The Fixer

In the novel, The Fixer, the author, Bernard Malamud,


presents to us a poor Jewish handyman living in Russia


during the early 1900’s,   before the Russian


revolution had begun.   Destroyed by his wife’s


disavowal, Yakov Shepsovitch Bok leaves his shtetl in


search of opportunities for a better life.   After a


few months of desperate searching, Yakov sneaks out of


the ghetto to look for work among the goyim.   As he


searches the streets, he stumbles upon a man who lay


drunk on the floor. Yakov immediately recognizes a pin


on the man’s coat as belonging to the anti-Semite


organization called the Black Hundreds. Putting his


doubts behind him, Yakov decides to help the fat


Russian.   Not aware of Yakov’s origins, the Russian


offers him a job as a reward.   The job, however,


requires him to live in a district prohibited to Jews.


Out of desperation, Yakov agrees.   Only a few months


later, honest, hard-working Yakov, is caught.


Authorities had found out he is a Jew. Less than a


week before that, however, an awful murder had been


committed and they accuse Yakov of being the murderer,


when in fact the true killer is the young boy’s own


mother. Yakov is charged with murder for religious


purposes.   They believe the Jewish community needed


the blood to bake into the matzos for Passover as a


symbol of the remembrance of the crucifixion of


Christ.  


        Yakov Bok is Jewish man in his early thirties. He


describes himself as “ a fixer by trade, it’s a poorer


trade than most, and formerly for a short time I was a


soldier in the Imperial Army.   In fact, to tell you


the truth, I’m not a religious man, I’m a


freethinker.”   He believes he has had such bad luck,


that it is useless to pray to G’d,...