Babel’s Internal Conflicts Essay

Babel’s collection of short stories Red Cavalry was one of the first books that exposed the Russian people to the harsh realities of the Polish-Soviet war. At first the stories seem to be historical fiction meant to entertain; however, upon closer reading these stories become pieces that convey strong moral, religious, political and emotional sentiment. Each short story represents a certain theme, but it is My First Goose that encompasses very well Babel’s feelings towards his own identity. The story illuminates the dynamic relationship between the insider and the outsider through careful use of imagery, tone, and imagery. More specifically, My First Goose addresses Babel’s conflicted sense of identity and self as a Jewish man. In My First Goose, as well as in many of Babel’s other works, the narrator is an ambiguous character that resembles the author (in what way? How do you we know this? ). Although very little information is given about the narrator, by the end of the story readers understand the narrator’s conflict with his identity (this sentence doesn’t really fit here; it is a bit off topic from the rest of the paragraph). The narrator is introduced as an outsider, one who is neither racially (is he a different race? ) nor physically equal to the men of the 6th Division. Savitsky, the first â€Å"insider† that is introduced (phrasing is stylistically awkward), is depicted as a extremely masculine figure whose â€Å"long legs looked like two girls were wedged to their shoulders in riding boots† and whose built body â€Å"split the hut like a banner splitting the sky†. The erotic (perhaps â€Å"erotically despicted/described/portrayed†) , masculine Cossack stands in stark contrast to the envious, feeble, timid, glasses wearing â€Å"powder puff†. Babel chooses to depict the ethnic other as virile and powerful while painting the narrator, a man whom he closely resembles, as a weak, almost effeminate, creature. The choice to do so indicates that the author cannot come to terms with his identity; rather he longs to be as strong and macho as the Cossacks. From the narrators exchange with Savitsky, â€Å"Ha, you lousy fellow, you! They send you to us, no one even asks us if we want you here! † it is suggested that the narrator is an outsider, an intellectual with traits associated with Jews. And even when verbally assaulted the narrator still â€Å"envied the flower and iron of Savitsky’s [that] youth†. Moreover, it is the portrayals of the obvious difference in strength, sexuality, and confidence between the narrator and Savitsky that suggests that Babel viewed his Jewishness as a source of shame. Instead of respecting the fact that the narrator can read and write, skills that were very rare, the Cossack leader mocks the narrator telling him that he would â€Å"get hacked to pieces just for wearing glasses†. And even when shown an obscene gesture by a young peasant the narrator still admires the face of the boy, futher emphasizing how unacceptable he is as a Jew. By accepting his inferiority the narrator further emphasizes his distain for identity. The obvious difference between the narrator and the commander that the author chooses to convey shows how the narrator, and to a certain extent the author, feels his â€Å"Jewishness† makes him inadequate compared to the Cossack soldiers. This paragraph seems a bit unfocused; see if you can pull out the two (? ) main threads and build separate paragraphs around each of them, with a clear, unifying topic sentence for each one) The narrator’s conflict with himself reaches a tipping point when he meets the old woman, and at this point he must make a choice to be an insider or outsider. This crucial decision characterized the reason for Babel’s short story, and he consciously choose to allow the narrator make the choice he did (sentence is awkwardly phrased). After settling down, the narrator begins to read, showing that he is still in touch with his intellectual and Jewish nature; however, he decides to stop reading when he encounters a old woman with glasses (this seems more summary than argument). The bespectacled old woman recognizes him as a Jewish â€Å"comrade† and seeks sympathy from her fellow Jew commenting that â€Å"this business makes me want to hang myself†. At this point the narrator and the author is (subject verb agreement; but also, is the author faced with a choice? faced with a choice: he could acknowledge the old woman as kin and defend his Jewish identity, or he could heed the advice of the quartermaster and â€Å"mess up a lady†. The narrator, and more importantly the author (why â€Å"more importantly the author†? ), decides to violate the only thing the old woman has left. This violation is symbolic: the narrator pushes the white neck of the goose into excrement and pierces the neck of the goose with the sword of another Cossack then forces the woman to cook the goose. With this act the narrator discards his Jewish identity, crushing it in dung, killing it with a borrowed sword. (Here, for example, is a possible place for a paragraph break; then start with a new topic sentence)And only after he has proven his masculinity is he accepted to eat with his new â€Å"brothers†. The narrators is offered a seat at the dinner table and given pork to eat, which he eats without question, with this communion his conversion by the â€Å"heathen priests† is complete. By having the narrator make this choice, Babel not only implies that he may have made the same decision, but also condones the idea of discarding the weakness and intellectualism associated with Jews in favor of violence and ignorance of the Cossacks (that’s a big claim to make—be careful about trying to read the author’s mind! ). At this point it seems that the narrator has completely discarded his Jewishness and embraces his new identity. After his communion with the Cossacks it seems (the repetition of â€Å"it seems† is wishy-washy and non-committal) that the narrator has completely left his identity behind, but it is soon evident that parts of him (wording) remain Jewish, remnants of his Jewishness that cannot be erased (awkward phrasing). Upon completing his violent and brutal killing, the narrator returns to his role as an intellectual and reads a speech given by Lenin to his new comrades. This shows that no matter how hard the narrator tries to escape his identity, he is still the feeble intellectual who has to borrow the sword of a Cossack to kill. The narrator is allowed to sleep with the Cossacks, (that citation doesn’t really add anything here) but even the warmth and camaraderie the narrator receives does not allow him to escape his actions. The last line reveals that a part of him will never be able to accept what he did to gain acceptance from the Cossacks. His heart â€Å"screeched and bled† from his denial of his Jewish identity. Killing the goose and eating pork directly violated his Jewish morals and although superficially he expressed no remorse, subconsciously he cannot accept the Cossack ways. This ambivalent attitude towards one’s identity characterizes Babel’s feelings towards his own attitude. In this story we see a narrator who struggles with the definition of self, and this struggle directly reflects Babel’s own struggles. (again, this paragraph seems to jump from point to point to much; make sure each paragraph is built around a unifying topic sentence; see if you can pull out two point from this one paragraph and bring them out more clearly by creating a separate paragraph for each one) In not only My First Goose, but in most of the short stories of Red Calvary the narrator struggles with his identity as a Jew. Although one cannot be sure what Babel attempts to convey in his pieces, it is clear that the narrators of Babel’s stories undergo the same mental turmoil Babel went through during his service in the Polish Soviet war (this last sentence doesn’t really work as a conclusion).