Behaving Like a Jew
The end of life, for some people, usually symbolizes the beginning of an afterlife. Moreover, these people often appreciate the balance and beauty when death occurs. Gerald Stern, in his poem, “Behaving like a Jew,” decides that he will not perform according to these norms and instead act like a Jew, who would celebrate every single death at a time. The poem presents the themes of death, disappointment, religion, and celebration and these are seen through the tone, imagery, and symbolism used by the poet.
Stern uses a tone of empathy and melancholy, which reflect the theme of death. The speaker says, “To get back into my animal sorrow,” (line 6) showing the grief he was experiencing from witnessing the death of animals. Stern states, “Just seeing him there-with a hole in his back” (line 3). This statement is evidence of the author’s empathy for the dead animal. Furthermore, he feels sorry for the animal and his statement shows that this is not the first occurrence of an animal murdered that he has witnessed. The statement, “My eyes are still misty from his round belly,” (line 27) implies that has wept over the animal and is depressed. He has seen animals killed before and he is tired of witnessing it and every time he feels sad for the creatures. Hence, the tone of melancholy expresses the theme of death in the poem.
Additionally, the author expresses his depression, displeasure, and anger through his word choice and repetition. The words, “I am sick of” are repeated twice in the poem. Both times the words precede the description of the actions which the author is truly tired of witnessing. The word choice “sick of,” encompasses the disappointment and frustration that the author feels every time. Moreover, he is trying to show the high level of displeasure he experiences whenever he has to witness the death of many animals and birds on the road and also when he has to abide by the spirit of Lindbergh which states that there is joy in death. He does not want to praise the beauty and balance brought by death since he feels it has no positive impact. Thus, the persona’s word choice and repetition show his extreme displeasure which is in support of the theme of disappointment expressed by the poem.
The persona uses the imagery of simile to attract sympathy from the audience toward the creature. Stern uses a simile to make the sadness and his empathy more relatable to the audience. The poem states, “The dead opossum looked like an enormous baby sleeping on the road” (line 1). When he compares the animal to a sleeping baby, he expects that the audience can get the imagery and relate to the scenario much better. The statement, “his little dancing feet,” (line 28) gives the opossum the human characteristic of being able to dance. This shows how much the death of the opossum has affected the persona and shows that he does not believe that animal life is not that much more worthless than that of a human. His audience, picking from the vivid description can familiarize themselves with the sympathy he is feeling towards the dead animals. Therefore, the imagery used to show sympathy toward the opossum, meaning it supports the theme of death.
Moreover, the poet wants to practice some Jewish activities which symbolize the celebration of life. He states, “I am going to behave like a Jew and touch his face and stare into his eyes” (line 17). This among the Jews is a symbol of the celebration of life that is lost. Stern wants to abandon the normal way with which people regard death and celebrate death instead. He feels the praise of balance when an animal dies is not adequate. Furthermore, his statement, “My eyes are still misty from his round belly,” (line 27) gives a picture of the emotions he is having. His eyes are probably misty because he crying out the grief of watching a dead animal. The persona is deeply hurt by the continuous death of animals on the road. Thus, the actions he wants to take are a symbol of celebrating the death of the animal, backing the theme of celebration and religion.
Overall, the themes of death, disappointment, and celebration are evident in the poem as they are represented by the persona’s tone, imagery, and word choice. He uses a sad tone in his poem as he describes the opossum. His imagery paints create a picture to be sympathized with, that of animals who are constantly daily on the road. Additionally, his plan to perform Jewish practices are meant to celebrate and grieve the death of the animal. The persona intends to grieve the dead animals, symbolizing how much of an emotional impact the deaths have on him. Therefore, the death of animals on the road is very depressing to the persona, and adopting Jewish practices is the best way to handle his grief.
Work Cited
Stern, Gerald. “Behaving Like A Jew.” The American Poetry Review 5.3 (1976): 33-33.
Vaglio, Rebecca. “The beauty of death.” Journal of the American Academy of PAs 29.12 (2016): 1-2.