Fiddler On The Roof Meaning
In hebrew sholem aleichem an.
Fiddler on the roof meaning. The fiddler on the roof title of the movie is an analogy. The world of the fiddler on the roof is a world in ebullition and the quiet tradition bound jews though practically unaware of it are its victims. Fiddler on the roof is a musical with music by jerry bock lyrics by sheldon harnick and book by joseph stein set in the pale of settlement of imperial russia in or around 1905. It is true that the fiddler is indeed a metaphor for that theme.
Fiddler on the roof tells the story of tevye a jewish dairyman and his family living in anatevka a fictional town inside the pale settlement of imperial russia in 1905. The violence they suffer already revolting is only a small bit of what is to come and the conscience of that makes the musical even more touching. The fiddler as tevye says is trying to scratch out a pleasant simple tune without breaking his neck. It is based on tevye and his daughters or tevye the dairyman and other tales by sholem aleichem.
The fiddler is a metaphor for survival in a life of uncertainty precarious as a fiddler on a roof trying to scratch out a pleasant simple tune without breaking his neck the fiddler also represents that tradition that tevye sings of in the opening number the traditions that tevye is trying to hold onto in a changing world. When there is a fiddler that annoying endless noise and stamping on your roof aka you or your contented life there is a attitude or belief adjustment happening that forces you to change. If one were to ask a. Fiddler on the roof was based on a series of stories written by the jewish mark twain like samuel clemens sholem rabinovich was better known by his pen name.
Tevya and others in the village are likened to fiddlers on a roof because of the difficulty in keeping their balance while trying to live. Defenders of fiddler on the roof might counter that the struggle to hold on to traditions is the entire point of the show. It grates on your head.