Essay Draft Two

May 26, 2007

                                     The Character of Shadrach Cohen

The wave of immigration at the turn of the twentieth century brought many Jewish immigrants to American. They fled away from Russia to escape the religious persecution, but when they came to America, they were trapped in the ghettos and struggled for life. To adapt to the American society, the devotional Jewish changed their apparels, modified their religious rituals, and assimilated the local culture. The process was not finished within a few minutes; it took a long time, and it caused a lot of pain to some people, especially for the older ones.

With the heritage of his father's writing talent and the experience as a news reporter and comic supplement editor, Bruno Lessing provided us with a profound insight into the Jewish lives in New York, and “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen” was one of his works. In the story, the author depicted an old Jewish man, Shadrach Cohen, who took a few days’ time to travel from Russia to New York, but spent several months to get ready for his new life in America. In those awful days that Shadrach repelled the American way of life, conflicts and unhappy conversations took place from time to time between the father and the sons. But these displeasures made Shadrach think. If there was no such conflicts, or if his two sons respected him, obeyed all his orders and kept silent on the issue of Americanization, Shadrach would not change his mind and embrace the American culture. In another word, it was the crisis between the father and the sons that pushed Shadrach to move forward and adapt to the American society.

The beginning of the story introduces the reason why Shadrach came to America, which gives us the cue that the family crisis was the key factor for Shadrach’s sudden change. He received a letter from his sons, on which it wrote,” We have a nice home for you here. We will live happily together” (46). Shadrach might feel comfortable in his old place in Russia and satisfied with the life of his own, but he was induced by the happy life described in the letter and made the decision that he would cross thousand miles to pursue the life of happiness and realize the family reunion. This is the first signal of the most important character of Shadrach – the care for the family ties. He treasured the relationship with members within the family and was willing to sacrifice everything to fix the relationships. The second signal appears when the father and sons discussed the servant issue. The father insisted on keeping the old servant, Marta, and he did this for his dead wife. We can read from the words that Shadrach pinned his memories of his wife on the old servant, and the servant was like a connection between him and his wife.

Not every dream can be realized, and not every outcome equals to the expectation. When Shadrach arrived, his excitement was interrupted by a surprise, which was the start of the conflict. He could not recognize his two fashionable young sons with diamond neckties when they threw their arms around him. And he was more surprised when his sons judged his apparels. Actually, he himself was more distinctive in the crowd. His “loose, baglike garment of the Russian Ghetto” (46) and the “long, strangling grey beard and ringlets that came down over his ears” (46) contradicted with the environment and vividly delivered a signal to people around that he was “a newly landed Russian Jew” (46). Usually, people would feel uncomfortable when their behaviors and appearance are different from people around him, and would change spontaneously to join the main stream. But it was not the case with Shadrach. He made a definite declaration that he would not change his looks and he did not care whether people judged him. Only people who are good at decision making can insist their own ideas as Shadrach did. His words showed that he was not easily influenced and he had a high confidence in his culture and himself. For a man like him, the external force, such as the persuasion or the judgment of others, could not alter his course; only the internal force, his will and his own judgment could lead him and push him forward. Because of this, the turning point of Shadrach’s change can be narrowed down to the erosion of the father-and-sons relationship – he cared about the family ties so much that it became an instinct for him to save the relationship.

Three major conflicts were depicted in the narration, and every one of them was accompanied by an effort of Shadrach with an attempt to save the relationship. The first one happened at the night when Shadrach first arrived at his sons’. Though Shadrach was not easily influenced by the environment, he was sensitive about it. His keen sentience detected the crisis that he had with his sons:

“Shadrach was racking his brains to find some explanation that would account for the change that had come over his sons. They had never been demonstrative in their affection for him, and he had not looked for an effusive greeting. But he realized immediately that there was a wall between him and his sons; some change had occurred; he was distressed and puzzled.” (46)

Shadrach encountered the first conflict unexpectedly, but he made an immediate decision that he would do something to make up the relationship.  While his son felt hard to pose the request for money for the first time and spoke in a hesitated way, he answered,” I do not understand this business that you are talking about. But you may have whatever money you need. “(47) And then, he gave out the reason for his quick answer,”after all, I have no one but you two.”(47) It is obvious that if it was not for the displeasure and the approach of the crisis, he would not give the permission without a second thought. Since he was a veteran business man, he held so much experience in investing and running a business, and moreover, he was sure to be aware of the underlying risk of a business – the less the investor knows about the business, the greater the risk will be. However, despite all the knowledge that he owned, he gambled the money for a better relationship of the family.

The second conflict was more like a cold war between the father and the sons. After several months, the situation did not show any sign of improvement. The sons did not respect him and they criticized him; even Marta expressed her “nervous vigor” through the way she cleaned the cooks. But Mr. Cohen seemed to figure out an easy ways to deal with the crisis. He tried to maintain the relationship with unconditional financial support. He was so nice that his sons even described his action as “cheerfully”. However, although Shadrach responded to the request with a smiling face, his heart was aching. “He began to feel that this, after all, was the only bond between him and his sons.” (47) These words indicated a great tension between the father and the sons, and it is nature to anticipant that the breaking point was somewhere near the corner.

Money was an easy way, but was not the ultimate answer, and so there came the third conflict. His son, Gottlieb, was reluctant to introduce Shadrach to his fiancée. And at this point, Shadrach knew that his sons are ashamed of their father and it was intolerable for Shadrach. “He was red in the face with suppressed rage.”(48) And then, he gave out orders with “an intonation in his voice that alarmed his sons” (48). The escalation of the crisis made Shadrach to think seriously about the problem, and finally pushed him forward. Shadrach attempted to demonstrate to his sons that their father was able to be an American, a successful business man and a father that they would be proud of.

One might argue that Shadrach’s change is due to the time. The months between his arrival and his change gave Shadrach enough time to prepare for the sudden change and he needed time to assimilate the American culture. It could be a good excuse for other people, but not Shadrach. As a sophisticated business man, he was not afraid of new place and new things. The first time that he went to the shop, he acted as an owner, not a visitor. The day after the breakout, he “loomed up in the doorway” and examined the place. He felt comfortable and relax. He “chuckled” at the name “Shadrach Cohen, Proprietor” (49). And he even played a little trick to the clerk, and then sent all of them away. His first tour to the shop tells us that he was able to assimilate ideas and knowledge in a quick manner and execute his orders decisively, and that the cultural shock had little effect in keeping Shadrach off the American society.

The crisis of the relationship between father and the sons pushed Shadrach to think about ways to deal with the problem, made him comprised to the requests of money, and now, it finally gave Shadrach the impulse to move forward and embrace the American life. His change was neither a result of his fancy of the American culture or a production of a gradual acculturation process; it was an achievement of Shadrach’s effort to win back the respect of his sons and save the father-and-sons relationship.
Finally, the crisis of the family relationship brought happiness to Shadrach. “A new life was unfolding itself before his eyes” (50), and “The charm of American life, of liberty, of democracy, appealed to him strongly” (50). And he won the heart of his daughter in law, and she “ran toward him”, “seized his hands”, and ask, “Will you not give me your blessing?” (50) Shadrach had not picture the wonderful life he would have when he fitted into the American society, but the crisis lead him to change. When a man is trapped, he will come up with many plans, of which only some will work. The crisis was both a challenge and a chance. And Shadrach seized it.

15.6.07 07:33