The climax of action and the dénouement fall together in the final speech of the story, being suggested rather than stated.
Characterization. The old man is characterized by the author’s description (the direct method, so called); by the summary of what his brethren felt and said (combination of direct and indirect methods); by the opinion his fellow-workmen held of him; and by Zelig’s own acts and speeches in addition to his habitual manner. Has he the greater part of the stage for most of the time? Purpose of his wife? Son? Grandson? Of the background characters?
Setting. “New York’s East Side.” The second value of the story lies in the setting. Indeed, the character value would be lost without it, and the unification is therefore noteworthy. Is the setting made contributory to atmosphere, also?
Details. Are you satisfied with the ending? Is the sense of tragedy at the failure of the human element striving against circumstance relieved by the recognition of Zelig’s rehabilitation, or revivification? Has he, in a deeper sense, conquered in that he has conquered self?
General Methods. That Benjamin Rosenblatt creates his characters, not “lifting” them from life, is manifest in his statement: “As to Zelig, I really haven’t met any one just like him, so that I couldn’t have had any individual case before my mind’s eye when I wrote the story.”
THE MENORAH
Starting Point. “A few years ago I passed one of the congested East Side streets just when a fire broke out in one of the tenements. I saw climbing down the fire escapes of the burning building a very old Jewess dragging some of her belongings with her. Among these belongings was a pair of old-fashioned, common-place candlesticks used for ‘Sabbath blessing.’ That started me on the way to ‘The Menorah.’”—Benjamin Rosenblatt.
Classification. “The Menorah” offers itself as a fit companion-piece to “Zelig.” In the latter, the setting is New York, the character is an old man, the struggle is successfully unsuccessful. In this, the setting is “a little town in Russia,” the chief character is an old woman, the struggle is successfully unsuccessful. It is to be remarked that the two settings are equally well-known to Mr. Rosenblatt.
Plot. The struggle is on Lea’s part to preserve appearances in her rapidly deteriorating circumstances, to find a match for her daughter, and to keep the Menorah. The last is the most important. Although she fails, she does so in a way to relieve the reader’s distress at her failing.
A minor climax is in the death of the younger girl.