Eli,_The_Fanatic

Eli, The Fanatic ELI’S STRUGGLE “Eli, The Fanatic” is a short story about a young lawyer dealing with ethical issues in his community. He is torn apart in his decision of choosing between a ‘man in a lawyer’s suit’ and his neighborhood. We find that Eli is trapped in between two conflicting cultures. He, himself has assimilated with his Protestant neighbors and wishes that the Jewish man in the old, black suit would do the same. Eli is driven to the extreme by trying to get the poor, unfortunate man to change his attire consequently his identity. In the beginning Eli seems focused and put together. Yet, we find that Eli is disoriented because of his wife, career and surroundings. He urges the ‘man in the suit’ to take off his black one and put on Eli’s green, lawyer suit. The Black suit makes Eli crazy because it represents old, traditional, European ways. By changing suits, Eli is making the man change his culture. The Black suit shows that the ‘man’ is not assimilated, especially since all the Jewish, traditional, males wear them. It represents their isolationism from the world. The men that wear the Black suits have their own attire, language and culture. eli, man, suit, because, change, wife, green, community, man, new, himself, black, suit’, suits, story, people, identity, find, assimilated, seems, put, one, lawyer, jews, jewish, issues, fit, feels, culture, yet, wear, very, society, shows, religious, now, just, giving, eli’s, don’t, displaced, changes, baby, attire, world, woodenton, trying, traditional, through