59 pages • 1 hour read
Abraham CahanA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This guide contains discussion of antisemitism and pogroms. It also references misogynistic views. This novel sometimes uses language that is offensive to people with mental health concerns and contains a depiction of sexual assault.
David Levinsky, the protagonist, immigrates from Antomir, Russia, to the United States. David is both a round and dynamic character, changing throughout the story. His youth in Russia centers on his Talmudic studies. He loses his father when he is three and his mother while still a young man. David grows up poor and relies heavily on the charity of others to survive, continually fluctuating between extremes. In his youth, this manifests in a cycle of deep penitence and heathen sin. He prays for forgiveness and strength to avoid temptation, then gives in to temptation entirely, reveling in the shame and self-disgust. David proves to be a risk-taker, scrounging the money to immigrate to America with the help of his first love, Matilda.