Character Study

Meyer Landsman

“Look at Landsman, one shirttail hanging out, snow-dusted porkpie knocked to the left, coat hooked to a thumb over his shoulder. His cheek needs the razor. He hasn’t had a drink of alcohol since nine thirty this morning. Standing in the chrome-and-tile desolation of the Polar-Shtern Kafeteria at nine o’ clock on a Friday night, in a snowstorm, he’s the loneliest Jew in the Sitka District.” (146)

Meyer Landsman has been depicted since the beginning of the novel as a workaholic detective with depression about his recently broken marriage, an alcoholic who is “married to his shot glass”, and he is constantly reminded and reflecting on the death of both his father and his sister who died a year earlier. When we first meet Meyer Landsman he is washed up in the cheap Hotel Zamenhof seen as having no value in his life, calling this decrepit place his home. With all of the problems he is facing he has good reason to feel the way he does. Despite all of these issues, Landsman uses this murder mystery case to cope with his issues, however, he deals with it under the supervision of his ex-wife Bina Gelbfish. We learn that Landsman had broken it off with her because he thought she should have an abortion to eliminate the baby they believed to have a chromosome deficiency. Every time he sees Bina now, this guilt always comes back to him and this ongoing complication with his ex-wife always irritates him. Throughout the novel there is a great deal of sarcasm portrayed by Landsman displayed in almost every conversation he ends up having. He likes to deal with his problems by making many things in his life a joke to him and to other people. He doesn't seem to have the same capability as other to cope with the multiple problems he is faced with. Although seen as a washed up detective, as the novel progresses, we see Landsman transform his personal identity to one which he believes has value and one worth living. The more Landsman finds out about the case the more and more he understands himself.


Mendel Shpilman

Introduced as Emanuel Lasker, the victim of a murder, Landsman goes out of his way to solve this mysterious case of his death. In the beginning of the novel, not much of his background could be determined until we are presented with the scene of his murder. In order to receive the information they need, Landsman manages to talk to his mother and father. When Landsman is confronting his father, the rebbe of the Verbover Chasidic Jewish community, about the murder, we find out that Mendel was disowned for an unknown reason by his father and he will not give any information about him. However when meeting with his mother, we get more information on who this man was. Mendel was apparently born, as the Chasidic Jews refer to it, as the Messiah. At a young age he had always been surprisingly intelligent and was seen as a chess prodigy. “He had the kind of mind that could hold and consider contradictory propositions without losing its balance” (121). As a child he was very energetic and playful, with an IQ of 170 and learning almost 5 languages by the time he was eight or nine. Everyone who knew him had a special connection with him and loved him dearly. He was not only this intelligent child, he was sweet and kind to everyone he met. Being seen as the Messiah he had been under a lot of pressure and ended up condoning to the use of heroin and became an addict. He seemed to become so obsessed with his addiction that it basically took over his life and his family had not seen him for twenty-five years. He gets so overwhelmed with his life that he does not even want to live anymore.


Berko Shemetz

Berko Shemetz is the Meyer Landsman’s trusty partner. Berko is introduced as the complete opposite of Landsman. He has a great family life, a loving wife, and he is satisfied with the job he has. “Unlike Landsman, Berko Shemets has not made a mess of his marriage or his personal life. Every night he sleeps in the arms of his excellent wife, whose love for him is merited, requited, and appreciated by her husband, a steadfast man who never gives her any cause for sorrow or alarm.” (6). Before being Landsman’s partner he lived in the Verbover community with his wife and small child. Once moving out of that community he becomes Landsman’s trust partner. Everything about Berko seems to always be much better than Landsman. Constantly sarcastically criticizing each other Berko always has Landsman’s back. Berko’s relationship with Landsman, however, seems to be a little more one-sided. He is the one who is supporting Landsman and Landsman takes a little bit advantage of him. No matter how one sided the relationship is, Berko and Landsman work well together and they both have each other’s back.


Bina Gelbfish

Bina Gelbfish is another one of the main character's in the novel. In the beginning she is only described as a part of Landsman's depression but we finally meet her and see who shes really is. Bina is the ex-wife of Landsman who has had similar difficulties in getting through this break up much as Landsman had. As she is introduced we see a very different personality than expected through all of Landsman's prior inquisitions. From all the grief that the author shows Landsman faces,there are not very many good qualities originally established. When coming back from a break she is put in the awkward position of being promoted to the position where she will be in charge of her ex-husband after working with him for so many years. "We're all aware of the awkwardness of the situation here. It could be weird enough that I just used to squad with you both. The fact that one of you used to be my husband, and the other one my, uh, cousin well, shit"(57). As Landsman becomes more involved in the case, the more and more we see the old chemistry that they had together. Bina becomes depicted as a very "in-charge" type of woman who wants things her way. She still seems to be pretty sensitive on the issue of her previous marriage much like Landsman is. Bina and Landsman had known each other for so long, they still have this feeling of comfort around each other. Finally, by the end Bina and Landsman seem to pick up where they left off and look towards the future.