60
PARTI SAN R.EVI EW
lea rn s to read Hebrew to study th e Torah. He ponders,
" It~
in an atmosphere
of possibility, in a land of pl enty, we thri ved; if, free o f persecuti o n, on e has
managed, two have managed , and thri ved, was thi s Il o t th e prin cipl e upon
which th e country was buil t?" Dut he also decides that it is Il ecessa ry " to
serve God"-though he is not sure what that means. With the R abbi who
visits him he ponders such things as th e return twi ce but no t a third time
of N oah's dove. " C ould it no t be that th e dove had wanted to remain on
th e ark? That when Noah expelled it, it returned hurt, hurt and fea rful ; that
w hen he sent it out aga ill , it returned wi th thi s evidence: th e land ex ists,
but it is bitter. . ..Th en , when N oah repulsed it agaill, it went fo rth, hav ing
been given no choice but to make its way in that bitter world." Aga in and
aga in , he remembers th e Confederate Memori al ])ay wh ell hi s ordea l
begins, th e Saturday that begins so calml y wh en he happens to knock over
the sa lt cellar at hi s breakfas t table and se ll ses a portent. N ow th e time
comes when his throa t is cut by an assass in inside th e prison- yet he is still
alive, recove rs, is taken by force
fi'O Ill
the hospi tal by a lynch mob, cas trat–
ed, and hanged. It is the stark end of Mamet's sto ry, but not th e end o f
social memory. A photo taken of hi s hangillg body "sold for mallY yea rs in
stores throughout th e South." Mamet's combination o f harrowill g hi sto ri c
recall and a m ys ti c se lf- qu es ti oning of Jewi sh tribal des tillY is ambitious in
its aim and moving in its resul ts.
JAM ES L AUCJ-ILIN
1914- 1997
