The Denver Jewish news. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1915-1925, 1921-03-23
Jewish Types in Ameri-
can Fiction
Continued from Page one.)


Outstanding in an American woman Of
Mayflower descent, who gives the new
conner. What She Sought in her Amer
lea"
Soap and Water" is the key to the
whole book and voices the immigrants
protest in unmistakable terms:
A poor Jewish girl, with truly
Jewish thirst for education enters n
teachers college. and in order to sup
port herself. works during her spare
hours in a laundry. while her class
mates employ their leisure in going to
orally amusing themselves. When
after years of hard work, she finally
graduates from college, the dean re-
fuses to grant her a teachers certffi-
cate. chiefly because of her untidy ap
pearance. Soap and water are
cheap the dean says to her, every
body can afford to keep clean"
This gives rise to bitter thoughts
and the young graduate feels that all
her life of toll comes back to her:
The insults and injuries had suf
scred at college had so eaten into
my flesh that l could not bear to get
near it. l shuddered with horror
Whenever I had to pass the place
blocks away. The hate which I felt
FOR Miss whiteside spread like poison
inside my soul into hate for all clean
society The whole clean world was
massed against me. Whenever l met
!. well dressed person felt the secret
stab of a hidden enemy.
II was so obsessed ana consumed
with my grievances that / could not
get away from myself and think things
out in the light. I was in the grip OF
that binding, destructive. terrible
thing-righteous Indignation. 1 could
not rest l wanted the whole world to
know that the college was against dem
ocracy in education. that clothes forn
tile basis of class distinction that after
graduation the opportunities for the
best position are passed out to those
who are best dressed. And that the
students too poor to put up front
| uTe DlSeOu-Iluleu anu st's'
abandoned to the mercy of the wind.
"A wild desire ragged in the corner
OF my brain. / knew that the dean
| gave dinners to the Faculty at reg
mar intervals. i longed to burst in at
one Of those feasts. in the midst of
| their grand speech-naking. and tear
down the fine clothes from these well
| .roomed ladies and gentlemen. AMI
lrample them under my feet, and
I scream like lunatic Soap and water
are cheap Soap and water are
cheap Look ut me. See how cheap
\ 1t is, y"
I Thus speaks the voice of protest.
and speaks in plain. clear words. per
! Ilaps for the first time in the history
( of Jewish immigrant literature in Eng
Iish.
Another story is the The Lost
I,eautifulness" Uauneh Hayyeh's son
/ fights in France for democracy" and
as he is expected home any day his
mother conceives the idea of ..benuti-
/ flying" her home and painting the
/ Kitchen with white enamel. The land
lord thcreupon raises the rent and
: Keeps raising it until the poor people
| can no longer pay IT and are dis
possessed Tint day her boy returns
from France. with a military medal
! on his breast. But. as lie approaches
! his home, lie suddenly stops. "On the
sidewalk before the house was n heap
! of household things that seemed IA
milar, and there on the curbstOne a
woman huddlcd. covering. broken
Good God--his mother. His own moth
/ Grand all their worldly belongings
dumped there in the rain
Thus the story winds up-withOut
unnecessary explanation. without any
supcrfluous vcrbosity-and proves
,nce more that in the person of Amin
! Yczierska we have the first expression
| Of the genuine feelings of tie immi
grant--his ideals. his troubles and dis
| appointments and his righteous wrath.
I have made no mention of Jewish
/ types in works of noii-JewislI Ameri-
can authors. One recalls the Silver
stein couple in Jack I.ondon's The
I Game" the Jewish pcdtllcr in Irving
! Bachelors ~ Man for the Ages" and
! perhaps few more but these are
| hardly numerous or significant enough
! to Indicate that our Gentle authors
| have found it neccssary-so far-to
| pay much attention to Jewish types
| as such.
! Regarding the future of Jewish
types in American fiction. venture to
| predict that before long we shall find
/ more of them in both our Jewish Eng
fi1ti.,,, In, liz. .,,itiu.. Of