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Stella sinned by being a loose womandoing what she had to do to get what she needed

prostitute?

and was redeemed?

Leo sinned by questioning the existence of God;

And was redeemedby love

convert Stella to goodness and himself to God

Sonny sins by doing drugs

Narrator sins by breaking his promise to his mother and not being his brothers keeper

Was redeemed by accepting Sonny for who he was and keeping his promise to watch out for him.

BOTH SONNYS BLUES BY JAMES BALDWIN AND THE MAGIC BARREL BY BERNARD MALAMUD ARE

RELIGIOUSLY-THEMED STORIES ABOUT SIN AND REDEMPTION. Sonnys Blues is about two brothers

with a dysfunctional relationship; the narrator is an algebra teacher with a wife and two children. His

younger brother, Sonny, is a jazz musician and a drug addict. When the story opens, Sonny has just been

arrested for using heroin, and the narrator neglects the promise he made to his mother to look out for

Sonny. Malamuds Magic Barrel, on the other hand, features 27-year-old rabbinical student Leo

Finkle. Finkle, searching for a bride, consults marriage broker Pinye Salzman, whose daughter, Stella, is a

fallen woman. BUT THE AUTHORS RESIST FOCUSING THEIR STORIES ON THE OBVIOUS SINNERSA

PROSTITUTE AND A DRUG ADDICT. RATHER, THE CHARACTERS WHO SIN AND ARE REDEEMED ARE A

RABBI IN TRAINING AND A RESPECTABLE FAMILY MAN. BY DOING SO, THE AUTHORS SEND THE

MESSAGE THAT IT IS THUS WITH US ALL.

BOTH STORIES ARE NARRATIVES OF SIN AND REDEMPTION; BOTH DRAW HEAVILY ON BIBLICAL AND

RELIGIOUS IMAGERY. In the Magic Barrel, the fact that the protagonist, Finkle, is a rabbinical student,

indicates that this is a story concerned with faith and salvation. The opening paragraph sets up the

religious theme for the story, with words like Yeshiva, rabbi, ordained, and congregation (172).

One of the central turning points in the story concerns Finkles relationship with God. On a date with

one of the women that Salzman introduces him to, Finkle realized the true nature of his relationship toGod (176). He told the woman that I came to God not because I loved him but because I did not

(176). This conflict helps to emphasize the religious nature of the story.

a. DESCRIBE PLOT OF MAGIC BARRELi. Focus on religious language/themes

1. Finkle is a rabbinical student2. Yeshiva, rabbi, congregation, ordained

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ii. Focus on Leos struggle with Godb. DESCRIBE PLOT OF SONNYS BLUES

i. Focus on religious language/themes1. Biblical Foundation of James Baldwins Sonnys Blues.

Critic James Takach points out that Baldwin used the Bible as a

foundation for Sonnys Blues. He identifies Sonnys Blues as an

interpretation of the Biblical stories of Cain and Abel and the Prodigal

Son. He also points out the Biblical significance of the cup of

trembling: Like the sinners in the book of Isaiah, Sonny has sinned; he

has, comma, indeed, drunk from the cup of trembling (117).

2. THE AUTHORS RESIST FOCUSING THE STORIES ON THE OBVIOUS SINNERSa. Stella would be the obvious choice as the sinnerb. Sonny would be the obvious choice as the sinner.

3. THE RABBI AND THE FAMILY MAN GET REDEEMED.