Jewbird
"The Jewbird" is a short story by the Jewish-American writer Bernard Malamud. The protagonist is a crow named Schwartz, who identifies himself as a Jewbird. Fleeing persecution by antisemitic birds, Schwartz tries to find a home with a New York City Jewish family. Despite being generous and respectful to the family, the father first persecutes, and then attempts to kill Schwartz. The story has been interpreted as an allegory about Jewish self-hatred.[1]
The Story was first published in The Reporter on April 11, 1963, and collected in Idiots First (1963). It also appeared in A Malamud Reader (1967), The Stories of Bernard Malamud (1983), and Two Fables (1978), where it appeared along with "Talking Horse." The story was adapted for the stage at the Israeli Gesher Theater, along with other tales, under the title Schwartz and Other Animals.
The Jewbird says that his name is Schwartz and asks for a piece of herring and some rye bread rather than the lamb chop the family is eating. Harry insists that the bird eat on the balcony, so Maurie takes him there to feed him and asks his father if the bird can stay. Harry says that Schwartz can remain only for the night but relents the next morning after Maurie cries at the prospect of losing his new friend.
Summary Themes Analysis
The Jewbird Summary
Summary (Comprehensive Guide to Short Stories, Critical Edition) print Print document PDF list Cite link Link
Harry and Edie Cohen, a lower-middle-class Jewish couple, live with their ten-year-old son, Morris (Maurie), in a small top-floor apartment on the Lower East Side of New York City. Cohen, a frozen-foods sales representative, is angry and frustrated by his relative poverty, by his dying mother in the Bronx, and by the general mediocrity of his family and his life.
When the story opens, the Cohen family is sitting down to dinner on a hot August night, their recent attempt at a vacation cut short because Harry’s mother had suddenly become ill, forcing them to
The Story was first published in The Reporter on April 11, 1963, and collected in Idiots First (1963). It also appeared in A Malamud Reader (1967), The Stories of Bernard Malamud (1983), and Two Fables (1978), where it appeared along with "Talking Horse." The story was adapted for the stage at the Israeli Gesher Theater, along with other tales, under the title Schwartz and Other Animals.
The Jewbird says that his name is Schwartz and asks for a piece of herring and some rye bread rather than the lamb chop the family is eating. Harry insists that the bird eat on the balcony, so Maurie takes him there to feed him and asks his father if the bird can stay. Harry says that Schwartz can remain only for the night but relents the next morning after Maurie cries at the prospect of losing his new friend.
Summary Themes Analysis
The Jewbird Summary
Summary (Comprehensive Guide to Short Stories, Critical Edition) print Print document PDF list Cite link Link
Harry and Edie Cohen, a lower-middle-class Jewish couple, live with their ten-year-old son, Morris (Maurie), in a small top-floor apartment on the Lower East Side of New York City. Cohen, a frozen-foods sales representative, is angry and frustrated by his relative poverty, by his dying mother in the Bronx, and by the general mediocrity of his family and his life.
When the story opens, the Cohen family is sitting down to dinner on a hot August night, their recent attempt at a vacation cut short because Harry’s mother had suddenly become ill, forcing them to