Sholem Aleichem first introduced the world to Tevye the milkman in 1894. His long time editor, Mordacai Spektor, was initially against the idea and reluctant to publish, thinking that Tevye's story was already irrelevant to a modern public. Sholem Aleichem rebuffed him, saying: "Please don't be offended - the world will certainly like it. I don't know whether this is because the world knows more than you do, or because it knows nothing at all" (Frieden 1). To say that the world likes Tevye is a gross understatement. The story of Tevye, the poor but hardworking dairyman from Anatevka, has been translated from the original Yiddish into a dozen different languages and adapted into a multi Tony award winning Broadway musical as well as three major films. The 1971 Hollywood film version, Fiddler on the Roof, which this review will focus on, received three Academy Awards and two Golden Globes. The reason that Tevye has retained his relevance and popularity for over a century is the timeless nature of his story. As Seth Wolitz, holder of the Gale chair in Jewish studies at UT Austin, put it "Tevye encapsulated the world of tradition coming to terms with modernization" (Wolitz 514).
Indeed, "Tradition!" is Tevye's mantra. He is the classic example of what Wolitz refers to as the folk Jew archetype that is representative of the romanticized "old country". Even though he may not fully understand the customs themselves, Tevye understands their importance perfectly well. The Russian Jews of Anatevka lead a precarious existence alongside their anti-Semitic, Gentile neighbors. Tradition provides them with the balance they need to survive. As Tevye tells us, "because of our traditions, every one of us knows who he is and what God expects of him...Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof." It is only in his private conversations with God that Tevye dares to question the validity of the traditions he fights so hard to uphold. These "dialogs" with God are the most striking feature of Tevye's character. It is a unique tradition of Judaism to question God, and Tevye is a modern day Moses, questioning God's actions in Anatevka just as Moses did in Egypt. But this does not weaken Tevye's devotion to God or imply any lack of faith. As Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson said, "questioning God’s justice is actually an assertion of love and loyalty with those who are suffering—it is the outer evidence of an inner passion for justice and for goodness" (Artson). Of course, there is never any answer to his constant questions, and Tevye is left to puzzle out the divine will of God alone.
However content Tevye may be to live in ignorance of the outside world, eventually the outside world comes to him. Tevye's world is thrown into disorder by his three eldest daughters, who challenge tradition with their unorthodox choices in love, and the increasingly violent political environment of pre-revolutionary, Tsarist Russia. As Tevye deals with each of his daughters successive rebellions and the growing anti-Semitism his people face, he becomes the embodiment of Jewish adaptability. Wolitz suggests that the theme of Fiddler is "Jewish adaptability as the key to Jewish continuity" (Wolitz 527). This adaptability proves key to Tevye's own survival at the conclusion of the film.
We meet Tevye on a Friday, just before the Sabbath begins. He immediately breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly as he tells us about life inAnatevka. He quickly engages in his favorite pastime, quoting "the good book". Of course Tevye's quotations are never correct, but always relevant to the situation at hand. Tevye introduces us to the character of the fiddler. Wolitz considers the image of the fiddler to be "central to the aesthetic effectiveness of the musical, for it is the emblem of enduring Jewish culture asTevye is its folk representative" (Wolitz 526). While Tevye is finishing his deliveries in the village he and the other the men in Anatevka receive news of Jews being evicted from another shtetl. As the men stand sharing their distaste for the Tsar and his edicts, we are introduced to Perchik. Perchik is a university student from Kiev with plans to change the world, and his arrival at the same time as such terrible political news is obvious foreshadowing. He chastises the men of the village who are content to remain ignorant of the outside world. Since he left Kiev, Perchik has been wandering from town to town trying to scratch out a living by giving lessons to children. When Tevye tells him he has five daughters, Perchik is delighted. He tells Tevye that “Girls are people too!” and the conservative rabbi's son proclaims him a radical. But Tevye has taken a liking to Perchik, even if he find his view of the world being starkly divided between rich and poor to be oversimplified. He invites Perchik to stay with his family in exchange for lessons for his daughters and takes him home to join their Sabbath meal.
As Tevye is finishing his work in town, Yenta the matchmaker is paying a visit to his wife Golde at their home as she prepares the Sabbath meal. Tzietel is Tevye's oldest daughter and nearly twenty years old. Yenta, the village matchmaker has been unsuccessfully attempting to find her a husband for some time. As the eldest, Tzietel must be matched before any of her four younger sisters can be considered for marriage. Finally, Yenta has found a match for Tzietel that she is certain Tevye and Golde cannot pass up. The rich butcher, Lazar Wolf has cast his eye on Tzietel. Golde is thrilled, but she knows that Tevye has never been fond of Lazar. She decides not to tell Tevye exactly what Lazar wants, but insists that Tevye go and speak with him personally after the Sabbath is over. However, the audience soon becomes privy to the secret love between Tzietel and her childhood friend, the tailor Motel Kamzoil. Tzietel warns Motel of Yenta's visit and insists that he ask Tevye for her hand in marriage that night before any match can be made. Unfortunately, Motel is too timid and backs down in the face ofTevye's furious temper. After the Sabbath Tevye meets with Lazar Wolf, who asks for Tzietel's hand in marriage. At first, Tevye is disapproving of the idea. He wanted his daughters to marry learned men and Lazar, as Tevye tells us, is only capable of carrying on a conversation if it is about kidneys or livers. Tevye takes his paternal role as the ultimate authority over his daughters marriages very seriously. There is a long moment of internal deliberation in which he considers Tzietel's best interests. Tevye tells himself, "with a butcher, my daughter would surely never go hungry. And he will try to make her happy." He eventually agrees to the match, overjoyed with himself for being able to give his daughter a rich husband and, as he sees it, all the comforts of life.Tevye and Lazar-Wolf drink and dance in celebration of their agreement. After a long night of reverie, Tevye stumbles back home only to cross paths with the town constable. Tevye has known the Constable his whole life and they have a tenuous friendship. He tells Tevye that he has received orders to stage a "demonstration" against the Jews in Anatevka. "A pogrom, here?" Tevye asks, but the Constable is quick to downplay the news, telling Tevye that it is probably nothing to worry about. Tevye again looks to God, asking why he should recieve such bad news on the same night he is celebrating his daughters engagement. As he continues home, Tevye sees the fiddler and they dance, despite his melancholy mood.
But when Tevye informs Tzietel of his agreement with Lazar-Wolf, she tells him that she does not want to marry the butcher. Tzietel breaks down, begging Tevye not to make her marry the butcher. Tevye is confused by Tzietel's outburst, but agrees that his daughter's happiness is more important than any agreement. Motel finally makes his appearance, telling Tevye he has a solution to the problem of finding a match for his eldest daughter. "This match fits like a glove. It was made exactly to measure." Tevye, already frustrated and still hungover from his meeting with Lazar Wolf, becomes enraged. "Stop talking like a tailor and tell me who is it!" When Motel tells Tevye that he is the perfect match for Tzietel, Tevye laughs in his face. He scoffs at the idea that Motel would circumvent the longstanding matchmaking tradition and take matters into his own hands. Motel tells Tevye that over a year ago he and Tzietel had given each other a pledge that they would be married. Tevye explodes, telling the cowering couple that "some things I cannot, I will not allow! Marriages are arranged by the Papa!" He roars at Motel, telling him that he cannot marry Tzietel because he is just a poor tailor. But Motel surprises everyone as he shouts back, "Even a poor tailor is entitled to some happiness!" Tevye is impressed by Motel finally acting like a man and after one last shout of "Tradition!", he acquiesces with a shrug. Tevye concocts a wild, prophetic dream in order to break the news of the engagement to Golde. He tells Golde that her dead grandmother congratulated Tevye on finding the perfect match for Tzietel and then Lazar Wolf's wife Frumah Sarah flew out of her tomb to warn Tevye of the fatal consequences that would occur if his daughter were to marry her husband. Golde is extremely superstitious and after hearing Tevye's dreadful vision she quickly agrees that it is best for Tzietel to marry the tailor. Sholem Aleichem hinted at the doom nature of Lazar and Tzietel's marriage from the beginning. Wolitz points out, "in Jewish kosher food laws you cannot mix dairy (Tevye the dairyman) with meat (Lazar-Wolf the butcher)" (Wolitz 518).
Motel and Tzietel are married, and the ceremony is a paragon of Jewish custom. They are wed under a chuppah in the center of town with the entire shtetl present to witness their vows. The fiddler is present, watching over their vows and the following celebration. Everyone celebrates happily, until an argument breaks out between Tevye and Lazar-Wolf about their broken agreement. Perchik interrupts them with a tirade against tradition. He insists that it's the right of the bride to choose her bridegroom, not the fathers. He tears down the rope that separates the men from the women and asks Tevye's daughter Hodel to dance. At first everyone is horrified, but then Tevye follows suit insisting that Golde dance with him and soon the whole shtetl is dancing together. The reveling is interrupted when pogromniks storm the town destroying property and burning houses. While no one is killed, the villagers are left shaken, standing in the wreckage that was their little corner of the world. Tevye urges his family to stop standing around and start cleaning up. The last shot before the film's intermission is Tevye, holding a broken loaf of challah, looking up at God, asking why and once again, receiving no answer.
The seasons change and now it is fall in Anatevka. Tevye informs us that things have worked out well for Motel and Tzietel. They may be extremely poor, but as Tevye tells us "they are so happy they don't know how miserable they are." Meanwhile, another romance has been flourishing. Hodel is Tevye's second and most beautiful daughter. She has a sharp wit and a bright mind and she has found a kindred spirit in the revolutionary, Perchik. One day, by the river, Perchik tells Hodel that he must leave Anatevka and return to Kiev to rally the workers for the coming revolution. Hodel is crushed. Perchik had treated her as an intellectual equal and challenged her notions of what it meant to love someone. Perchik tells Hodel that before he goes, he must ask her an important political question, a question of marriage. Perchik tells her that " like everything else, the relationship between a man and a woman has a socioeconomic base. Marriage must be founded on mutual beliefs. A common attitude and philosophy towards society." Perchik promises that he will send for Hodel as soon as he can and she happily agrees to marry him. As they walk back towards the village they meet Tevye on the road. Perchik tells Tevye that he must leave Anatevka, but that he and Hodel are to be congratulated on their engagement. Tevye is outraged that Perchik would think of marrying his daughter just as he is leaving. He forbids the pair to marry, but Perchik informs him that they are not asking for his permission, the simply want his blessing. This catches Tevye completely off guard. He considers the couple, seeing how obvious Hodel's love for Perchik is. Tevye has become more and more aware of how the times are changing. "After all," he tells God, "our old ways were once new, weren't they? It is a new world, a new world. Love." After a moment of reflection he decides to give Perchik and Hodel his blessing and his permission. He doesn't try to sugarcoat the news for Golde this time, telling her straight out that he gave them permission to marry because they are in love. When Tevye asks Golde if she is in love with him, she doesn't seem to understand the question. They have been married for twenty-five years. They have shared countless joys and sorrows as they worked and raised five daughters together. Whether they love each other or not makes no difference. However, after considering,Golde decides that she does indeed love Tevye . He happily tells her that he loves her as well, and they decide that even though it makes no difference, after such a long time together it is nice to know.
The seasons once more and now it is winter. Perchik is in Kiev preaching Marxism when he is arrested by Tsarist troops. When he sends a letter to Hodel informing her of his conviction, she decides to join him in the prison settlement in Siberia. Tevye brings her to the railroad station and Hodel tries to explain her decision to leave the home that she loves. Tevye fights to hold back his emotion as he helps Hodel board the train. He knows that this may be the last time he ever sees his daughter, as sending a child to Siberia is tantamount to a death sentence.
Meanwhile, Chava, Tevye's third and most beloved daughter has been carrying on a clandestine affair with a Gentile boy named Fyedka. When Tevye sees them together in the village, he seems to know what is going on and when Chava approaches him about Fyedka he makes his feelings very plain. "A bird may love a fish, but where would they make a home?" Chava tries to tell Tevye that times change, clearly hoping that his tolerance of her sisters unorthodox relationships would extend to her as well. But Chava's situation is extraordinary. Tzietel's and Motel's pledge to marry was unusual, and Perchik may have been on the radical fringe of Jewish society, but Fyedka is an outsider and he has no place in Tevye's world. Tevye tells Chava that there are things that will never change for their people and that she is forbidden to see or speak of Fyedka ever again. Chava ignores her father's words and she and Fyedka are married in secret in a Christian Orthodox church. When Chava disappears from home, Golde goes into the Christian church to ask the priest for information. Many considered this a gaff on the part of director Norman Jewison, saying that no orthodox Jew would have ever entered a church even in the most extreme situations. The scene itself proves to be very moving and the audience can sense the level of Golde's desperation as she stands in the chapel waiting to speak to the priest. Golde finds Tevye on the road and tells him the news of Chava's marriage. He is silent with grief for only a moment, wondering where he could have gone wrong with his little Chavala, but then he tells Golde to go home. "We have other children at home. You have work to do, I have work to do. Go home...Chava is dead to us! We'll forget her. Go home." Golde is heartbroken, but she obeys Tevye and returns home to tend to their youngest daughters. As Tevye starts back down the road, determined to continue with his work, he is approached by Chava and she begs him to accept her relationship with Fyedka. Tevye once again takes a moment to reflect as he speaks to God about what the correct reaction should be. Tevye loves Chava, but intermarriage in this time and place is not something that he knows cannot be tolerated. "If I bend that far, I may break." Tevye turns and walks away as a distraught Chava screams after him.
More time passes and the villagers have begun to hear rumors of more Jews being evicted from their homes. As they gather to quarrel about what may or may not be true, they are approached by the Constable. He tells them that the Tsar has issued an edict and all the Jews in the district must sell their property and leave Anatevka in three days. The people are angry at first and there is talk of defending themselves against the Tsar's troops. They quickly realize that this plan is hopeless. The console themselves by reminiscing how hard life had been for them in Anatevka ." Someone should have set a match to this place years ago." The town passes by in tableau as the villagers prepare to leave the place that has always been their home. When the day comes to depart,Chava returns to her family to tell them that she and Fyedka are also leaving Anatevka. "We cannot stay among people who can do such things to others." Tevye ignores her as he secures their belongings in the wagon. Fyedka eventually calls Chava away, and as she begins to walk away Tevye tells her quietly, "may God be with you." Chava calls out to tell them she will write from Cracow, and Golde tells her they family is traveling to New York to stay with her brother Avram. The last we see of Anatevka is the long, staggering line of the evicted slog their way through the mud, and the Constable standing in the middle of the empty shtetl.
Tevye's situation may seem bleak, two of his daughters are gone, he's been forced out of the only home he has ever known and he is bringing his family to an unfamiliar city in a foreign country. But this is not an unfamiliar position for the Jewish people. As Mordcha the innkeeper had reminded them, "Our forefathers ave been forced out of many, many places at a moments notice." So once again Tevye finds himself following in the footsteps of Moses. He brings his family and his traditions into the new promised land of America, truly a stranger in a strange land. "Tevye becomes the personification of the Jewish immigrant and the universal grandfather of Jewish America" (530). Pulling the cart loaded with all his earthly possessions, Tevye hears the familiar strains of the fiddlers melody, and he turns and beckons him to follow his family into the new world.
Indeed, "Tradition!" is Tevye's mantra. He is the classic example of what Wolitz refers to as the folk Jew archetype that is representative of the romanticized "old country". Even though he may not fully understand the customs themselves, Tevye understands their importance perfectly well. The Russian Jews of Anatevka lead a precarious existence alongside their anti-Semitic, Gentile neighbors. Tradition provides them with the balance they need to survive. As Tevye tells us, "because of our traditions, every one of us knows who he is and what God expects of him...Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof." It is only in his private conversations with God that Tevye dares to question the validity of the traditions he fights so hard to uphold. These "dialogs" with God are the most striking feature of Tevye's character. It is a unique tradition of Judaism to question God, and Tevye is a modern day Moses, questioning God's actions in Anatevka just as Moses did in Egypt. But this does not weaken Tevye's devotion to God or imply any lack of faith. As Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson said, "questioning God’s justice is actually an assertion of love and loyalty with those who are suffering—it is the outer evidence of an inner passion for justice and for goodness" (Artson). Of course, there is never any answer to his constant questions, and Tevye is left to puzzle out the divine will of God alone.
However content Tevye may be to live in ignorance of the outside world, eventually the outside world comes to him. Tevye's world is thrown into disorder by his three eldest daughters, who challenge tradition with their unorthodox choices in love, and the increasingly violent political environment of pre-revolutionary, Tsarist Russia. As Tevye deals with each of his daughters successive rebellions and the growing anti-Semitism his people face, he becomes the embodiment of Jewish adaptability. Wolitz suggests that the theme of Fiddler is "Jewish adaptability as the key to Jewish continuity" (Wolitz 527). This adaptability proves key to Tevye's own survival at the conclusion of the film.
We meet Tevye on a Friday, just before the Sabbath begins. He immediately breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly as he tells us about life inAnatevka. He quickly engages in his favorite pastime, quoting "the good book". Of course Tevye's quotations are never correct, but always relevant to the situation at hand. Tevye introduces us to the character of the fiddler. Wolitz considers the image of the fiddler to be "central to the aesthetic effectiveness of the musical, for it is the emblem of enduring Jewish culture asTevye is its folk representative" (Wolitz 526). While Tevye is finishing his deliveries in the village he and the other the men in Anatevka receive news of Jews being evicted from another shtetl. As the men stand sharing their distaste for the Tsar and his edicts, we are introduced to Perchik. Perchik is a university student from Kiev with plans to change the world, and his arrival at the same time as such terrible political news is obvious foreshadowing. He chastises the men of the village who are content to remain ignorant of the outside world. Since he left Kiev, Perchik has been wandering from town to town trying to scratch out a living by giving lessons to children. When Tevye tells him he has five daughters, Perchik is delighted. He tells Tevye that “Girls are people too!” and the conservative rabbi's son proclaims him a radical. But Tevye has taken a liking to Perchik, even if he find his view of the world being starkly divided between rich and poor to be oversimplified. He invites Perchik to stay with his family in exchange for lessons for his daughters and takes him home to join their Sabbath meal.
As Tevye is finishing his work in town, Yenta the matchmaker is paying a visit to his wife Golde at their home as she prepares the Sabbath meal. Tzietel is Tevye's oldest daughter and nearly twenty years old. Yenta, the village matchmaker has been unsuccessfully attempting to find her a husband for some time. As the eldest, Tzietel must be matched before any of her four younger sisters can be considered for marriage. Finally, Yenta has found a match for Tzietel that she is certain Tevye and Golde cannot pass up. The rich butcher, Lazar Wolf has cast his eye on Tzietel. Golde is thrilled, but she knows that Tevye has never been fond of Lazar. She decides not to tell Tevye exactly what Lazar wants, but insists that Tevye go and speak with him personally after the Sabbath is over. However, the audience soon becomes privy to the secret love between Tzietel and her childhood friend, the tailor Motel Kamzoil. Tzietel warns Motel of Yenta's visit and insists that he ask Tevye for her hand in marriage that night before any match can be made. Unfortunately, Motel is too timid and backs down in the face ofTevye's furious temper. After the Sabbath Tevye meets with Lazar Wolf, who asks for Tzietel's hand in marriage. At first, Tevye is disapproving of the idea. He wanted his daughters to marry learned men and Lazar, as Tevye tells us, is only capable of carrying on a conversation if it is about kidneys or livers. Tevye takes his paternal role as the ultimate authority over his daughters marriages very seriously. There is a long moment of internal deliberation in which he considers Tzietel's best interests. Tevye tells himself, "with a butcher, my daughter would surely never go hungry. And he will try to make her happy." He eventually agrees to the match, overjoyed with himself for being able to give his daughter a rich husband and, as he sees it, all the comforts of life.Tevye and Lazar-Wolf drink and dance in celebration of their agreement. After a long night of reverie, Tevye stumbles back home only to cross paths with the town constable. Tevye has known the Constable his whole life and they have a tenuous friendship. He tells Tevye that he has received orders to stage a "demonstration" against the Jews in Anatevka. "A pogrom, here?" Tevye asks, but the Constable is quick to downplay the news, telling Tevye that it is probably nothing to worry about. Tevye again looks to God, asking why he should recieve such bad news on the same night he is celebrating his daughters engagement. As he continues home, Tevye sees the fiddler and they dance, despite his melancholy mood.
But when Tevye informs Tzietel of his agreement with Lazar-Wolf, she tells him that she does not want to marry the butcher. Tzietel breaks down, begging Tevye not to make her marry the butcher. Tevye is confused by Tzietel's outburst, but agrees that his daughter's happiness is more important than any agreement. Motel finally makes his appearance, telling Tevye he has a solution to the problem of finding a match for his eldest daughter. "This match fits like a glove. It was made exactly to measure." Tevye, already frustrated and still hungover from his meeting with Lazar Wolf, becomes enraged. "Stop talking like a tailor and tell me who is it!" When Motel tells Tevye that he is the perfect match for Tzietel, Tevye laughs in his face. He scoffs at the idea that Motel would circumvent the longstanding matchmaking tradition and take matters into his own hands. Motel tells Tevye that over a year ago he and Tzietel had given each other a pledge that they would be married. Tevye explodes, telling the cowering couple that "some things I cannot, I will not allow! Marriages are arranged by the Papa!" He roars at Motel, telling him that he cannot marry Tzietel because he is just a poor tailor. But Motel surprises everyone as he shouts back, "Even a poor tailor is entitled to some happiness!" Tevye is impressed by Motel finally acting like a man and after one last shout of "Tradition!", he acquiesces with a shrug. Tevye concocts a wild, prophetic dream in order to break the news of the engagement to Golde. He tells Golde that her dead grandmother congratulated Tevye on finding the perfect match for Tzietel and then Lazar Wolf's wife Frumah Sarah flew out of her tomb to warn Tevye of the fatal consequences that would occur if his daughter were to marry her husband. Golde is extremely superstitious and after hearing Tevye's dreadful vision she quickly agrees that it is best for Tzietel to marry the tailor. Sholem Aleichem hinted at the doom nature of Lazar and Tzietel's marriage from the beginning. Wolitz points out, "in Jewish kosher food laws you cannot mix dairy (Tevye the dairyman) with meat (Lazar-Wolf the butcher)" (Wolitz 518).
Motel and Tzietel are married, and the ceremony is a paragon of Jewish custom. They are wed under a chuppah in the center of town with the entire shtetl present to witness their vows. The fiddler is present, watching over their vows and the following celebration. Everyone celebrates happily, until an argument breaks out between Tevye and Lazar-Wolf about their broken agreement. Perchik interrupts them with a tirade against tradition. He insists that it's the right of the bride to choose her bridegroom, not the fathers. He tears down the rope that separates the men from the women and asks Tevye's daughter Hodel to dance. At first everyone is horrified, but then Tevye follows suit insisting that Golde dance with him and soon the whole shtetl is dancing together. The reveling is interrupted when pogromniks storm the town destroying property and burning houses. While no one is killed, the villagers are left shaken, standing in the wreckage that was their little corner of the world. Tevye urges his family to stop standing around and start cleaning up. The last shot before the film's intermission is Tevye, holding a broken loaf of challah, looking up at God, asking why and once again, receiving no answer.
The seasons change and now it is fall in Anatevka. Tevye informs us that things have worked out well for Motel and Tzietel. They may be extremely poor, but as Tevye tells us "they are so happy they don't know how miserable they are." Meanwhile, another romance has been flourishing. Hodel is Tevye's second and most beautiful daughter. She has a sharp wit and a bright mind and she has found a kindred spirit in the revolutionary, Perchik. One day, by the river, Perchik tells Hodel that he must leave Anatevka and return to Kiev to rally the workers for the coming revolution. Hodel is crushed. Perchik had treated her as an intellectual equal and challenged her notions of what it meant to love someone. Perchik tells Hodel that before he goes, he must ask her an important political question, a question of marriage. Perchik tells her that " like everything else, the relationship between a man and a woman has a socioeconomic base. Marriage must be founded on mutual beliefs. A common attitude and philosophy towards society." Perchik promises that he will send for Hodel as soon as he can and she happily agrees to marry him. As they walk back towards the village they meet Tevye on the road. Perchik tells Tevye that he must leave Anatevka, but that he and Hodel are to be congratulated on their engagement. Tevye is outraged that Perchik would think of marrying his daughter just as he is leaving. He forbids the pair to marry, but Perchik informs him that they are not asking for his permission, the simply want his blessing. This catches Tevye completely off guard. He considers the couple, seeing how obvious Hodel's love for Perchik is. Tevye has become more and more aware of how the times are changing. "After all," he tells God, "our old ways were once new, weren't they? It is a new world, a new world. Love." After a moment of reflection he decides to give Perchik and Hodel his blessing and his permission. He doesn't try to sugarcoat the news for Golde this time, telling her straight out that he gave them permission to marry because they are in love. When Tevye asks Golde if she is in love with him, she doesn't seem to understand the question. They have been married for twenty-five years. They have shared countless joys and sorrows as they worked and raised five daughters together. Whether they love each other or not makes no difference. However, after considering,Golde decides that she does indeed love Tevye . He happily tells her that he loves her as well, and they decide that even though it makes no difference, after such a long time together it is nice to know.
The seasons once more and now it is winter. Perchik is in Kiev preaching Marxism when he is arrested by Tsarist troops. When he sends a letter to Hodel informing her of his conviction, she decides to join him in the prison settlement in Siberia. Tevye brings her to the railroad station and Hodel tries to explain her decision to leave the home that she loves. Tevye fights to hold back his emotion as he helps Hodel board the train. He knows that this may be the last time he ever sees his daughter, as sending a child to Siberia is tantamount to a death sentence.
Meanwhile, Chava, Tevye's third and most beloved daughter has been carrying on a clandestine affair with a Gentile boy named Fyedka. When Tevye sees them together in the village, he seems to know what is going on and when Chava approaches him about Fyedka he makes his feelings very plain. "A bird may love a fish, but where would they make a home?" Chava tries to tell Tevye that times change, clearly hoping that his tolerance of her sisters unorthodox relationships would extend to her as well. But Chava's situation is extraordinary. Tzietel's and Motel's pledge to marry was unusual, and Perchik may have been on the radical fringe of Jewish society, but Fyedka is an outsider and he has no place in Tevye's world. Tevye tells Chava that there are things that will never change for their people and that she is forbidden to see or speak of Fyedka ever again. Chava ignores her father's words and she and Fyedka are married in secret in a Christian Orthodox church. When Chava disappears from home, Golde goes into the Christian church to ask the priest for information. Many considered this a gaff on the part of director Norman Jewison, saying that no orthodox Jew would have ever entered a church even in the most extreme situations. The scene itself proves to be very moving and the audience can sense the level of Golde's desperation as she stands in the chapel waiting to speak to the priest. Golde finds Tevye on the road and tells him the news of Chava's marriage. He is silent with grief for only a moment, wondering where he could have gone wrong with his little Chavala, but then he tells Golde to go home. "We have other children at home. You have work to do, I have work to do. Go home...Chava is dead to us! We'll forget her. Go home." Golde is heartbroken, but she obeys Tevye and returns home to tend to their youngest daughters. As Tevye starts back down the road, determined to continue with his work, he is approached by Chava and she begs him to accept her relationship with Fyedka. Tevye once again takes a moment to reflect as he speaks to God about what the correct reaction should be. Tevye loves Chava, but intermarriage in this time and place is not something that he knows cannot be tolerated. "If I bend that far, I may break." Tevye turns and walks away as a distraught Chava screams after him.
More time passes and the villagers have begun to hear rumors of more Jews being evicted from their homes. As they gather to quarrel about what may or may not be true, they are approached by the Constable. He tells them that the Tsar has issued an edict and all the Jews in the district must sell their property and leave Anatevka in three days. The people are angry at first and there is talk of defending themselves against the Tsar's troops. They quickly realize that this plan is hopeless. The console themselves by reminiscing how hard life had been for them in Anatevka ." Someone should have set a match to this place years ago." The town passes by in tableau as the villagers prepare to leave the place that has always been their home. When the day comes to depart,Chava returns to her family to tell them that she and Fyedka are also leaving Anatevka. "We cannot stay among people who can do such things to others." Tevye ignores her as he secures their belongings in the wagon. Fyedka eventually calls Chava away, and as she begins to walk away Tevye tells her quietly, "may God be with you." Chava calls out to tell them she will write from Cracow, and Golde tells her they family is traveling to New York to stay with her brother Avram. The last we see of Anatevka is the long, staggering line of the evicted slog their way through the mud, and the Constable standing in the middle of the empty shtetl.
Tevye's situation may seem bleak, two of his daughters are gone, he's been forced out of the only home he has ever known and he is bringing his family to an unfamiliar city in a foreign country. But this is not an unfamiliar position for the Jewish people. As Mordcha the innkeeper had reminded them, "Our forefathers ave been forced out of many, many places at a moments notice." So once again Tevye finds himself following in the footsteps of Moses. He brings his family and his traditions into the new promised land of America, truly a stranger in a strange land. "Tevye becomes the personification of the Jewish immigrant and the universal grandfather of Jewish America" (530). Pulling the cart loaded with all his earthly possessions, Tevye hears the familiar strains of the fiddlers melody, and he turns and beckons him to follow his family into the new world.
1 comment:
As always, an outstanding paper and a creative use of the web to present your work!
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