In the Eye of the Beholder
To some, seeing is believing, while to others believing is seeing. The line between illusion and reality is very thin in Pete Hamill’s Snow in August. They overlap in the eyes of Michael Devlin. His present views of the past, as well as his young fondness of movies and books both alter his worldview. Other than being causing him to think long and hard about his relationships, the words of Rabbi Hirsch guides Michael on journeys through Prague, a place he’d never been with people he’d never met. The wonders of Prague give Michael a place all his own. While roaming the streets of Brooklyn, “His head was full of Prague and the Golem and the spires of distant cathedrals…He wondered who was wandering the streets of Prague
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Kate Devlin brought Michael the past through her Irish Folktales, his friends brought him their families’ old rumors, Rabbi Hirsch brought his own history, and he gave himself his justice filled comics. All of the tales and histories became important to the actions taken by Michael in the story. Specifically in the stories told to Michael, the connection between fiction and truth is seen. In fact, in many cases where Michael hears from an untrustworthy source he corroborates by checking something or someone more likely to hold the truth. The story told to him about the Jews killing Jesus was one he was quite suspicious of, to a point where he consults Father Heaney and learns the truth of the matter. In another case, his curiosity causes him to reach towards an encyclopedia, which gave some truth, contrasting to many of the anti-Semitic remarks he had been hearing in his community. A positive light is shone on the Jews as Michael reads the entry that states, “Jews in the world today have retained a purity hardly equaled by any other division of man…” (p.43) as well as providing him with truthful information retrieved before the holocaust saying, “As the oldest people to believe in God, the Jews laid the foundation for Christianity and other faiths based