Mailer and Babel on Being Jewish

Abstract

Isaac Babel and Norman Mailer are two writers whose works explore many of the vicissitudes of being Jewish in a culture where Jews are in a minority. Babel’s stories contain a rich cast of Jewish characters who deal with life in the Russian context, just as Mailer’s Jewish characters cope with life in America. Neither of the two authors clings to one thematic line or another, or one or another character type. This way they are able to illuminate a wide range of the Jewish experience in a primarily gentile society, including the observation of certain traditions and cultural practices designed to preserve Jewish identity and values.