Word: outcaste
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Blau has said that he will never return to Jerusalem. It is just as well, since a majority of the Neturei Karta bitterly condemns him as a social outcast. But while other elders of the sect are squabbling to see who will replace the lost leader, a loyal handful of Blau's followers pray silently for his return. "In the Talmud," says one, "it is written that a city can breathe only through its righteous man. Now that Amram has left Jerusalem, I cannot sleep at night, for the city is no longer safe...
...familiar face, always tuned in on the less guarded secrets, but always a floater on the periphery, always a nose pressed against the glass. This is Rojack (and Mailer his shadow), much too hip to swing with the squares, but too close to power to call himself an outcast; doomed to a netherworld of liberal intellectuals, never in the back rooms with Mr. Big nor safe on a midnight street in Harlem...
...growing old--and growing aware of it--when he encounters an intellectual young Englishman. Together they go to Crete. Or more accurately, Zorba invites himself with his usual impulsiveness and the Englishman accepts with an impulsiveness which is most unusual for him. Zorba meets an aging French courtesan, an outcast in the Cretan community, and makes her feel young again and watches her die. Meanwhile the Englishman meets a young widow, as beautiful and bitter as the ancient Greek heroines. He makes love to her. A young boy who loved her in vain drowns himself. And then the Englishman watches...
Hero Rick Blaine (Bogart) is an aloof Casablanca cafe proprietor, an idealization of the self-willed outcast, who is sometimes pressed into exerting an ordering influence on his hopelessly muddled environment. A former freedom fighter in Spain and Ethiopia, for some reason unable to return to his native United States, Blaine has become wary of involvement--"I stick my neck out for nobody"--and is resigned to die in Casablanca - "It's a good place...
...real world beyond the bricks and ivy accept domestic life for what it is--an intriguing conglomerate of dirt, dishes, diapers and love. (Sorry, maybe that last was a bit too strong.) Even I, though not as cranial or artsy-craftsy as might be desireable, am no social outcast and need not make excuses nor intellectualize everyday chores to make them acceptable. Cooking a meal, planning a party, or raising a child do demand ingenuity, skill, an understanding of people, sensitivity, good humor, etc. But put them all together (they tend to group) and you have a well-integrated life...