Category: Short Stories

Bernard Malamud (1914-1986 ) was an American writer, whose literary output was often rooted to the social problems of his day, his writing often attempting to find the saving grace in the character of potential antagonists. The present story encapsulates most of the key features of Malamud’s writing. Tommy Castelli has been trapped in the disciplinary prison of his marriage and his candy, shop with its boredom, predictability and limitedness, after  a series of wrong decisions culminating from his unguided childhood living in the ‘lousy poverty’ of a ‘squawking neighbourhood’. From petty thieving he got into bigger thefts, following which he ha to be bailed out of prison by his father. The latter makes a deal to marry his son to some rich man’s daughter, who promises the boy a livelihood through a candy store  business. Funnily enough, the real imprisonment starts after his marriage. Tony’s name is changed to Tommy by his wife, his movement and activities controlled. He is hardly free to leave the store or to make occasional arrangements to the shop layout, which could bring him some degree of financial gain. He is depressed but resigned to the little freedom he has in the monotony of his predictable days. However, some form of redemption comes when he takes it in his mind to set on the right track a little girl ,who is stealing chocolate bars from his store. He ineffectively tries to warn the little girl that she has been seen, so as to stop her from spiraling into a future life of theft as he himself did in the past. But his many attempts are unfruitful and the young girl keeps stealing every week. His motivations are interesting. He neither wants to reprimand, judge nor embarrass the girl. He genuinely wants to avoid her life becoming a repeated  cycle of his own past infernal trajectory.