As I’ve continued to read The Fixer by Bernard Malamud, I’ve noticed that he mentions the color black an abundant amount of times. Not only does he use the color black as an adjective to describe the scenery, but it serves a much bigger purpose. The color black is a symbol of evil in this book. The symbolism of the color black starts in chapter two, when Yakov Bak, a Russian Jew, is left by his unfaithful wife. With a want of having a better life, he decides to move away. Getting away from the past. On his journey to the city, the symbolism of the color black becomes more emphasized and apparent. It might be because he is moving away to a more antisemitic part of Russia where evil is present.
One example of when black is used as a symbol of evil is when Yakov passes an old Christian women. “They had gone a while when the wagon caught up with an old woman, a pilgrim walking slowly in the road, leaning on her long staff, a heavy peasant in black…”(Malamud). By Malamud mentioning that she is wearing black, he is trying to capture the hatred that she has for Jews since the women is Christian and Christians in Russia during this time were antisemitic. Malamud is just trying to show the reader how evil the old women is because she is antisemitic.
This sounds like a really suspenseful book, I like the analysis of the color black that you described. I wonder if it has anything to do with the title? I’m anxious to see what else you discover whilst reading this intriguing book. I hope you soon find out more about what black represents and maybe discover the significance of the title.
I think you’re on to something, Brandon!! You might want to focus on the use of the symbol of evil for your paper! I’ll look forward to seeing what you think of the ending!
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