MovieChat Forums > Fiddler on the Roof (1971) Discussion > Would Fyedka's family have been more acc...

Would Fyedka's family have been more accepting of Chava?

posted 11 years ago by archer1267
14 replies | jump to latest

We all saw how Tevye responded to Chava marrying outside of the faith. How would Fyedka's family have reacted? I know they would have been wary, at least. I'm assuming that in order to be married by a priest, Chava would have converted to Fyedka's faith, which maybe would have thawed out his family, a little.

[–] Clusium 11 years ago

Since we never get to meet Fyedka's family, it is all up to interpretation. Of course, since Fyedka himself wasn't influenced by the religious prejudices of his time, it's quite possible that his own family wasn't either.

If you love Mary and Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it, copy this and make your signature!

[–] Blueghost 11 years ago

Or he may have just passed her off as a Slav.

[–] Clusium 11 years ago

True, but then, it would have only been a matter of time before they were to all find out the truth.

If you love Mary and Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it, copy this and make your signature!

[–] Blueghost 11 years ago

Maybe, maybe not.

[–] Clusium 11 years ago

I'm sure they would have found out. Anyhow, Chava & Fyedka moved to Krakow, which means that their grandchildren would have ended up being killed as Jews, by the Nazis, even if they were raised as Christians.

If you love Mary and Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it, copy this and make your signature!

[–] Blueghost 10 years ago

I know this is over a year old, but I think you're over thinking it. Unless she had a copy of the Torah or some other things that are specific to Jewish culture, she just would have been another Russian, and safe until drafted into the Red army.

[–] thesnowleopard 10 years ago

I know this is over a year old, but I think you're over thinking it. Unless she had a copy of the Torah or some other things that are specific to Jewish culture, she just would have been another Russian, and safe until drafted into the Red army.

Not true. Customs, from clothing to behavior to eating habits even to dialect/language, were distinct between religions, as well as classes, and it's not a terribly large town, anyway. A poor, young Jewish girl would have stood out in the Christian community like a sore thumb.

Chava herself says at the end that they're moving to Krakow because people are not accepting of them in Anatevka. So, even though the town magistrate comments during the expulsion announcement that the local Church approved of her conversion, her in-laws probably didn't like her at all. If they had, she and Fyedka wouldn't have needed to leave.

Innsmouth Free Press http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com

[–] Blueghost 10 years ago

I really? Well I guess I'm wrong then.

[–] Clusium 10 years ago

Chava herself says at the end that they're moving to Krakow because people are not accepting them in Anatevka.

Chava & Fyedka were referring to how the town's magistrates were forcing Anatevka's Jews (who were already living in a ghetto, & receiving regular pogrom attacks) out of their homes. Not about how she herself was being treated, now that she was married to a Christian. They both decided they hated to live among a people who could be that cruel (particularly since these were the people whom she had came from).

Totus Tuus O Maria!!! Totus Tuus O Jesu!!!!

[–] Ed in MO 10 years ago

If they thought the Russians were bad, just wait until the Germans arrived, in both World Wars I and II. In the First World War they persecuted the Jews in the Eastern territories they captured; in the Second World War they exterminated them.

[–] PillowRock 11 years ago

Or he may have just passed her off as a Slav.

If they lived in one of the bigger cities, maybe.

In that small of a village, there would be no chance of that lasting a week.

However, the fact that they got married in an orthodox church does imply that Chava had (at least for outward appearances) converted; and, by extension, renounced Judaism. In terms of the whole thought process about accepting / rejecting the traditions and belief systems of the families, that is a *HUGE* difference.

[–] jefgg 11 years ago

There is a good chance Fyedka's family hated Chava. Even if they didn't care that she was Jewish, she was a poor girl without a dowry.

[–] Clusium 11 years ago

He probably wasn't all that well off either. His family would have most likely hated her for that she was Jewish, just as Tevye hated Fyedka for being Christian.

If you love Mary and Jesus Christ and are 100% proud of it, copy this and make your signature!

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]