LiuDichen Liu
June 9,2007
Draft Three
The Secret of Shadrach’s Success in Winning Respect
“The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen” written by Bruno Lessing is a story about a new landed Russian Jew Shadrach Cohen, who has conflicts with his sons because of their Americanization, with his unswerving endeavor, wins his dignity and his sons’ respect by keeping his belief and living with his own life style.
In the context, Lessing suggests that Shadrach sticks to his religious belief all the time, but his sons do not give him full respect until he changed his attitude towards them and achieved great success in his business. They are just accustomed to the Jewish belief because their surroundings.
It is Shadrach’s business skill, rather than his persistent in religion that be the key factor to his success. The reasons are as follows.
Lessing has told us that, before Shadrach moved to United States of America, he is a successful businessman. At that age, when Russia Jews landed in the United States of America., for the first time, most of them were so poor that they had to live in ghettos. So, compared with them, Shadrach has money in abundance. To give to his sons for opening new store in U.S., that is a clue that he might be good at business. “For reasons that only business men would understand” his sons conducted the store in his [Shadrach] name (p46) should be a proof that he enjoys a good reputation among businessmen and his business skill is nice. It reflects the fact that he did have his sons’ respects before he came to America. In mercantile society, the businessmen will not value a person just because he is a typical Jew with firm religious belief. So at the beginning of the story, Lessing has suggested that Shadrach’s business skills pay for his respect and dignity. And Shadrach, well known in Russia, is in high position in his sons mind.
After Shadrach moved to U.S., his Americanized sons had tried their best to make him look more like the people of his age in America. However hard they tried, they could not change their father’s idea. At first Shadrach’s perseverance in his regions belief did not make his sons respect him, and what’s more, they felt despair. Shadrach is “clinging to the habits and customs of his old life”. When his sons tried to persuade him to accustomed to the life in America, he does not say anything, he just do the same (p47) He kept his belief and life style, however, what he did, in his sons’ mind, was just the obstacle preventing him from Americanization. At that time, his sons seem to respect him, but after they get his money, they start to complain that he should learn to live in U.S.
Due to a direct conflict between Shadrach and his sons, he changed his attitude towards his sons and their life style. And his managed to take the control over the shop they had. And then his run the shop events in his own way with his wisdom.Since the business of the shop began to grow, Shadrach’s sons started to realize that there was a great gap in business ability between their father and themselves. (p49) Shadrach turned suddenly, and after that he had control over the shop his sons run, he ran the business with the wise of Jew. Due to his diligence and wisdom, their shop has more income than before. When this idea occurred to them, they began to change their attitude towards Shadrach. Lessing indicated that this kind of change take place gradually, with nothing concerning about Shadrach being “a perfect type of the immigrant” and his steady belief for the God. Abel and Gottlieb, compared with their father, are just like “children”, which show the status of Shadrach in their mind began to grow at that time. The success in business instead of the belief led to this change.
When the business of the shop “increased”, Shadrach’s sons respect increased at the same time. (p50)For the first time, Lessing suggests that Abel and Gottlieb “begin to look upon their father [Shadrach]”.This symbolizes the fact that apparently, they do not think highly of their father before. It is a hint that Shadrach does not own the deference of his sons in spite of the fact that he has decisive gospel. The respect is the fruit of Shadrach’s outstanding business skills.
In the story, Lessing tells us that “their [Abel and Gottlieb] admiration for their father increases” (p50) as the result of the “deference and respect” the businessmen give to their father. The merchants, who Abel and Gottlieb admire and think highly of, probably have never evinced their reverence to the sons, as Lessing suggests here. The only reason why business men respect Shadrach could be nothing but his business skills. Because Lessing does not describe what Shadrach does related to his gospel in his business activity. We can hardly see any relationship Shadrach’s clinging to belief had with the respect of the other business men as well as on his sons.
In addition, Lessing provides a palpable hint to show that Shadrach succeeds in the end owing to his business skills: “they [Abel and Gottlieb] promptly yield to the shrewdness of his brain” though they do not “yield” to his noble character and heart. So they respect him only for his distinguished business mind.
According to Lessing , Shadrach’s sons cling to their belief because life is “earnest “rather than their father’s stick to religious belief.(p50) Before Shadrach changed his attitude, even though he stuck to his reglious belief all the time, he never made his sons be faithful to the god. All he had done seemed to have no impact on their religious belief.
Judging from the evidence there, the conclusion is that the direct reason why Shadrach won his sons’ respect is his business skills not his religious belief.
Bruno Lessing. “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen.” 1903. Rpt in The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction. Ruth Spack. New York:St.Martin’s,1994. 45-51
