The Magic Barrel

Kessler, a retired “egg candler” in his late sixties, lives alone in a cheap apartment on the East Side. No one ever visits him, and he has no family, for he abandoned his wife and children 30 years earlier and has never thought of them again. Word spreads, largely through a janitor who does not like him, that he is a dirty, slovenly man whose room “stinks,” and the other tenants in the apartment house begin to shun him. A sour, irascible man, Kessler feels nothing but contempt for his neighbors. One day, after a violent quarrel with Kessler, the janitor complains to the overweight landlord, Gruber, about the filthiness of both Kessler and his apartment. The landlord decides to evict Kessler and rent his room to a less troublesome tenant for more money. At his orders, the janitor climbs “victoriously” to the top floor to give Kessler notice but is shocked by the old man’s sickly, skeletal appearance. Weeks pass, and Kessler refuses to leave, angering Gruber, who finally trudges wearily up the stairs to give him an ultimatum. Desperately, Kessler begs to be allowed to stay, but the landlord orders him out within two weeks. The date comes and goes, but the frightened Kessler does not leave, not even to contest his eviction in court.