their wrongdoings and torture to him and he is moving on. The beauty of first person narration is that you get a first-hand view of what's going through the mind of the main character. "Gimpel the Fool" does just that, giving you a behind-the-scenes tour of the mind of Gimpel. You get to see into his true character, his emotions, and his thought processes. We learn that he is forgiving when he pardons his wife for cheating on him repeatedly: "A longing took over me, for her and for the child. I wanted to be angry, but that's my misfortune exactly, I don't have it in me to be really angry." We learn he is gullible and "easy to take in" from the many anecdotes told about the townspeople who attempted to "try their luck with him": "Every woman or girl who came to bake a batch of noodles had to fool me at least once." We learn he is submissive and willing to please when he consents to marrying the village whore and elaborates on why he doesn't retaliate against the townspeople's torments: "If I ever dared say, 'Ah, you're kidding!' there was trouble. People got angry.What was I to do? I believed them, and hope at least that did them some good." This example also shows his selflessness for others, his unselfish character. We can all learn an important lesson from Gimpel. He teaches us that you get what you give, and you really shouldn't sweat the small stuff. Singer uses techniques like well thought out characterization, intense symbolism, and a profound point of view to successfully get his point across and arrive at the meaning of his story. "Gimpel the Fool" allows us to extend beyond our limited mindsets and steadfast judgements and move into uncharted territories, places that teach us compassion, whole-hearted love, and an unbiased approach to the world around us....
