She's Out of Your League

She’s Out of Your League

There are always couples that make people stop and scratch their heads. Couples that do not fit together in the perfect way society expects them to.  One may be beautiful while the other is plain, or one successful while the other is not.  The saying “she is out of his league” could easily be applied to “Short Friday.”  In “Short Friday,” by Isaac Bashevis Singer, a woman marries a man who is considered by all far beneath her in looks and capabilities, but she does it for love.  Shoshe is a beautiful and godly woman, and many men wanted her as a wife.  Her husband, Shmul-Leibele, is a poor tailor and a simpleton, but he is a devote Jew and that is what brings them together.  In modern day, this story could go very differently. 

In an urban ghetto their story would change.  With social media, cell phones, and with other media it would be much harder for Shoshe to turn “a deaf ear” to the townswomen who believe she should divorce her husband (67).  She would be in constant reminder of the shortcomings of her spouse, and it would be much harder for her to remain unwaveringly devoted.  She would be more likely to notice the differnces between her and her husband, as they would be evident through social media.  Pictures in which “Shoshe towered over him by a head” would be laughed at, and she might become  self aware of their differences (67).  It would also be harder for her husband to shake off the snide comments of those around him.  If when the “wags saddled him with a variety of nicknames and made him the butts off all sorts of pranks” they were messaged to him or in writing it would be harder for him to forget them (67).  When things are put on the Internet or shown in writing, it is more difficult to forget about them than when they are just said.  Shmul-Leibele would be much less amiable in a modern ghetto due to the constancy of the cruel comments.

Many other parts of their story would be altered in a modern setting.  People would be less likely to understand the seriousness of their devotion to their faith, and the preparation of food would be seriously altered.  The wife would not need to spend all day preparing food, which is an act that she preforms in devotion to her husband. Without the ritual of the hours spent plucking geese or kneading dough, she would have more time to do things for herself, further removing herself from her husband. Lastly a difference would be the background noise.  There would no longer be a cricket chirping while Shoshe cooked, instead it would be replaced with the sound of people (69).  That change in the mood, from peace to hustle and bustle perfectly symbolizes the difference there would be if the story were told in a modern day setting.