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Gimpel The Fool Essay

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In “Gimpel the Fool,” written by Isaac Singer, a simple man, named Gimpel, is mocked and teased relentlessly by his fellow townspeople, but as events unfold, Gimple undergoes major changes as a person. Gimpel transforms from the town’s fool into a successful business owner, and an eventually respected storyteller. In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a lonely New Yorker, Walter Mitty, is plagued by frequent daydreams that temporarily disconnect him from reality. Just as Gimpel is mocked by his townspeople for being slow and gullible, Mitty is teased by many of his fellow co-workers for his frequent daydream episodes, in which he becomes unresponsive. In order to overcome his debilitating daydreams, Mitty will have to embark on a grand …show more content…

If I ever dared say, ‘Ah, you’re kidding!’ there was trouble” (Singer 994). Seeing just how easy all to the townspeople can take advantage of Gimpel’s social retardation, it becomes quite clear what a setback Walter Mitty 's social ineptitude can be in a corporate environment. Lacking the necessary social skills is more than likely the reason that Mitty defaults to daydreams, they are a reprieve from real life, and often much less stressful. Walter Mitty has one of these such stressful social situations after his employer, Time Magazine, is acquired by another firm. Mitty meets the acquisition manager, Ted Hendricks, for the first time, "Hey, my man, you still there? What? Did you pass out or..." suddenly coming back to reality, Mitty exclaims, "No, I just like, zoned out for a second" (Conrad). This is a fitting example of just how debilitating Mitty 's daydreams can be. Due to a daydream Walter made a terrible first impression on his new boss, a man that now can fire Mitty. After Walter Mitty 's first encounter with his new boss, he quickly loses credibility in the workplace, as Ted Hendricks is talking with other employees he notices Mitty daydreaming again, "Do you think, if I hit him with a paper clip, would he move?" (Conrad). This lack of respect in the workplace that Mitty experiences is very similar to Gimpel’s situation when he first starts work at the bakery, “Every woman or girl that came in to bake a batch of

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