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Noemy Escamilla
Mr. Hackney
English 101: Rhetoric
13 November 2014
The Lingering Effects of Hate
Isaac Bashevis Singer, the author of Satan in Goray (1955), Short Friday (1964), Passion
(1975), Old Love (1979), and The Death of Methuselah (1988) originated from Poland and later
emigrated to the United states. He is characterized for writing his stories in Yiddish then
translating them into English, as well as his meaningful stories of the Holocaust. Singers roots
can be seen through his short stories. The Lecture depicts the permanent aftermath effects of
inhumane events and unjustifiable hate, as they shadow the protagonist and the Yiddish
language.
Within the first three paragraphs everything seems to be going well. However, the
shadow that follows the narrator and the Yiddish language becomes apparent. All seems positive,
looking at only an overview of what the protagonist is saying. Once, looked more in depth many
things can be connected to negative connotations, such as the narrators reference to war,
poverty, sickness, death, Hitler and Stalins murder machine (Singer 489). The narrator
questions his optimism; he wonders what has made him feel this way he questions, What had
made me so optimistic all of the sudden? Wasnt Yiddish going under before my very eyes?
(Singer 489).
There is a turning point for the narrator, while on the train in which everything begins to
deteriorate as, The American dream gradually dissolves and harsh Polish reality returns
(Singer 490). The train ride, that had no resemblance to the life in Poland, now, resembled many

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aspects of it: drinking from a bottle, eating, sudden rush to the bathroom, and large coats. The
turbulent ride further stripped the narrator away from his current life; he slowly began to lose
touch with his time in America. The landscape and scenery also changed,in order to reflect the
protagonists feelings. He commenced his travel feeling confident and accomplished; every mile
traveled his emotions went downward. The train used be be painted at a sophisticated, clean,and
safe. The scenery outside was chill, but beautiful. Once, the narrators perspective began to
change the sky became dark, the train became rowdy and dirty. The snowfall stopped being
pleasant and turned into an obstacle, lengthening the dreading ride.
While passengers began to use the weather as an excuse to socialize, the narrator sat
alone, secluded from the group. He uttered to himself: I sit alone, a victim of my own isolation,
shyness, and alienation from the world. I begin to read a book, and it provokes a hostility...(
Singer 491). He later states, I am above the trivial happenings of the day (Singer 492). I
believe the narrator is is not a victim of his own; he has been damaged and changed through
physical intimidation used by forces back in Poland (Tyson 49). His behaviour is a product of
those circumstance, which his class was put down and made feel less than human. The
protagonist continues his journey alone, but decides to have a drink.
After a couple drinks of cognac the narrator eloquently mocks the lecture he has written
on the Yiddish language and wishes to throw the manuscript out into the woods to return to the
cosmos, where there are no errors and no lies and can become a part of the divine truth
(Singer 492). At this point the narrators confidence and optimism about himself and the Yiddish
language are practically gone. There is this tension between two sides of him; one desperately
wants to be optimistic but cant; he is the product of material/historical circumstances (Tyson
60). He finds himself taken back to a tormented anti-Jew Poland hanging on to the trains

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handrails. He is even further remained of the harsh times in Poland when he meets Binele and the
Mother.
Train arrived half past two to its destination, where he meets the two women. They
instantly bring back memories for him. The women appeared to have never left Poland, they
dressed in the same manner and had heavy accents. In some mysterious way the mother and
daughter had managed to bring with them the whole atmosphere of wretched poverty from their
old home in Poland (496). The house was in poor conditions. It was worn down, old, and dirty;
mice could be heard scratching around on the floor. Clearly, the underclass and lower class are
economically oppressed: they suffer the ills of economic privatization (Tyson 56). Binele and
her mother like the protagonist and the Yiddish language have both suffered the lasting effect
other hate has had on them. The protagonist and the language have not been able to grow
personally and meet their full potential because of the lingering hate that follows them. Binele
and her mother find themselves in poverty again, never able to escape that shadow.
In The Lecture, the connection between the Yiddish language and the narrator illustrate
the struggle of many genocide survivors. The protagonist and and the Yiddish language, both
begin with an optimistic outlook, but as the story progresses that optimism is completely
shattered and the dream is gone. They are victims of the haunting of the Holocaust. The
aftermath effects of the acts done against them continue even past what the story tells. Like the
protagonist and the Yiddish language many others have been oppressed. Hate towards a class has
set that group behind, personally and economically. It has made them insecure and frightened.
Everyday events trigger a recollection of horrid memories.

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Works Cited
Isaac, Singer. "The Lecture." The Oxford Book of American Short Stories. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates.
New York: Oxford UP, 1992. 489-503. Print.
Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today. New York: Garland, 1999. Print.