Idiots First | Idiots First

At a glance:

Author: Bernard Malamud
First Published: 1961
Type of Plot: Fable
Time of Work: The mid-twentieth century
Setting: New York
Principal Characters: Mendel, Isaac, A pawnbroker, Mr. Fishbein, Yascha, Ginzburg
Genres: Fable, Short fiction
Subjects: Parents and children, Traveling or travelers, Love or romance, Poverty or poor people, Fathers, Death or dying, Trains, Mental retardation, Old age or elderly people, Pawnbroking or pawnbrokers
Locales: New York

“Idiots First” begins with the stopping of Mendel's clock as the old man awakens in fright. The importance of time in the story is foreshadowed in the opening paragraph when the reader is told that Mendel “wasted minutes sitting at the edge of the bed.” Once moving, he dresses, summons his son Isaac, and, pocketing a paper bag containing his modest savings, leads his son into the night. The old man seems very fearful, and he warns Isaac to avoid Ginzburg, who came to see Mendel the day before. “Don’t talk to him or go with him if he asks you,” Mendel...

Idiots First | Idiots First

At a glance:

The Story

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