Israelite priestly tribe of the Levites . Levine , d. H. the yeast, according to Freese, triggers a fermentation and clarification process that brings about the final change in Manischevitz.

expenditure

Angel Levine was published in the English first edition in 1958 in the collection The Magic Barrel by Farrar, Straus & Cudahy Verlag in New York. The German transmission by Annemarie Böll was published in 1968 under the title Das Zauberfaß and other stories as a licensed edition of the Kiepenheuer and Witsch Verlag in paperback form by Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. and Hamburg, published. The German first edition of An Angel Called Levine from 1962 is no longer available.

The English edition of Angel Levin has since been included in various collections, for example in Bernard Malamud: Idiots First and Other Stories , edited by Willi Real, Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43025-4 (German: Schwarz ist my favorite color and other stories. Kiepenheuer and Witsch Verlag, Cologne 1972, ISBN 3-462-00850-6 ). A licensed edition of this anthology was published in 1977 in what was then the German Democratic Republic in the (East) Berlin Volk und Welt Verlag.

Adaptations

A free film adaptation based on this story in 1970, directed by Ján Kadár as 104-minute drama entitled The Angel Levine (dt. An angel named Levine , 1984) with Zero Mostel and Harry Belafonte produced in the lead roles. The script for this film adaptation was written by Bill Gunn with Malamud's assistance in the drafting of the storyline .

A score of the same name by Elie Siegmeister and Edward Mabley based on the template by Angel Levine was also published by Carl Fischer Verlag in New York and Mainz, without a year .

Secondary literature

  • Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag, 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 180–242, here especially pp. 206–215.
  • Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , pp. 307-317.
  • Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , pp. 104-112.
  • Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , pp. 46-67.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , pp. 47 and 66, and Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 206 and 209f.
  2. ↑ Quoted from the German translation in Das Zauberfaß and other stories , Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. and Hamburg 1968.
  3. ↑ In his interpretation of the story, Willi Real sees this question from Manischvitz as a sign of his initial hubris towards God. See Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , p. 48.
  4. ↑ On the development of the crisis of faith and the parallels with the biblical story of Job also Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 206f.
  5. ↑ See also Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , p. 208.
  6. ↑ See Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 208f. See also Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , pp. 52-54.
  7. ^ Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , pp. 105f.
  8. ↑ On the dating of the plot in New York in the 1950s, cf. the explanations by Willi Real: Angel Levine in detail . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , p. 47.
  9. ↑ See in detail the remarks by Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , pp. 106f. Similar is the interpretation of Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , p. 66f. For the history of Jewish immigration and Jewish-American literature, cf. also Hubert Zapf: American literary history . Metzler Verlag, 2nd act. Edition, Stuttgart a. Weimar, ISBN 3-476-02036-3 , pp. 440–453.
  10. ↑ See in more detail the presentation by Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , pp. 106f.
  11. ↑ Real points out in his interpretation of the story that the description of the angel Levine is "unorthodox, imaginative and only partially realistic"; According to Real, Levine is portrayed more as a human being; so Manischevitz also initially believes to find a social worker. Real also emphasizes the Jewish origin of the name Alexander Levine, which suggests a conversion from free pieces. See Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , pp. 50 and 58.
  12. ↑ See also the detailed interpretation of Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 106f, and Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 208f.
  13. ^ Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 107 and Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 208ff and Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , pp. 52 and 60f.
  14. ^ Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 208f. On the humorous and surrealistic features in Malamud's story, cf. also Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , pp. 50 and 59 as well as p. 63-65 on the general approach to interpretation here.
  15. ^ Daniel Stern: The Art of Fiction. Bernard Malmud [interview] . In: Paris Review 61 (1975), pp. 40–64, here p. 56. (See web links)
  16. ↑ See also Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 108.
  17. ↑ Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , pp. 49 and 58.
  18. ↑ Cf. in this direction also the interpretative approach of Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 108ff. Similarly, in a concise form, the interpretation approach of Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 180206f. Similarly, Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , p. 64f.
  19. ↑ Cf. Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 109.
  20. ↑ See also Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 110f.
  21. ↑ See text on p. 29 and the illustration above. See also Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 110f.
  22. ↑ See also Frank Eric Pointner's approach to interpretation: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 110f. and Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , p. 59ff.
  23. ^ Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 111.
  24. ↑ Cf. in this regard also the interpretation approach by Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 110f, and Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , pp. 54-58 and 60-64.
  25. ↑ Cf. in this regard also Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 112.
  26. ^ Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 14.
  27. ↑ See Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , p. 51.
  28. ↑ See Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 308f.
  29. ^ Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 308f.
  30. ↑ See the analysis by Rudolf Haas on the structure of the narrative presented so far : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , pp. 308-311. See also the remarks by Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , pp. 51-55.
  31. ↑ See Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 310. See also Willi Real: Angel Levine for the interpretation of the color symbolism . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , p. 52f. and p. 61 and Frank Eric Pointner: Bernard Malamud: Angel Levine . In: Michael Hanke (Ed.): Interpretations · American Short Stories of the 20th Century . Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-15-017506-2 , p. 111.
  32. ↑ See in detail the interpretation by Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 310f. See also Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , p. 61.
  33. ↑ See more detailed Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 311f.
  34. ↑ See in detail Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 311.
  35. ^ Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 312.
  36. ↑ See Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 206ff. and Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 314ff.
  37. ^ Archibald MacLeish: JB - A play in verse. Houghton Mifflin Verlag, Boston 1956, German: Spiel um Job - verse drama. Translated from the American by translated by Eva Hesse , Berlin and Frankfurt a. M. 1958, new edition 1977, ISBN 3-518-06922-5 .
  38. ↑ See Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 315.
  39. ↑ See more detailed Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 315f. See also the remarks by Willi Real: Angel Levine . In: Willi Real: Idiots First and other stories by Bernard Malamud · Interpretations and Suggestions for Teaching . Schöningh Verlag, Paderborn 1981, ISBN 3-506-43026-2 , p. 65.
  40. ^ Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 316.
  41. ^ Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , p. 210. Cf. Rudolf Haas for more detailed information on the interpretative approach presented here : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , pp. 315-317.
  42. ↑ See Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 312.
  43. ↑ See more detailed Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 312ff.
  44. ↑ See in detail Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , pp. 312-314.
  45. ↑ See Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 208f. and Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 314.
  46. ↑ See in detail the information and evidence from Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , pp. 307f.
  47. ^ Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 307.
  48. ↑ See in detail Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , pp. 209f. and Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 307f. Likewise, the interpretation as an allegorical story by Hubert Zapf: American history of literature . Metzler Verlag, 2nd act. Edition, Stuttgart a. Weimar, ISBN 3-476-02036-3 , p. 446.
  49. ↑ See in detail the information and evidence from Peter Freese : Bernard Malamud . In: Peter Freese: The American Short Story after 1945 . Athenäum Verlag 1974, ISBN 3-7610-1816-9 , p. 207.
  50. ↑ See the information from Rudolf Haas : Bernard Malamud · Angel Levine . In: Karl Heinz Göller et al. (Ed.): The American short story . August Bagel Verlag, Düsseldorf 1972, ISBN 3-513-02212-3 , p. 307.
  51. ↑ See the entry on IMDb in the web links.
  52. ↑ Cf. the entry Partitur Angel Levine . On: WorldCat . Retrieved November 9, 2013.