"The Conversion of the Jews" and "Angel Levine"

I do not feel that the adults in "The Conversion of the Jews" handled Ozzie's questions the correct way at all. When Ozzie poses questions about God to his mother and to the rabbi, all he gets in response is anger and frustration. In this story, I feel like he is wrongly being punished for his own thoughts. I do not think he was out-of-line at all for asking such questions. Everybody has a right to their own beliefs! Ozzie is mearly just expressing them. His mother and the rabbi do not like that his beliefs are not the same as theirs, and they lash out at him. In this story, Ozzie says "He shouldn't hit me. You shouldn't hit me about God, mamma. You should never hit anybody about God." He knows that the rabbi and his mother are wrong, and he stands by his beliefs.

In "Angel Levine," the main character poses questions about God, but in a very different way. In the story, the main character has lost his store, his children and his wife is on her death bed. Because of this, he begins to question his beliefs. He blames God for all the pain in his life. I think that his questions, unlike Ozzie's, are extremely wrong. I can understand that, if in his situation, one could be caused to questions their beliefs and blame God, but God should not be held accountable. There is a reason for the suffering in his life, but the reason is not that God is making his life this way.