The Fragmented Life of Don Jacobo Lerner: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Fragmented Life of Don Jacobo Lerner: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the complex relationships and struggles of Jacobo Lerner, a Jewish businessman who emigrates from Russia to Peru. Throughout the narrative, Jacobo's life is marked by personal failures, including an unplanned pregnancy with a Catholic woman that prevents him from marrying her, and his inability to pursue a romantic relationship with the woman he loves due to familial ties. His eventual prosperity comes at the cost of his moral and personal integrity, culminating in his ownership of a brothel.
Key characters include Bertila Wilson, the mother of Jacobo’s illegitimate son Efraín, who becomes disillusioned with her child after Jacobo rejects them. Efraín, characterized by confusion and emotional turmoil, ultimately spirals into madness as he grapples with his Jewish identity. Other figures, such as León Mitrani, Jacobo's childhood friend, and Moisés Lerner, his hypocritical brother, add layers to the narrative, reflecting themes of betrayal and societal expectations within their Jewish community. The story's intricate web of relationships portrays the harsh realities and vulnerabilities of its characters, making it a poignant examination of identity, loss, and the human condition in a multicultural context.
The Fragmented Life of Don Jacobo Lerner: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Isaac Goldemberg
First published: La vida a plazos de Don Jacobo Lerner, 1976 (English translation, 1976)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Peru, primarily Lima and Chepén
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: 1923–1935
Jacobo Lerner, a Jewish businessman. After leaving Russia as a young man, he settles in Peru, where he attempts to start a business and marry a nice Jewish girl. He has to abandon his first store, however, because in a moment of weakness he gets a Catholic girl pregnant, and he cannot marry her. Eventually, he becomes prosperous as the owner of a brothel. He cannot marry the woman he loves because she is already his brother's wife; her sister, his second choice, breaks their engagement. When he becomes ill, those very people to whom Jacobo has been so generous are interested only in the financial implications of his death. At the age of forty-two, he dies.
Bertila Wilson (behr-TEE-lah), the mother of Jacobo's son. A shy girl of seventeen when she first meets Jacobo, she is so ignorant that she believes all of his invented adventures and is easily seduced. After Jacobo refuses to take in their son, she turns against the child.
Efraín Wilson (eh-frah-EEN), the illegitimate son of Jacobo Lerner and Bertila Wilson. A sensitive, confused boy, he is loved only by his great-aunt Francisca, who has told him that his father is dead. When he becomes aware of his Jewish background, however, he is abandoned by her and by the priest. Eventually, he goes mad and is kept in seclusion.
León Mitrani (leh-OHN mee-TRAH-nee), a grocer. A friend of Jacobo from the time of their youth in Russia, León precedes him to Peru. A former Bolshevik, in old age León turns back to Judaism. Hated by his blind, Catholic wife and disliked by the neighbors whom he reviles in his prophetic outbursts, he loses his trade. After he is killed by a careless doctor, his casket is lost somewhere on the road.
Moisés Lerner (moh-ee-SEHS), Jacobo's brother. Smug and hypocritical, he conceals the fact that he cheated Jacobo in a business they owned jointly and that later Jacobo saved him from bankruptcy.
Sara Brener Lerner (BREH-nehr), Moisés' wife. A chatty woman who admits that she cannot make up her mind, she is constantly balancing the opinion of the Jewish community against the possibility of financial gain. Realizing that Jacobo loves her, she is interested only in using him, whether to marry him off to her sister or to make a profit by taking in his son.
Miriam Brener Abramowitz, Sara's widowed sister. To regain her social position as a married woman, she is willing to marry Jacobo even though she does not love him. When she learns that he owns a brothel and supports a mistress, however, she breaks the engagement. Unknown to her, she is thereafter supported by Jacobo.
Juana Paredes (HWAH-nah pah-REH-dehs), Jacobo's Peruvian mistress. A woman whose main concern is her family, she has made sure that Jacobo feels responsible for her widowed sister and her sister's seven children. When he is dying, her primary concern is that she will get enough money for herself and for them.
Francisca Wilson, Efraín's great-aunt and foster mother. A devout Catholic, she loves him deeply until he discovers his own Jewish heritage; she then turns against him and consigns him to hell.
Samuel Edelman, a traveling salesman. A friend of Jacobo, he visits Mitrani and checks on Efraín; however, when he discovers that the boy has gone mad, he resolves not to tell the dying Jacobo.