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Humanism Vs Materialism

            
             In Bernard Malamud's story "The First Seven Years", there is a reoccurring theme of materialism vs. Feld the shoemaker and Max represent materialism, while the daughter Miriam and the assistant Sobel represent humanism.
             In the beginning of the story we learn that Feld is trying to match his daughter up with a young gentleman named Max. The father is not interested in whether the gentleman has a good personality, but more in how successful the man is going to be when he gets older. Everyday, Feld watches Max troop to school and decides that this man will be perfect for his daughter because he is going to get an education and become something great one day. "Neither the shifting white blur outside, nor the sudden deep remembrance of the snowy Polish Village where he had wasted his youth could turn his thoughts from Max the college boy, (a constant visitor in the mind since early that morning when Feld saw him trudging through the snow drifts on his way to school) whom he so much respected because of the sacrifices he had made throughout the years". The above quote shows Feld's admiration for Max. Further in the story we have another example that the father is only interested in how successful Max will be and how much money he will be making in the following quote, "It surprised him to learn that the boy was not studying to be either a doctor or lawyer but was taking a business course leading to a degree in accountancy. Feld was a little disappointed because he thought of accountants as bookkeepers and would have preferred "a higher profession"." Feld comes to realize that Miriam is not as interested in Max as he is.
             Miriam who is not the least bit interested in materialistic things or what someone has does not like Max. When the father asks Miriam why she does not like Max, her response is "Because he's nothing more than a materialist, he has no soul. He's only interested in things.


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