Abstract
The book "Mystics, Maverick and Merrymakers" talks about the Jews religion. The author gives a glimpse of the inner worlds and daily lives of the Hasidic girls. There are many characters mentioned in the book that have different characteristics. Some are portrayed as weak while others are seen as strong. A character is strong based on his or her degree of self-knowledge, ability to take responsibility for his action, ability to cope with difficulties and awareness of an event (Saddock and Virginia 49). These individuals grow and acquire new ideas from the challenges that face them. A weak character, on the other hand, is one who lacks a solid core of identity and integrity; they are incapable of self-awareness and cannot accept responsibilities. They always blame someone for their wrong doings and are not likely to learn from their mistakes neither do they want to embrace change to be able to meet new challenges.
In most cases, strong characters control the plot; that is they carry the story forward. These characters may be loved or hated, good or evil. Strong characters are categorized into two groups. These are the minor who move the plot in a small way and the major characters that move the storyline in the bigger way. Strong characters also make worthy protagonist and are primary opponents or allies for the protagonist. Weak characters are the stumbling block of the plot since they create confusion, procrastination and are indecision. They also cast doubt and sow vagueness hence making it hard for the reader to understand the story. Weak characters don't move the plot forward. Instead, they insist on driving the wrong direction or dither (Athanasios and Paul 60). They can also put a smokescreen and hide what's going on in the background. They can, therefore, be used to pass information to the wrong people.
The weak and strong characters, therefore, serve different purposes in story hence, they are all important to the author .In as much as the weak characters have a disavowing picture in a story, their presence will make the story more interesting and enjoyable to read.
In the case of Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers, the strongest character is Malkie, who is Mrs. Belfers daughter. She is seen to be very influential where she advises her mother not to receive the call since it was against their religion even though she is not sure whether it was her brother calling or not. Her mother listens to her reasoning and decides not to pick the call. Malkie can stop her mother from answering the call since she has the knowledge about their religion which does not allow activities like picking calls during that period. According to the story, Malkie is known to be a girl who dresses on short skirts which expose her knees but during holidays; she puts on long skirts that cover all parts of her body. Malkie is also seen to be someone who plans ahead and knows the importance of taking care of her health; she tells her mother to converse seats something that enables them not to miss a comfortable place to sit on at the pizza. She is known for her assertiveness and her ability to plan ahead hence making her secure better jobs. During meal time, Malkie is seen to be very cautious about nutritional information of the various fruit juices that were available and preferred not to talk sugary ones since they are bad for her complexion. She is also said to be source of excitement around even during the Passover celebration
Malkie acts as a protagonist where she introduces her school into the story. Through her, one can know about the other students in the seminary school who wore like Malkie and put on makeup to look attractive. She also brings her teachers into the story such as Morah Greenberg, who was taking them on the session of biblical prophets, and Morah Firestone, who was taking them through lessons on dating and marriage. In class, Malkie is seen to be very focused on her studies she concentrates on her paper the moment the teacher told the class to keep quiet. She tries to be attentive and comfortable in the class by sitting towards the front so as to get a good view of her teacher and the blackboard as well. She never sits at the first row since she does not like when teachers pick on her all the time maybe because of her ever short skirts or her make up.
Malkie's faith is seen to be unshaken because of her strong belief that Rebbe is Moshiach, and therefore, she believes that people should do everything in their power to disseminate the message. She uses her energy and organizational talent to organize for a Moshiach day parade to honor the Rebbe as the Messiah. With this persuasion, Malkie is very much in line with her parents that the Rebbe will one day return to the same place to spread the Messianic age. This belief was all over Belfer household who firmly believes in Rebbe's return. Hence, they remained united as they all wait for Rebbe to come right there and then. Malkie dedicated her time to motivating her groups and giving them her artistic sense. According to her, honoring the messianic age was the most important business ever imagined. She tried to correct any mistake she came across even the dressing code, according to drawing it is supposed to be a woolen skirt.
Malkie follows the advice she was given. Her life was triggered by the people she used to sit and spend most of her time with. Her future life and goals changed to be active and beneficial to her life. Her fashion choice also changed to the best. Malkie considers other people's lives and pities them, for example, she asks how life far away from home feels and what one feels after completing their studies. She is aggressive and believes that people should follow her religion and even have Jewish children. Malkie is, therefore, a strong character since she is not self-centered and cannot be manipulated by anyone quickly. She has also been used to move the story forward and introduce new characters into the story. She has knowledge of what she says and does everything to perfection (Levin and Carol 173).
The weakest character in Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymaker's book is Leah. She does not take responsibility for her life. Instead, she leaves it to her father. Leah's dad is the one paying her Chabad house and taking care of all the upkeep of the house. She believes that her work is only to bring the Jewish souls around to the right place. She spends most of her afternoon traveling around and transforming hearts with her like-minded girlfriends. They do not convert the souls of male persons saying that men are off-limits for a reason of modesty. Some of her classmates see her afternoon as haunting cash instead of men (Levine and Carol 177)
Leah is not into fashion. All she cares about is studying Jewish philosophy or studying teaching others about Judaism. She seems to be having problems in handling her confidence and self-esteem for example when she was preaching about the custom of drinking the water which had surrounds Rebbe during a ritual immersion. Some people started giggling while others were laughing hence producing noise. She could not be able to continue with her preaching, and when she went to school and her classmate begun laughing at her, her dark eyes widened and wrinkled appeared on her forehead. Leah is shy and cannot face her classmates.
Leah prefers to be alone most of the time and away from people. According to her, there is nothing as important as bringing the Moshiach age to everyone. She, therefore, exempt herself from listening to music, reading different articles of literature and watching movies that that not have religious teaching .Leah also believes that she can experience the real bit, personal desire that can make one lead a godliness life, a perfection of self-consciousness She captures the fundamental tensions and contradictions of exploring different independent voices, something that is self-nullification. In the case of Leah, she becomes so much touched by what she sees, for example when she goes to the hospital to help those in need. She also prefers staying at home during summer than to work in the camp as the other girls of her age do every summer.
In conclusion, Leah does not have a stand. She wants to help different people at the same time, but she does not have the c courage to do so. These characteristics make her become a weak character. She also cannot stand on her own; that is she needs her father's support to be stable in life. She keeps her distance from people and want to be alone most of the time hence does not have many friends. Leah also has too much believes that denies her exposure to the world.
Work cited
Athanasiou, Tom, and Paul Baer. Dead heat: Global justice and global warming. Seven Stories Press, 2011.
Levine, Stephanie Wellen, and Carol Gilligan. Mystics, mavericks, and merrymakers: An intimate journey among Hasidic girls. NYU Press, 2004.
Sadock, Benjamin J., and Virginia A. Shaddock. Kaplan and Sadock's synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2011.
