Demons co-exist among men on earth to tempt them to do evil. This is the central theme of the short stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer, particularly Alone and The Last Demon. Singer is an immigrant from Poland and he lived in New York City. He writes in Yiddish and his stories are translated into English. According to Singer himself, during an interview in 1968, he absolutely believes in the supernatural because he feels that “we are surrounded by powers, by mysterious powers, which play a great part in everything we are doing” (Flender n.p.). The succeeding sections discuss Alone and The Last Demon and illustrates the elements of the supernatural in these texts.
The Stories
Alone is about a man who stayed in a hotel in Miami. The story began with him wishing for some alone time. He got his wish because, the hotel he was staying in suddenly declared bankruptcy and was immediately closing, thus he had to find another hotel. He was able to transfer to one where he found himself the only guest and the only staff in the hotel was a woman who was a hunchback. The main scene in the story was when there was a hurricane and he was alone in his room. The storm became intense with the thunder and lightning. Then the woman asked to be allowed to enter into his room because she was scared. Later on inside, the woman tempted him but he did not give in. In this first person account, the main character believed that the woman was a witch and she came in to his room to exercise her withcraft over him.
Meanwhile, The Last Demon, was not anymore about a person (such as the woman in Alone) representing the devil. In this story, the main character was actually a demon. He was sent to the small village of Tishevitz on his first mission. There he met another demon who has been in the place for over two hundred years. The main character then set out to tempt the Rabbi However, despite all his efforts, the Rabbi was not tempted. The demon was then sentenced to stay in the place because of his failure.
The Supernatural in the stories
Both Alone and The Last Demon illustrate the supernatural through (a) their use of the words pertaining to the supernatural; and (b) description of scenes that are reflect either magic or horror.
Use of words. The terms God, Creator, Hidden Powers, force of darkness, imp, Satan, devil, witchcraft, soul, and magical were used in many sentences of the stories. In Alone the word God was mentioned five times while Creator was uttered once. In The Last Demon, the word Creator was mentioned more than the word God. This is an indication of the writer’s recognition of the presence of a supreme being or a Higher power. However, it was not only God’s presence that was recognized in alone. There was an acknowledgement of the powerful beings. When the first hotel suddenly closes, the main character says
I have wished the impossible to happen my wish came truethe Hidden Powers were trying to show me I didn’t understand my own needs.” (Singer 140)
When he was able to immediately find another place, the main character uttered “the Hidden Powers had provided me with an empty hotel” (141). The other lines that contained the above-mentioned terms are the following:
“God had removed the sun from its case” (141);
“ superior being has to be hidden in back of all these illusions” (142); and
“if you speak of God, I goyou no speak of God” (147).
“an imp must have heard me, for immediately he began to set a trap” (140)
The Supernatural in Singer’s Stories
The Supernatural in Alone
“I have wished the impossible to happen my wish came true” (140)
“the Hidden Powers were trying to show me I didn’t understand my own needs” (p.140)
“hunchbacked girl with black piercing eyes” (141)
“the Hidden Powers had provided me with an empty hotel” (141)
“ heavenly channelsDivine mercy” (142)
“the imp had either misunderstood or was pretending to” (142)
“ superior being has to be hidden in back of all these illusions” (142)
“Thank God the summer day is shorter in the South than in the North” (143)
“The moon emerged extraordinarily large and red; the nigh had an aura of miracle and cosmic change.” (144)
The waves were barking at the Creator lie pack of hounds” 145
“a white figure materialized from the darkness “ (145)
“the mocking imp was fulfilling my last wish” (146)
“She stared at me intently, as silent as a witch casting a spell. I feared the woman more than I did the hurricane. I had visited Havana once and, there, found the forces of darkness still in possession of their ancient powers. Not even the dead were left in peace. ” (146)
“I wanted to pronounce an incantation against the evil eyepray to the spirits hag overpower
Me” (146)
“Shadai, destroy Satan” (146)
“hellish glare the Cuban witch crouched like an animal ready to seize its prey” (146)
“catholic funeral processionscoffins, corpses..coffins” (146)
“coffins’ (147)
“I am a human being not a beast” (147)
“I have a soul like anyone else” (147)
“God sees” (147)
“if you speak of God, I goyou no speak of God” (147)
“a witch who had failed in her witchcraft, a silent partner of the demons surrounding me and of their cunning tricks” (148)
The Supernatural in The Last Demon
“demonno more demons left man himself is a demon” (179)
“ if a little demon is wanted aren’t there enough devils” (180)
They don’t sin here? (179)
“Abraham Salman was under the illusion that he was Messiah” (180)
“If I were Satan, I wouldn’t even send our first graders here” (180)
“What’s happened? The Holy Spirit grows stronger?Only in Tishevitz is he powerful.” (180)
“Satan has cooked up a new dish of kasha” (181)
“he has a handsome wifewhat do we have to tempt him with?” (181)
I ask the imp.. (181)
“ in we fly” (182)
“Rascal. Shaddai kra Satan” (182)
“the little imp from Tishevitz says” (182)
“the imp sighs.” (183)
“The Tishevitz imp is all right” (183)
doesn’t take a magician to return home with nothing (183)
“when devils stop warring with people, they start tripping each other” (183)
“True saints should hide themselves, perhaps, but silence will not bring redemption” (183)
Conclusions
