The Fixer (Malamud Novel)

The Fixer (Malamud novel)

The Fixer is a novel by Bernard Malamud published in 1966 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. It won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction (his second) and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The Fixer provides a fictionalized version of the Beilis case. Menahem Mendel Beilis was a Jew unjustly imprisoned in Tsarist Russia. The "Beilis trial" of 1913 caused an international uproar and Russia backed down in the face of world indignation.

The book was adapted into a 1968 film of the same name starring Alan Bates (Yakov Bok) who received an Oscar nomination.

The novel is about Yakov Bok - a Jewish handyman or "fixer". While living in Kiev without official papers, Bok is arrested on suspicion of murder when a Christian boy is killed during Passover. Jailed without being officially charged and denied visitors or legal counsel, Bok is treated poorly and interrogated repeatedly. Among other things, he is asked about his political views, and replies that he is apolitical. During his many months in jail, he has time to contemplate his sad life and human nature in general. He finally finds it in his heart to forgive his former wife, who left him just before the novel began. This act of forgiveness is symbolically important in Bok's spiritual growth.

The novel ends with Bok finally being charged and brought to trial. In the final scene, on his way to court, he has an imaginary dialogue with the Tzar. Bok blames the Tzar for ruling over the most backward and regressive regime in Europe. He also famously concludes that "there is no such thing as an apolitical man, especially a Jew."