"Potato Pancakes (1929)" Summary

Friedrich visits the narrator's apartment for the first time when his mother must attend to business at city hall. The narrator is defensive of his toys, but is won over when Friedrich produces a twig he uses as a cuckoo whistle. They play happily and then help the narrator's Mother prepare potato pancakes, her husband's favorite, and a rare treat. The boys fight over the first pancake but then share it and consume the whole batch. Mother gives them a rollicking bath and mentions Friedrich's circumcision.

"Potato Pancakes (1929)" Analysis

The second scene portrays two boys playing together for the first time, after being neighbors for four years. We see Friedrich's cleverness and the narrator's childish selfishness and easy awe. Friedrich's being Jewish is first mentioned jokingly, as the boys bathe together.