While everyone else drinks the wine from their cups, Fishbein "faked devotion with an empty cup" (418). After Fishbein sees Marx at the back of the room, he opens his prayer book, but his lips never move (418). A specific reason is not given for the action however, it can be concluded that Fishbein is refusing to participate in any part of the service. During the erev Shabbat service the text states, "Fishbein was pouring the contents of his cup into Grossbart's " (418). Fishbein is not particularly religious, although he attends the service with his two Jewish friends. These descriptions leave the reader with an unwanted image of Fishbein, ,like the often unwanted aspect of Jewish identity that his character represents. Later in the text his face is described as the "long yellow face of a dying light bulb" (418). revealed a mouthful of bad teeth" (416-417). The text states, "He had a cadaverous face that collapsed inward from his cheekbone to his jaw, and when he smiled. When Fishbein is first introduced, he is not given a pleasant physical description. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Larry Fishbein represents the more secular side of Jewish identity that most of society does not desire to see.
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