Journal #7 Cahan

Liana Laskin

English 48B

"The Imported Bridegroom" by Abraham Cahan

January 28, 2009

"As early as the summer of 1882, however, Abraham Cahan, in the United States only a very short time, challenged the Russian-speakers by pointing out that the Jewish workers did not understand the propaganda that the intellectuals were disseminating. It was proposed, almost as a lark, that Cahan lecture in Yiddish; and relatively quickly this so-called folk vernacular became the primary medium of communication. For some time, however, the consensus continued to be that Yiddish was strictly an expedient in the conduct of socialist activitiy and not a value in itself." (Gerald Sorin, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Cahan)

Summary:

Taking place in New York, the story centers around Asriel Stroon, the father of Flora, wanting his daughter to marry a traditional, religious Jewish man who will be able to perform the Kaddish on the anniversary of his death as he does not have a son to do it. Flora has other ideas, having been raised in America; she wants to marry a doctor and has romanticized ideas of the life she would have. Asriel goes back to his homeland and when he comes back brings with him Shaya, a prodigy and the man he wants Flora to marry. Initially she refuses to have anything to do with him, but eventually as he studies to be a doctor, she changes her mind.

Response:

I understand Flora's detestation of her father telling her who she should marry; I am half Jewish on my father's side (just by birth) and would be just as angry if he had those ideas about marriage and wanted me to marry a certain person. But Flora is also quite ignorant of how the world works, especially when she finds out that the "educated people" she has fantasized about are a mish mash of different cultures and ways of life ("be careful what you wish for because it may come true" definitely applies in this situation). And Flora cannot be too mad because this was what she wanted. I personally think she got what she deserved because she manipulated Shaya to become her ideal husband by training to be a doctor and expecting a lot in her life, especially since she already had so much when she was living with her father.