asks turns out to be Sergei, the main character of the text. He appears to be distressed when the young adult, Yoni, gets eager when he finds a goldfish in Sergei’s very own house which coincidently coincides with theme of his very own documentary. Keret mentions, “The kid with the earring starts screaming, ’Goldfish, goldfish,’ he’s so excited. And this, this really pressures Sergei...Sergei doesn’t like this, doesn’t like that the boy is almost at it, already reaching for the jar......[Sergei] seems
... middle of paper ... ...periences with Western ideology, Etgar Keret and Marjane Satrapi offers methods for claiming identity that do not revolve around blind attempts to return to cultural roots. Works Cited Ghanem, Mary, and Jihad Makhoul. "Displaced Arab Families: Mothers' Voices on Living and Coping in Postwar Beirut." Journal of Middle East Women's Studies 5.3 (2009): 54-72. Web. 10 Dec 2009. Keret, Etgar. The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God. New York: St. Martin's Press
family influences. One major thing that affects how individuals see others is their past experiences. One great example of this is the fictional narrative "What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?" by Etgar Keret. This story is about a young boy named Yoni who "had a brilliant idea for a documentary" (Etgar 3). He took his camera and went up to people's houses asking
barrier in relationships with others. To overcome this tremendous obstacle, one must resolve to communicate, look past stereotypes, and extend friendship to those who are different. The Short story “What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?” by Etgar Keret examines the idea that communication is key to understanding and resolving conflict. As Yonatan attempts to interview Sergei, a lack of communication causes Sergei to jump to the wrong conclusion. The story reads, “Sergei understands the boy didn’t
The Positive Side In People's Differences “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.”(Audre Lorde). This quote was written by an African American female writer who was a civil rights activist. It shows that variations are not the only factor that separates society, it is the lack of ability to know our differences. Accepting others who are different than yourself may lead to positive and negative factors. The growth of knowledge
Etgar Keret’s short story “What if This Goldfish, Would You Wish” and W.W. Jacobs’s short story “The Monkey’s Paw” shares a similar theme of be careful what you wish for. In both stories the characters are given three wishes to use. In “What if This Goldfish, Would You Wish” Sergei does not want to use his last wish. Sergei wants to use it for a better cause like he did with his first two wishes. In the text it states “No,” Sergei says. He’s shaking his head from side to side. “I can’t,” he says
wanted to steal his fish and he does not trust him for that reason. “In this instant Sergei understands the boy didn’t come for television, what he came for, specifically, is to snatch Sergei’s fish, to steal it away” (lines 97 - 99) The author Etgar Keret, as well as the authors of the other articles in this unit, view that people’s differences should be accepted and respected. Keret’s views on acceptance and the quote by Barbara Jordan share a theme in that human beings should not be compared nor
in politics, there are two main sides; the democrats and the republicans. These two sides almost never see eye to eye, but when they see from the other’s point of view, an agreement can be made. In,” What of This Goldfish,Would You Wish?” by Etgar Keret, an accident occurs that could have been prevented if the two characters understood each other's diverse backgrounds. In lines 57-58, the text says, “ The KGB felt right at home knocking on his door.” This text shows that Sergei is still immensely
Discrimination is a topic often found in the literature and is discussed in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a documentary trailer My So-Called Enemy directed by Lisa Gossels and a short-story “What of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?” by Etgar Keret. Those who believe that accepting others from different racial backgrounds will make the world a better place; meanwhile, there are others who refuse to accept others or being disagreed with the quotes of Barbara Jordan, they think the opposite
being labeled womanly. The second story, “Sidewalks” talks about a man reminiscing on times with his old friend as the two wasted pals play a game against the sidewalk. Though both stories may seem to be about friends just getting drunk together, Keret is really showing us the physically painful compensation men go through in order to suppress their feeling to fit into a man’s world as well as the lengths, sometimes
were evil things, so the wife also adopted that belief. Finally, people we socialize with influence how we think about ourselves. Others can influence self- reflection either positively or negatively. In What, of This Goldfish Would You Wish? By Etgar Keret, A magical, talking goldfish grants three wishes to a man named Sergei, and it has granted two wishes so far. The only reason why Sergei has not used his third wish is because he did not want to be alone. A young interviewer comes along and asks
Barbara Jordan “We as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves.”. The quote goes with three stories; “What, of This Goldfish, Do You Wish” by Etgar Keret, “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, and “My So-Called Enemy” by Lisa Gossels. In “What, of This Goldfish, Do You Wish” by Etgar Keret the story begins with a man making a documentary named Yonatan knocks on Sergei’s door. When Sergei answers the door the man asks him “That if he had a magic goldfish that would
the burner off the stove and hit the boy in the head.” ( Keret 99-100) This shows how Sergei was so scared that he might be alone without his goldfish that it leads him do things that he very likely would not have done if he was not talking about his goldfish. The fear of all the unknowns lead him to act different. Sergei is also scared of what might happen next “ I barely touched him. It’s only a burner. Only a little thing.” ( Keret 110-111) He could not believe that he was dead, and also
“Born in the Wrong Place, at the Wrong Time” Would you feel comfortable admitting to a group of people that you have discriminated against them in the past, knowing you will secretly be judged? None of us want to be identified as or called racist, but realistically at one point of our lives we have all discriminated against someone, or judged an individual based off of a stereotype you’ve heard. Discriminating against people can affect not only the person/group you are discriminating against but
had a brilliant idea for a documentary. He'd knock on doors. Just him. No camera crew, no nonsense. Just Yonatan, on his own, a small camera in hand, asking, If you found a talking goldfish that granted you three wishes, what would you wish for?” (Keret 1-4). As Yoni is asking, he received varying answers from a lot of different people, some being more poignant than others. Next, he goes to Sergei’s house, and he has a different experience than any other person he asked. With this in mind, Sergei
In the stories “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka and “What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish” by Etgar Keret, the main conflicts are centered around the magical realism present in each story. In ”The Metamorphosis” a traveling salesman named Gregor is transformed into some kind of vermin and thus starts the main conflict of Gregor’s constant ostracization by his family after he’s unable to assist him anymore and slowly becomes consumed by loneliness. In “What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish” a
asking them a question “ If you found a talking goldfish that granted you three wishes, what would you wish for ?” Until he came across this person’s house name Sergei, he didn't want to interview him, so this turned into a bad outcome. For example, Keret states “his father had been a zionist, which was pretty much an invitation for them to drop by any old time.” This reveals his father experiences affected Sergei because he's paranoid that the jews will come back. However, since Sergei had a ruinous
that emphasizes this is the short story, “What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish?,” by Etgar Keret. In this text, the story line basis around a teenage boy, Yonatan, going around door to door in different neighborhoods- the suburbs vs. the city, asking a question that would give a very insightful look into how different a the wish from someone in the city might be from someone in the suburbs. As a matter of fact Keret states, “these were wishes from just one [...], sleepy suburb of Tel Aviv. Yonatan
The story “What, of This Goldfish, Would You Wish” is a story about a young guy named Yoni going around town asking citizens if they could have three wishes from a talking goldfish. He went around town hoping somebody would wish for world peace. Also for a little reward he was hoping to get a few coins for his work. My research was over the folktale called “The Turkey Maiden.” ‘The Turkey Maiden’ is about a widower daughter named Rosa is how was being mistreated by her step family. Then one
There is no doubt in the fact that The Monkey’s Paw (written by: W.W. Jacobs) and The Goldfish (written by: Etgar Keret) are very similar. What a lot of people fail see though, is that even with them being so similar, they aren’t. Each one has its own meeting and its own story to be told. In these stories the most noticeable similarity is that they both are centered around the three wishes and magical things that grant them. “He put a spell on it so that three separate man could have three wishes