Re writing a second draft for discussing the short story

Gimpel the Fool is written in a first person point of view in 1953 by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Gimpel is a town baker who lives in a village in Frampol, Poland. Gimpel is known in the village as the fool who everyone takes advantage of. Gimpel symbolizes faith because the characters in the story make Gimpel look like a fool, and he refuses to take revenge on the people in the village.

The protagonist and antagonist characters in the story are Elka, Rabbi, and the Devil which is the spirit of evil. One example of how a character makes Gimpel look like a fool is when Elka told Gimpel that he is the father of their baby, even though she was already pregnant , and has ten kids before she even met Gimpel. Gimpel looks like a fool because he chooses to believe in a lie rather than accept the truth. Gimpel is very kind to Rabbi, and other people in the village.

Elka is known as the village prostitute and she uses Gimpel for her own advantage when she finds out he agrees to get to the town to take up a collection to raise a dowry for her. Rabbi is known to cheer up Gimpel because a spiritual authority in the village of Frampol. He is known for giving Gimpel advice when the people in the village tease him. Even though he is the spiritual authority he still makes Gimpel look like a fool. Rabbi knows light always shines brighter than darkness but Gimpel doesn’t which makes the irony seem like Rabbi is feeding Gimpel naive beliefs, especially if Gimpel chooses to believe in Rabbi’s advice. The devil in the story symbolizes the spirit of evil. This makes Gimpel look like a fool because it seems like the devil is in complete control in the world Gimpel is living in.

One way Elka fools Gimpel is by making him believe that she is pregnant with his baby, even though she was already five months pregnant when she met him. Since Gimpel believes whatever he is told, he symbolizes faith because he’s choosing to believe in lies compared to his reality. The village is telling him he can’t understand the world. Faith is trusting in something, especially trusting a process you cannot see or understand. Gimpel and Rabbi symbolize God and Faith while Elka symbolizes the Devil and disbelief because she is always lying and making Gimpel believe in things that are not true. Elka has 10 children, and none of them are the child of Gimpel’s. Rabbi makes Gimpel look like a fool because it seems like he is the reason Gimpel doesn’t realize he is being taken advantage of because he believes everything will work out for the best even though Gimpel’s reality keeps telling him trust no one no matter what.

Conflicts in literature are known to provide the reader crucial tension in any story and is used to drive the narrative forward. If I had to categorize the story in a conflict of literature I would categorize it under (man vs society) and (man vs fate). I would put “Gimpel The Fool” under (beliefs vs reality) or (man vs fate). Beliefs vs Reality is a good example of conflict in literature because Gimpel is the protagonist that symbolizes beliefs, the antagonist characters symbolize reality. Gimpel is the only one who can see his own vision. Man vs Fate is another type of literature because Gimpel is choosing to believe an unknown destiny. Gimpel The Fool’s setting also takes place in a religious village specifically in a Jewish area in Frampol, Poland which is in Europe. Rabbi tells Gimpel “it is better to be a fool all your days than for one hour to be evil”. I believe he was right because Elka was begging for Gimpel’s forgiveness for lying to him while she was on her deathbed. Light will always have more power than darkness and seeing Elka regretting and apologizing for all the things she did to Gimpel. The author made a strong resolution because it is proven many people don’t realize how dark their really are until they’re punished or close to death.