Research Essay, Angel Levine

The Supernatural, a manifestation attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature (Literary Jewels), examples of that would be ghosts, angels, and gigantic human sized bugs. The story containing supernatural elements may have a religious purpose, such the role of angels and demons in Islam, Judaism and Christianity; or the supernatural elements may portray notions about reality such as issues in social justice, discrimination, or alienation and the sense of belonging. Of course, there are many ways to incorporate supernatural elements in novels and movies, but we will focus on two works that describe the issues and factors of alienation and belonging. Franz Kafka and Bernard Malamud are two talented authors whom incorporated the notion of supernatural elements in their stories. In The Metamorphosis and Angel Levine, both main characters were facing unusually bad luck throughout the story; Angel Levine's Manischwitz was losing everything from his wealth to his health and family. Gregor Samsa of The Metamorphosis could not get out of bed because of his armor-like back and many little legs; he was also on the verge of losing everything he had. Even though they may be facing a series of unfortunate events, they handled their situations very differently, when comparing both characters, one may argue that Gregor, who seemed to be calm and collected at the fact that he was transformed to an insect in compared to Manischwitz, who was very stressed, was the stronger of the two; but no matter who carried more discipline and internal strength, they were both threatened to lose a basic human need, the sense of belonging. The main reason one character survives in the end while the other parish is idea of alienation, being alone in the world while nobody acknowledges your existence.

In both stories, both men took on the responsibility to provide means for their respected families. They were hard at work, even with the odds being against