A Wedding in Brownsville by Isaac Bashevis Singer

 

A Wedding in Brownsville by Isaac Bashevis Singer

Understanding the text

Q.1. What do you understand of Dr. Margolin's past? How does it affect his present life?

Ans:- Dr. Margolin belonged to Sencimin, Poland. He was a son of a poor teacher of Talmud and he was being trained to become a religious preacher. Nazi invasion of Poland changed his life completely along with all the Senciminers. Members of his family as well as other senciminers were tortured, burned and gassed. The survivors somehow migrated to the USA and tried to begin a new life. Dr. Margolin could not forget the sufferings which he had witnessed back home. Especially he always remembered his beloved Raizel who was reported to be shot dead by the Nazis.

Secretly Dr. Margolin had always felt that he was a failure; he had squandered his talents. He had achieved name and fame in the US but still the torments of his past hallucinated him quite often. When people in the wedding ceremony at Brownsville began to lament the loss of their dear ones in Poland, he gradually felt the hallucination of meeting his dead girl friend Raizel.

Q.2. What was Dr Margolin's attitude towards his profession?

Ans :- As a professional Dr. Margolin was highly successful and honoured. He never broke Hippocratic oath and was always respectful towards his patients. People around him held him in high esteem because of his dedication towards his profession. He had wealthy patients, but always considered humanity above everything this was visible when he would treat the refugees and rabbi for free, would supply them with medicines and a hospital bed too , if required. He refused a number of dubious associations that involved careerism.

Q.3. What is Dr. Margolin's view of the kind of life the American Jewish community leads?

Ans :- Dr. Margolin believed that American Judaism was a mess; the kind of  Jews life American Jewish community lived was totally unaccepted. He felt Jewish ways of living were completely distorted. He found their ways of celebrations irritating and annoying. He disliked the Anglicized Yiddish, the Yiddishised English, the ear - splitting music and also the unruly way they danced. The new style of living embarrassed him as there was no culture left in it. He felt ashamed to take his wife at such gatherings. So, he did not want to take her to those places.

Q.4. What were the personality traits that endeared Dr. Margolin to others in his community?

Ans:- As a child at Sencimin in Poland, Dr. Margolin was endear to his community people as he was showing promise in the field of Jews religion teaching.  He was the son of a poor teacher of Talmud. He could easily recite long passages of the bible, studied Talmud and wrote commentaries on his own. At a very young age, he was declared a child prodigy.

In the US also he was admired by his community people for his dedication to his community. He always gave time to community services and served the people. He used to attend religious celebrations and never missed social functions; that showed his belongingness to his community.

Q.5. Why do you think Dr. Margolin had the curious experience at the wedding hall?

Ans:- Dr. Margolin was in love with a girl Raizel back home in Sencimin. He could never forget her along with cruelty of Nazis on Senciminers. Meeting all the people from Sencimin and talking about their loss revived in him a feeling to find his lost love. His wishful thinking drew him into a long hallucination where he experienced the presence of Raizel, his long-lost love.

Q.6. Was the encounter with Raizel an illusion or was the carousing at the wedding - hall illusory? Was Dr. Margolin the victim of the accident and was his astral body hovering in the world of twilight?

Ans:- Due to his tortured past in Poland Dr. Margolin could never lead a peaceful life. He always remembered Raizel whom he could not marry and later on came to know that she was shot dead by the Nazis. He had a desire to re-union with his lost love.  The encounter with Raizel was an illusion as she was dead and the carousing at the wedding - hall was also illusory as Dr. Margolin had not sipped a drop of alcohol in the celebration. He witnessed the accident while riding in the car but he himself was not victim. He reached the wedding hall and talked to everyone in a lively manner. Once only he himself doubted whether he died in the accident.  It seems that his wishful thinking and hallucination made him wandering in semi-consciousness, detached from the flesh.

Talking about the Text

Q.1. Fiction often deals with human consciousness, rather than with the reality of existence.

Ans :- Dr. Margolin as well as the other Jews living in the US shared a troubled past where they all faced the cruelty of the Nazis and somehow survived and reached the US. They began a new life, shaping a future for them and their children. We see how Dr. Margolin’s present shadowed by his tortured past. Here the writer begins to explore the protagonist’s consciousness. The readers also become more interested to know what is happening in the consciousness of Dr. Margolin.  We see his wife Gretl hovering around him; doing household chores. But here the writer explores the mind of Dr. Margolin, and we are introduced to the horrible truth of the life of Gretl. Through Dr. Margolin’s consciousness only we come to know about his secret respect for his wife. Throughout the story we come to many startling facts through the protagonist’s journey in his mind. Ultimately the horrible impact of holocaust on the life of survivors also revealed through consciousness of the main character of the story. So we can say that fiction often deals with human consciousness, rather than with the reality of existence.

Q.2. The ways in which survivors of holocausts deal with life.

Ans :- The life of the holocaust survivors is not that easy. They are constantly haunted by the dreadful thoughts of tortures by the Nazis and long for their near and dear ones who were mercilessly killed. We see in the story how they try to lead a normal life in the US. Dr. Margolin established himself in the new city and earned respect from his community. Other Senciminers also try to remain in close association with each other, they attend religious functions and enjoy celebrations. Unfortunately, they can never wipe out their past from their brains, it keeps haunting them. They talk about the dead even at a wedding ceremony. On the whole we experience a desire to live the life despite of all its challenges.

Appreciation

Q.1. Surrealism was an artistic and literary movement in France between the two World Wars. Its basic idea is that the automatic, illogical and uncontrolled associations of the mind represent a higher reality than the world of practical life and ordinary literature. Do you think this story could be loosely classified as surrealistic? What elements in this story would support the idea?

Ans :- The story ‘A Wedding in Brownsville’ by I. B. Singer is a fine example of ‘surrealism’. The word ‘surrealism’ suggests ‘beyond reality’. We come across certain incidents in the story where we can put a question mark on the authenticity of events happening but through the technique of ‘surrealism’ the writer presents everything so meticulously that we assume them ‘reality’. Dr. Margolin is drawn into a hallucination due to his wishful thinking and suddenly the readers witness several incidents those otherwise can be ruled out as fake and unreal. The writer through his powers of writing unfolds the unconscious mind in front of the readers; the automatic, illogical and uncontrolled associations of the mind represent a higher reality than the world of practical life and ordinary literature.

Q.2. Comment on the technique used by the author to convey the gruesome realities of the war and its devastating effect on the psyche of human beings through an intense personal experience.

Ans :- In the story ‘A Wedding in Brownsville’ the journey from the real to the surreal is so carefully presented that the readers are scarcely aware of the transition until the story’s end. Most of the narration is an exploration of the unconsciousness of the protagonist Dr. Solomon Margolin. Many vital information revealed through ‘interior monologues’ of Dr. Margolin. The dialogues between Senciminers in the wedding convey the gruesome realities of the war and its devastating effect on the psyche of human beings through an intense personal experience. The conversation between the guests and Dr. Margolin ultimately drew him into a hallucination and we come across meticulous use of ‘surrealism’ technique in the story.