THE FIXER
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The Fixer
By: Bernard Malamud
Robin Quach
Period 2
HOW CAN RACIAL STEREOTYPING BECOME DANGEROUS?
(SOCIETAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND RELATIONAL)
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The article, “Stereotype Impact on Contemporary Society” by Florentina Mocanasu explains the connection between stereotypes and society. Mocanasu is a professor at the Hyperion University located in Bucharest, Romania. She is a faculty of Law, Journalism, Psychological and Educational Sciences. This article can be accessed through a website called juridical journal, designed to store journals from many different authors. On her article, Mocanasu discusses how stereotyping will always have a negative effect on someone else since a stereotype means a fixed idea that people have for someone else that is wrong. Stereotypes can become dangerous through identification, social rules, and social environment.
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Identification:
Stereotypes can be identified as preconceptions of people while prejudice are irrational feelings of dislike. These ideas can be used to judge a person’s identity without actually getting to know them. Mocanasu claims how, “individuals who suffer from stereotypes [are] shown in a negative light” (92). Without even knowing a person, we automatically sort them out in different groups using our stereotypes. This means that those who suffer from these judgments must endure hardship in order to prove to others that they are wrong. Like in “The Fixer,” Yakov was thrown into prison for a crime he never committed because the Russia stereotyped the Jews to be evildoers since they killed Jesus. Clearly, the idea of Jews being bad people are now ingrained into Russians to the point that an innocent person is now forced to be guilty. Yakov is now tasked with the hardship of proving his innocence.
Stereotypes can be identified as preconceptions of people while prejudice are irrational feelings of dislike. These ideas can be used to judge a person’s identity without actually getting to know them. Mocanasu claims how, “individuals who suffer from stereotypes [are] shown in a negative light” (92). Without even knowing a person, we automatically sort them out in different groups using our stereotypes. This means that those who suffer from these judgments must endure hardship in order to prove to others that they are wrong. Like in “The Fixer,” Yakov was thrown into prison for a crime he never committed because the Russia stereotyped the Jews to be evildoers since they killed Jesus. Clearly, the idea of Jews being bad people are now ingrained into Russians to the point that an innocent person is now forced to be guilty. Yakov is now tasked with the hardship of proving his innocence.
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Social Rules:
Stereotyping is such a common idea that it became a part of daily life, even for children. They learned about stereotypes through their interaction with people, especially family but often misuse the concept that creates, “fixed ideas [that] are unfair and unjustifiable... made up of erroneous knowledge” (Mocanasu 93). With these wrong ideas, it can lead to hate which then leads to violence. This all creates the concept of certain rules for a group of people. For example many people back then would stereotype that boys play sports and do hard work while girls must clean and cook for the family. In “The Fixer,” there are certain rules for Jews and Russians in the town of Kiev. Parts of the city is banned for Jews meaning that all the Jews are locked up in one place including Yakov. Even the children in the city was taught by their parents to stereotype Jews as evildoers. This certainly shows the dangers of stereotyping.
Stereotyping is such a common idea that it became a part of daily life, even for children. They learned about stereotypes through their interaction with people, especially family but often misuse the concept that creates, “fixed ideas [that] are unfair and unjustifiable... made up of erroneous knowledge” (Mocanasu 93). With these wrong ideas, it can lead to hate which then leads to violence. This all creates the concept of certain rules for a group of people. For example many people back then would stereotype that boys play sports and do hard work while girls must clean and cook for the family. In “The Fixer,” there are certain rules for Jews and Russians in the town of Kiev. Parts of the city is banned for Jews meaning that all the Jews are locked up in one place including Yakov. Even the children in the city was taught by their parents to stereotype Jews as evildoers. This certainly shows the dangers of stereotyping.
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Social environment:
Most of the stereotypes we use comes from, “the group we belong to, then [the] community we live in and last but not least what we call the “culture” we are born in” (Mocanasu 93). Within these communities exist stereotypes that has been passed down for generations meaning eliminating them would be nearly impossible due to how these stereotypes also contribute to creating that specific community. The stereotypes then leads to discrimination which is to show unequal treatment to individuals from different groups. This whole process describes how separate communities from different areas have special stereotypes for each other. Similarly, in “The Fixer,” Yakov’s Jewish village, shtetl, had their own bad stereotypes for the Russians while the Russians in the city of Kiev have their own bad stereotypes for the Jews. Because of this, the Russians discriminated Yakov since their environment categorize Jews as dangerous.
Most of the stereotypes we use comes from, “the group we belong to, then [the] community we live in and last but not least what we call the “culture” we are born in” (Mocanasu 93). Within these communities exist stereotypes that has been passed down for generations meaning eliminating them would be nearly impossible due to how these stereotypes also contribute to creating that specific community. The stereotypes then leads to discrimination which is to show unequal treatment to individuals from different groups. This whole process describes how separate communities from different areas have special stereotypes for each other. Similarly, in “The Fixer,” Yakov’s Jewish village, shtetl, had their own bad stereotypes for the Russians while the Russians in the city of Kiev have their own bad stereotypes for the Jews. Because of this, the Russians discriminated Yakov since their environment categorize Jews as dangerous.
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Conclusion:
The sad truth comes out that stereotyping will always have a negative side to it. If used incorrectly, stereotyping can become the most dangerous weapon in the world. The examples from “The Fixer” definitely showed the audience how deadly stereotyping can be. The different societies we live in play a huge role in determining what kind of stereotype we will use. Furthermore, as humans we abuse this power and ultimately violence and conflict ensues. As a result, our world can never attain true peace since everyone have their own stereotypes for each other. When everyone is not in harmony, the entire world is dangerous.
The sad truth comes out that stereotyping will always have a negative side to it. If used incorrectly, stereotyping can become the most dangerous weapon in the world. The examples from “The Fixer” definitely showed the audience how deadly stereotyping can be. The different societies we live in play a huge role in determining what kind of stereotype we will use. Furthermore, as humans we abuse this power and ultimately violence and conflict ensues. As a result, our world can never attain true peace since everyone have their own stereotypes for each other. When everyone is not in harmony, the entire world is dangerous.
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Work cited
