Adapting to many things is difficult, and with adaptation changes arrive. Without a doubt assimilating to a new culture or assimilating to new social constructs can cause many changes within itself. Two of the greatest changes that arise, some may even say crisis, are culture and identity. More specifically how dissociation from culture and identity occurs when trying to assimilate. In the stories, “Lady Of The Lake” by Bernard Malmud and “Call It Sleep” by Henry Roth we see in the main characters a loss of identity and dissociation with their culture for the sake of social success. The difference between both is that in “Lady Of The Lake” the identity crisis and assimilation issue in regards to romance and the social challenge that surrounds it. While in call it sleep the assimilation issue and identity crisis revolves around the social expectations placed on the main character by his friend causing disregard to his religion. Nonetheless both stories are rooted in Jewishness and the difficulty the characters, David and Freeman, face navigating their Jewishness romantically and socially.
To begin in “Lady Of The Lake” by Bernard Malmud readers are told that the reason that Freeman leaves Coney Island and goes to Italy is to find love. From the beginning readers are given the sense that Freeman felt the need to leave Coney Island and America as a whole because dating in the jewish community was troubling. This caused Freeman to have the precedent of not stating he was jewish when attempting to find love in italy. “[ Henry Levin, known as Henry R. Freeman] Went abroad seeking romance. In Paris for no reason he was sure of, except that he was tired of the past-tired of the limitations it had imposed upon him” (Malmud,105). As readers we can already see the detachment on behalf of freeman from his Jewishness, which started with his name. When at the Lake this young woman catches his attention, in one of the interactions that they have she asks him if he is Jewish and he remarks and says no (offended almost). Even after the young woman continues to show interest, he denies being jewish. In the end he loses the opportunity with the women because he felt that in order to have a better chance with her (or anyone) he must lie about his religion. In return he ended up losing the girl because she believed that he was not jewish. Freeman changed part of his whole identity to assimilate to what he believed love is and to be more appealing to women in italy.
Freeman however was not the only one who changed and/or pushed aside part of his identity to be more appealing. David the main character of “Call it Sleep” By Henry Roth had a similar issue, just a tad different. Instead of wanting to appeal to what is romantically or socially “correct” he does it to appeal to the friend that he wants to be accepted by. David wants to be socially accepted by Leo who is Catholic. In order to do that David practically pushes his Jewishness aside and holds the cross and stays with it. While also creating a myth about his origins that involves christianity.
In summary dissociating from their Jewishness in both “Call It Sleep” by Henry Roth and “Lady Of The Lake” By Bernard Malmud, is done to appeal whether it is romantically or socially to someone else. Throughout the course of these two stories assimilating, being accepted and achieving their main goals (friendship and romance) in the Freeman and David’s eyes is achieved by pretending to be someone they are not, even if it is momentarily. Taking into account all of these points it is proven that assimilating and wanting to be accepted often comes together with pretending to be something you’re not.
Work Cited
Malamud, Bernard. The Magic Barrel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 7 July 2003.
Roth, Henry. Call It Sleep. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 22 Oct. 2013.
