Bontsha the Silent (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Isaac Leib Peretz
- First Published: 1894
- Type of Plot: Satire
- Time of Work: The late 1800's
- Setting: Eastern Europe and Heaven
- Principal Characters: Bontsha the Silent, The defending angel, the prosecuting angel
- Genres: Short fiction, Satire
- Subjects: Suffering, Poverty or poor people, Jews or Jewish life, Death or dying, Heaven, Toleration, Courts or courtrooms
- Locales: Europe, Heaven
The Story
In this characteristically ironic tale, Isaac Leib Peretz recounts the tragic life of one of his best-known protagonists, Bontsha the Silent. By opening with Bontsha's death, Peretz projects his narrative into the realm of the folktale, as he unveils before the readers fantastic scenes of Heaven, its host, and the proceedings of the heavenly court.
In the opening phase of the story, Peretz presents a summary of Bontsha's traits and the troubled life he led. Bontsha, this insignificant man on earth, who “lived unknown, in silence, and in silence he died,” is...
[The entire page is 1429 words long]
