A Book Report of The Magic Barrel

\"The Magic Barrel\" starts as an about-to-be rabbi Leo Finkle has been advised to find a wife to get more congregation so he answers an advertisement of a marriage counselor. What he does not predict is the counselor is so satisfied with him that he wants to make a match between him and his daughter. As is deliberately arranged， Leo Finkle is so dissatisfied about those recommended women that he even retreats back again to his study. One day， Leo finds a picture of a girl in the envelop and falls in love with her at first sight. His desire to see her is like burning fire that he is desperate to think of her day and night. When he turns to the counselor， he is reluctant to say that the woman is his daughter， who is a wild. Leo wants to escape from the love， however， he fails. Finally he follows what his heart tells him meeting with the girl. And the counselor watches this drama all arranged by himself on the sly， having gotten his wish too.

There are many themes in this short story. The most relevant theme to us university students， I think， is the growth. Leo is still a babe in arms after six years of study. He finds out what he never realizes before that he is unloved and loveless through a matchmaker. As a rabbinical student， buried in the Five Books and all the commentaries， he does not know another “himself” when exposed to the reality of life that he’s incapable of loving people or even his God， which panics himself. He cries for his life is vacuous all these years. In my eye， it’s natural for us to feel panic， lost even abandoned when we are exposed to some unknown truth. It can be general social rules--the dirty reality behind our future job and tricks played by our acquaintances. It can also be the devastation of our conviction. Being more mature is our goal when we are faced with crisis of those kinds. However， We have spend so many years studying “a”， “b”， “c”， “d”， not knowing how to hide our dissatisfaction while facing our boss. We have strove to learn how to do a perfect job， still blaming our tools given the fact that certain people do not need to do the least struggle to get what we long for. We have grown in the schools， having not grown in the least soil of the real society. There is only one way in which we can turn weakness to strength and failure to success. We also need to find our “matchmaker” and meet more people in the real society to define a new “self” by accepting the baptism of the society. After all， we should learn to fly through the storm so that we can smile after weeping.

Besides the growth theme， what touches me deeply is Jews’ spirit of suffering. In their belief， Jews are God’s chosen people that they need to suffer for the original sin to gain their redemption. They look on suffering as an indispensable experience of life， an aim to achieve. It is represented well in the story. Leo， an inexperienced and isolated student， is induced by the marriage broker to make decisions and his pursuing for his wife is so tortuous that not only his body but his heart has experienced ups and downs. These are all sufferings， but as a Jew， he sticks to his belief to accept what life is and sacrifices himself. That “she had lived， or wanted to--more than just wanted， perhaps regretted how she had lived--had somehow deeply suffered” is the first impression when he sees Stella’s picture. He looks on saving Stella as his own redemption for he needs a new start after knowing his incapability of love. When he wants to save others who are lost， in the same time he saves himself. That’s what we lost in the modern society. I would rather say Jew’s sufferings indicate the mutual fate of modern people than it is only their business. Sometimes things just don't work out the way we think they would. We should take it for granted rather than grumbling all day long because this is the way it is. I am not suggesting we should also do penance， more precisely speaking， I suggest we learn optimism from Jews. We pay and we gain. By going through all the hardship can we gain our redemption. Living life is like playing a symphony when there are always ups and downs.

Last but not least， I think we all have a magic barrel. A magic barrel isn’t a real barrel endowed with magic. Its magic comes from people. It could be Salzman， who changes Leo’s whole life， from single to double， from being ignorant to being aware of himself. The power of magic can also come from the hero himself. He expects the barrel to “produce” a girl he likes like the myth. Although he does not realize the magic comes from his mind， he gets his love and salvation out of his sacrifice for God and the girl. In real life， we should also make use of our magic power. However difficult the problem we meet， we should hold the faith and believe we can get what we want through our persistent struggles.

There are still many themes contained in this story， however， the three points above are most crucial to me. Growth teaches us to adapt to the society； the spirit of sufferings teaches us to bear and overcome the pain； the faith teaches us to get hold of our life and live hopefully.

Works Cited

[1][Chen Hong： The Magic Barrel’s Expression and Excess of the Jewish Theme， Page 161-163， Journal of Social Science of Hunan Medical University Press， 2010]