FREE ESSAY ON THE SILVER CROWN BY BERNARD MALAMUD

THE SILVER CROWN BY BERNARD MALAMUD

Distrust is a major theme throughout "The Silver Crown" by Bernard Malamud. This lack of
trust is not only justified by the circumstances in the story but also with the period
the story was written and the author's personal life. 
Albert Gans is a teacher whose father is deathly ill with an unknown ailment. Doctors are
baffled and do not know what treatment to prescribe to their patient. Emotionally
exhausted Albert travels home to rest when he encounters a retarded girl whom offers him
some hope. She gives him a card saying: "Heal The Sick. Save The Dying. Make A Silver
Crown"(Malamud 5). He follows the address on the card and meets a rabbi by the name of J.
Lifschitz who offers him the chance to save his father by having a blessed silver crown
made for him. Albert listens to the rabbi as he tells him of the powers of the crown.
Eagerly wanting to help his father, Albert inquires about the price of the crown. "One is
for 401 and the other is 986"(Malamud 12) Lifschitz explains as Albert ponders the
decision he is about to make. After leaving the old rabbi to think about this offer,
Albert wonders why he could not see one of the crowns and believes Lifschitz is trying to
con him out of his money. He finally is shown one of the crowns and is still convinced he
is being swindled out of nine hundred and eighty-six silver dollars. Albert becomes so
suspicious of his dealings with the rabbi that ultimately his distrust causes his own
father's death.
The circumstances in the book that lead Albert to assume he is being deceived are
numerous. Returning one night to look for the rabbi, Albert asks a colleague of Rabbi
Lifschitz's about the silver crowns and his colleague has no idea what Albert is talking
about. This leads Albert to presume there is no silver crown. A few moments later
Lifschitz arrives home wearing expensive new clothes. Upon seeing this Albert is
infuriated and demands either the return of his money or the silver crown in his hands.
Neither of which Lifschitz could produce. Albert then flies into an uncontrollable frenzy
and curses his father, the curse that kills him. 
Malamud being Jewish often uses his religion in his stories and relates the importance of
having faith in God. The place, which he set this story, was an inner city like most of
his other works. The effects of suffering are the central point to Malamud's fiction, his
Jews symbolize all victims and that his characters cannot be easily categorized as heroes
or villains. It is never clarified whether the rabbi is a charlatan or if he can perform
miracles. The death of Albert's father can be seen as a coincidence or the results of his
son's doubt in the old rabbi.
Distrust is a dangerous emotion. It can cause people to say things they will regret and
cause devastating events to happen. The effect of Albert's suspicion forces him to pay
the ultimate price of losing his father. I believe the lesson Malamud tries to convey is
to have faith and trust in God no matter how unbelievable the outcome seems.