The Assistant: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Assistant: Analysis of Major Characters" examines the intricate dynamics and moral complexities faced by a cast of characters within a struggling urban environment. Central to the narrative is Frank Alpine, a young Italian drifter burdened by guilt and a desire for redemption. His journey oscillates between acts of kindness and moments of moral failure, reflecting his internal struggle as he seeks to escape from a life filled with mistakes. Morris Bober, a Russian Jewish immigrant and the owner of a failing grocery store, embodies resilience amidst hardship, yet he grapples with feelings of despair and unluckiness in life. His daughter, Helen, is caught between her aspirations for a better future and her disillusionment with love, especially after her brief encounter with Nat Pearl, a law student who represents the potential she yearns for but struggles to attain.
Ida Bober, Morris’s wife, contrasts her husband's generosity with her suspicion and pragmatism, particularly regarding Helen’s romantic prospects. The narrative also includes antagonistic figures such as Ward Minogue, whose violent actions disrupt the lives of the main characters, highlighting themes of prejudice and crime. Julius Karp serves as a foil to Morris, showcasing a life of perceived luck and success. The interactions among these characters paint a nuanced picture of struggle, aspiration, and the search for meaning in the face of societal and personal challenges. This character analysis provides insight into the individual and collective experiences that define their lives and relationships.
The Assistant: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Bernard Malamud
First published: 1957
Genre: Novel
Locale: Brooklyn, New York
Plot: Social realism
Time: 1930's
Frank Alpine, a young Italian drifter. Tall and bearded, with eyes haunted by a profound loneliness and a deep spiritual sadness, Frank wants to escape a past full of mistakes and broken promises. Fascinated by the stories of Saint Francis that he heard in the orphanage where he was reared, he continually aspires to a life of good but finds himself unable to keep himself on the right track. After robbing the Bobers' grocery store, his guilt is so strong that he returns to the store and helps the old shopkeeper without pay. When Morris Bober falls ill, he volunteers to work as the storekeeper's assistant and stays on even after Morris' health returns. He brings in more business and is responsible for saving the store from the brink of bankruptcy. He falls in love with Helen Bober, Morris and Ida's daughter, and cautiously woos her. His struggle between doing right and doing wrong continues throughout the novel: He steals from the Bobers, lies, and rapes Helen just as she begins to warm to him; he also puts back the money he steals, saves Morris' life, and confesses to his crimes. When Morris dies, Frank puts on the grocer's apron and takes his place in the small grocery store.
Morris Bober, a sixty-year-old Russian Jewish immigrant who runs a small, failing grocery store. A heavyset man with sloping shoulders and bushy gray hair that needs trimming, Morris is the epitome of the long-suffering Jew. He is as unlucky as he is honest. Morris believes that it is his heritage to suffer. As the novel opens, he watches one of his former customers sneaking down the street with groceries bought somewhere else. He learns that a new delicatessen will soon be opening across from him; that night, he is attacked and robbed. Later, his generosity toward the drifter Frank is repaid by the assistant's theft from him. His attempts to kill himself and to burn down his store for the insurance money both fail. At the end of the novel, Morris dies of a heart attack.
Helen Bober, Morris' twenty-three-year-old daughter. Slender and attractive, Helen still lives at home with her parents, providing them with the necessary income from her job. An avid reader of novels, her heart is always set on some big future that she secretly despairs will never arrive. She longs for a college education, if not for herself, then for the man she will marry. She dreams of a man with a bright future who will fall in love with and marry her, but her brief affair with Nat Pearl leaves her feeling bitter and devalued. She warms very slowly to Frank, who betrays her.
Ida Bober, Morris' nagging wife. Fifty-one years old, with thick black hair, a lined face, and legs that hurt when she walks, Ida is as stingy and suspicious as Morris is generous and trusting. Her greatest fear is that her daughter will become romantically involved with a man who is not a Jew. Primarily for this reason, she wants Frank to leave the store, setting various dates for his departure, but she also finds that she enjoys the extra income he brings in.
Ward Minogue, the criminal son of the local detective. Violent and anti-Semitic, Ward engineers the crime that brings Frank to the store; it is Ward who hits Morris on the head with the gun. Later, when Helen is waiting in the park for Frank, Ward attacks her. He dies in the fire that takes Karp's store.
Nat Pearl, a Columbia University law student whose sister is Helen's best friend. Intelligent and handsome, Nat seems to hold the bright future Helen wants in a man, but Helen senses that he is unwilling to make a commitment to her. To his puzzlement, after a brief affair she spurns his advances.
Julius Karp, the Bobers' landlord. A highly successful liquor salesman, Karp seems to have all the luck that Morris has never enjoyed. It is Karp's store that Ward originally plans to rob, but he steals from the Bobers' store instead. Karp's store burns down instead of Morris', so it is Karp who collects the insurance money.
Poilisheh, a small, sour-faced woman who buys a three-cent unseeded hard roll from the store every morning. She is unfriendly and anti-Semitic. Her faithful appearance at the store signals the relentless beginning of each new day.