Angel Levine

Malamud's "Angel" has often been connected with the Biblical story of Job. The book of Job tells the story of a Godly man named Job. He lived in the land of Uz along with his seven sons, three daughters, and numerous servants. Job was a wealthy man. He owned a large number of animals that included sheep, camels, oxes, and donkeys. Job frequently offered sacrifices for each of his children in fear that they had sinned. The Lord tested Job by taking everything he had away from him. The animals, servants, and children were all taken out of Job's life.

After reading Malamud's "Angel Levine," it is easy to relate it to the story of Job. Like Job, Manischevitz was very well off. He was a fifty-one year old tailor living in New York. Due to a fire, caused by the explosion of a cleaning fluid container, he lost everything. This fire not only emptied his bank account, but it also the start to a series of bad events. Manischevitz lost his son to war and his daughter to a man she ran off to marry. His wife, Fanny, had been suffering from shortness of breath, which they later discovered was due to the hardening of her arteries at an advanced stage. Throughout these series of events, "He had remained somewhat stoic, almost unbelieving that all this had descended upon his head, as if it were happening" (911). Because he was a religious man, Manischevitz prayed and prayed, asking God why this was all happening. When the black angel appeared, he question whether or not he was real. Never giving up, he continued to question God why he had been neglecting his misery. He received a sign of hope when he was at the synagogue in Harlem. And it was then when he restored his faith in God.