f Hosea. His character is also evident in the fact that he loves children that he knows are not his. Though he is treated bad he is still thankful for his family, showing his humbleness. “…I am a man, the husband of a fine wife, the father of promising children.” (Singer 203) Gimpel lives twenty years of naivet with his wife, producing six children, none of which are his. He pays no attention to rumors and believes his wife. “The rabbi recently said to me, “Belief in itself is beneficial. It is written that a good man lives by his faith.” (Singer 204) On his wife’s deathbed he finds out about his children and yet he still mourns her, showing his forgiving nature. Gimpel realizes later in life that there are many deceptions in life and that in the end it’s all worth the tribulations. His love is unconditional because as an old man he longs for his wife that treated him so badly. “I weep and implore, “Let me be with you.” And she consoles me and tells me to be patient.” (Singer 207) His age brings about wisdom and as his death approaches he finds peace. Bowman in “Death of a Traveling Salesman” is presented as somewhat of a nomad. “… who for fourteen years had traveled for a shoe company through Mississippi…” (Welty 209). Bowman seemed to distrust just about everything that he came in contact with such as: roads, illness, doctors, women, and hill country. He was lost but distrusted those there because he felt that they “…never knew the roads they lived on…” (Welty 210) Welty has a genuine disgust for Bowman, she gives him a sharp contrast with the other two characters in the story. Symbolically, he is trying to reach the town Beulah (in the Old Testament the Land of Israel) before nightfall when he has an accident. His car totters over the edge of a shallow ravine allowing him just enough time to e...
