The Moral Maturity and Identity in Malamud’s “A Summer’s Reading” Anonymous College

After analyzing “A Summer’s Reading” from the 20th century American collection, The Magic Barrel (1950) by Bernard Malamud, exhibits a theme common in several short stories that teaches a challenging but, valuable lesson. “A Summer’s Reading”has a very valuable lesson that is still applicable in today’s world. The lesson is about meaning behind how powerful a “man’s word” can be, but also the pressure to be someone you are not and how that can affect you. George, the young main character, in this story lies about what he is doing for the summer to Mr. Cattanzara, an older neighbor that George has built a relationship with. The guilt and the pressure on George to fulfill this false identity eats him alive until he decides to try and accomplish the goals he set for himself. The story exhibits a pattern that is followed in many of Malamud’s pieces of writing. A young impressionable immature character, George is mentored by an older wise character, Mr. Cattanzara, who is offering his teachings because he himself is miserable and does not want George to make the same mistakes he did. Then George comes to a “realization” that causes him to become more morally mature. George comes to this realization when he runs into a drunk Mr....