On Account of a Hat (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Sholom Rabinowitz
- First Published: 1913
- Type of Plot: Wit and humor
- Time of Work: The late 1800's
- Setting: Kasrilevke and Zlodievka
- Principal Characters: The narrator, Sholom Shachnah Rattlebrain, Sholom Aleichem
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: Jews or Jewish life, Self-confidence, Trains, Real estate
The Story
The story's opening introduces its multilayered narrative structure and the principal characters, particularly Sholom Shachnah Rattlebrain, about whom the (secondary) narrator weaves his fantastic and amusing tale regarding absentmindedness, all the while interrupting himself with amusing observations and comical asides. Prior to unfolding this narrator's yarn, Sholom Aleichem expresses his own doubts about its veracity, thus implicitly shifting to that merchant-narrator any blame for telling a tall tale and expecting the reader to accept it as real.
The...
[The entire page is 1921 words long]
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