Gimpel the Fool | Essays and Criticism

  • Gimpel as The Archetype of The

    In the following essay, Sobeloff discusses how the character of Gimpel represents the Yiddish archetype of the "schlemiel," the sainted fool.

  • Gimpel and the Archetype of the Wise Fool

    In the following excerpt, Siegel views the protagonist and narrator of Singer's short story "Gimpel the Fool" as an ironic example of the archetypal wise-or sainted-fool figure in literature.

  • The Saint as Schlemiel

    In the following excerpt from a review of Gimpel the Fool, and Other Stories, Kazin discusses Singer's combination of traditional Jewish and modern literary conventions, focusing on his use of the archetypal fool figure of Jewish literature.