SOURCE: "Symbolic Analogue in Agnon's 'Metamorphosis'," in Escape into Siege: A Survey of Israeli Literature Today, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974, pp. 57-70.

In the following excerpt, Yudkin examines Agnon's narrative technique as it is demonstrated in "Metamorphosis" ("Panim aherot"), focusing on the author's ability to suggest character histories extending beyond the events explicitly described in the story. Note: The title of the story, here translated as "Metamorphosis," is also known as "Another Face" (see Lev Hakak, 1986).

The purpose of this [essay] is to examine a single story by S. Y. Agnon and thus investigate certain aspects of his narrative technique, used in much of his work. Clearly, a short story is more accessible to this sort of close examination than is a full-length novel. Each stage of the story can be seen in its immediate context, and each ingredient, each image, each event, each piece of dialogue, as well...