Dvora Baron’s Trilogy (“Exams”, “Chocolate”and “The End of Ziv Sander”) – A Feminine Version of the Talush Story
Abstract
The article offers a new female version of Talush’s anti-hero in Dvora Baron’s trilogy (“Exams,” “Chocolate,” and “The End of Ziv Sander”). The three stories tell of young Jewish women who abandon the traditional home for a secular life in the big city. Like masculine anti-heroes, they feel lonely, alienated, and detached.
The trilogy also describes young Jewish men who search for a new form of romantic love in order to rehabilitate their masculinity. These attempts are characterized by conflict and erotic failure. In a theme reminiscent of Brenner, Baron creates a bond between the males’ physical flaws and erotic shortcomings. In this case, the male body represents the crisis in Jewish diaspora communities. Baron adds her gender’s input to the dilemma: female sexuality cannot be fulfilled or rehabilitated by a disintegrating, wounded masculinity. The only option is to create a powerful, healthy Hebrew Apollo who fits the Zionist ideal and the new Jewish woman’s needs.
