Short Story and Singer

Gimpel the Fool

In Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story "Gimpel the Fool," the character of the title has been given the nickname of fool by the people in his village because of his naivety. When someone tells him a lie, he believes them and does not doubt that what they say is the very truth, no matter how many times he has been deceived in the past. In general, the majority of the townspeople enjoy mocking Gimpel, lying to him, and making him seem the foolish man of his adjectival nickname. The question then becomes whether or not Gimpel is truly a fool which, the answer to which, the writer makes it clear is no. Gimpel himself is not a fool, but he is surrounded by them and only be allowing them call him a fool and use him for their own amusement does Gimpel prove that he is truly the best of the men in his village, and the most likely to go to Heaven as well.

Gimpel assures the reader that there is perfect logic in his inability to detect guile. For instance, he has the ability to be angry when he learns that he has been tricked, but does not resort to violence for retaliation, although he could if he so chose. When Gimpel does stand up for himself, questioning whether or not someone is actually telling him the truth, he is usually confronted with a quarrel. It has just become easier for him to go along with whatever trickery the individual or group has chosen to inflict upon him during the course of a working day. Every time that someone claims that another has risen from the dead or that there is a treasure behind a bathhouse, Gimpel searches out the claim. "To tell the truth, I knew very well that nothing of the sort had happened, but all the same, as folks were talking, I threw on my wool vest and went out" (Singer). From his perspective, the reader is meant to gather that Gimpel is not truly a fool, merely amiable and also eternally hopeful.

The townsfolk do all they can to destroy Gimpel and turn his whole life into one large joke. They induce him to marry a woman who has a reputation and yet he comes to love her. There is a little boy who may or may not be Gimpel's flesh and yet he loves him too more than anything in the world. All the evil machinations of the townsfolk turn on them and instead of misery, Gimpel finds himself to have as close to an ideal life as any common person can hope for. Even potentially catching Elka with another man and having a second child with another man was not enough to shake Gimpel's resolve or change his vow to always trust in people. "What's the good of not believing? Today it's your wife you don't believe; tomorrow it's God Himself you won't take stock in" (Singer). Of course, it turns out that Gimpel's wife is indeed unfaithful and the six children that he has cared for and loved are none of his own blood. Yet, none of this truly matters.