How we cite our quotes: Story Number.Paragraph
Quote #7
What that poor child [Shprintze] went through no one ever knew except me, because I am a father and a father's heart understands. Do you think she said so much as a word to me, that she lamented or wept? Eh! Then you don't know Tevye's daughters. Quietly, turning inward into herself, she anguished and flickered like a dying candle. (7.128)
When Tevye does this kind of emotional shutting down, he chalks it up to being a powerful man (you know, all those "Tevye is not a woman" thingies he busts out with). And maybe Shprintze thinks this is her only power—the ability to say yes or no, whether to an engagement or to life itself.
Quote #8
"He's a contractor, this Podhotsur. He builds houses, walls, and factories. He was in Japan during the war and brought back a fortune. […] a contractor with army contracts, with businesses, with shops, with people for him, with—with—" (8.39-43)
It's always great to get these little peeks into the larger socio-economic thingy. Tevye's an entertaining guy, and all, but his scope is basically just a village and the two towns near it—here we get a sense of the larger world, and levels of power that Jewish entrepreneurs were able to acquire (like this Podhotsur guy who is apparently some kind of big deal jet-setting war profiteer).
Quote #9
Nu, what do you say to such a coarse fellow? At first I thought, Why are you sitting here, Tevye, like a block of wood? Get up, kiss the mezuzah, slam the door behind you, and leave without a goodbye! […] Who did he think he was, telling me to throw away an honest, respectable livelihood and go to America? […] He snickered, stood up, and went over to a table. Withdrawing a metal box, he counted out one bill after another—just imagine, a fine sum. I wasted no time, gathered up the bills—oh, the power of money—and stuck them deep in my pocket. […] Maybe I should throw the money back in his face, I thought. You didn't buy Tevye with money, and with Tevye you didn't talk of honesty and being honorable. But before I could open my mouth […] (8.88-102)
Wow, talk about a straight-up power grab. Tevye gets a little bit of payback here as he can at least tell us that he was thinking about leaving and not taking this domineering dude's get-lost money, but still. The worst might be that "snicker" that Podhotsur lets out when he knows he's figured out exactly how to get Tevye out of his—and Beilke's—life. Yikes.