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In this paper, the author has pointed out that the ‘white’/’black’ symbolism is closely associated with the character and transcendency of Frank, the protagonist of Bernard Malamud’s The Assistant.
Frank is, to some degree, influenced by the life of devotion and asceticism led by St. Francis. This tendency of Frank is expressed by the fact that he tries to make up for his robbery of Morris’ store and that he tells Helen he remembers the anecdote of St. Francis’ snow woman from the time when he was a child. Such conscience and platonic love of Frank are expressed through the imagery of ‘white.’
At the same time, however, Frank is strongly dominated by criminality and lust. The one is his stealing of the money from the register at Morris’ store. The other is his peeping at Helen’s naked body and rape of her. These vices of Frank are expressed through the imagery of ‘black.’
Frank finally transcends this confrontation between ‘conscience’ and ‘vice,’ that is, ‘white’ and ‘black,’ which is expressed by the lack of ‘white’ / ‘black’ imageries in the scene which follows his transcendency.
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