Tevye's Rhetoric

The song is below, followed by the analysis:

If I were a rich man,
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum.
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn't have to work hard.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I were a biddy biddy rich,
Yidle-diddle-didle-didle man.

I'd build a big tall house with rooms by the dozen,
Right in the middle of the town.
A fine tin roof with real wooden floors below.
There would be one long staircase just going up,
And one even longer coming down,
And one more leading nowhere, just for show.

I'd fill my yard with chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks
For the town to see and hear.
(Insert)Squawking just as noisily as they can. (End Insert)
With each loud "cheep" "swaqwk" "honk" "quack"
Would land like a trumpet on the ear,
As if to say "Here lives a wealthy man."

Chorus

I’d see my wife, my Golde, looking like a rich man's wife
With a proper double-chin.
Supervising meals to her heart's delight.
I see her putting on airs and strutting like a peacock.
Oy, what a happy mood she's in.
Screaming at the servants, day and night.

The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise.
"If you please, Reb Tevye..."
"Pardon me, Reb Tevye..."
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyes!

And it won't make one bit of difference if i answer right or wrong.
When you're rich, they think you really know!

If I were rich, I'd have the time that I lack
To sit in the synagogue and pray.
And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall.
And I'd discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day.
That would be the sweetest thing of all.

Chorus

Lord who mad the lion and the lamb,
You decreed I should be what I am.
Would it spoil some vast eternal plan?
If I were a wealthy man.

*****************

The song I chose comes from the timeless musical, “Fiddler on the Roof.” The WATCO in the song is, "WATCO Tevye being rich on his lifestyle?" The enthymeme was, "Giving Tevye the ‘small fortune’ he wants will make his life better... because giving Tevye a small fortune would let him be able to do whatever he wanted." The implicit assumption is that being able to do whatever you want will bring improvement to your life.

The wishful argument Tevye makes in his song is that there would be no harm in God making him rich, because then he would be able to do what he wanted to do (he then lists off what he would do if he were rich and did not have to work). This includes fulfilling worldly desires, but also includes worshipping in the synagogue every day and having a seat by its eastern wall.

God is Tevye’s audience. Throughout the musical, Tevye is constantly talking to God, and in this instance, he is singing to Him.

Tevye’s goal is to persuade God to make him rich. There is a sense as he sings that this is mainly a fantasy, and that he wishfully telling God what he would do if he were indeed rich. He makes the argument largely through pathos. His love and devotion to God, and his longing for a better life can be heard in the mournful strains of his voice as he sings in a minor key. Any attempt at logos is not working in Tevye’s favor; he tells God that if he was rich, he would build a huge house with “one long staircase just going up, and one even longer coming down, and one more leading nowhere, just for show,” and says that when asked questions by important townspeople, “it won’t make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong; when you’re rich, they think you really know!”

The argument is not effective. Tevye established his love for God and that he would worship him more often in the synagogue if he was rich, but in the Hasidic brand of Judaism Tevye believed in, having a desire to have the opportunity to worship more often was on par with actually worshipping. In that light, Tevye did not present any compelling reasons for God to make him rich. As I mentioned before, Tevye’s imaginitive song was more a fantasy than an actual plea for wealth. The argument is not sufficient for these same reasons. It is, however, relevant; Tevye is indeed poor. It is also an accurate argument, as I do not doubt for a minute that Tevye would make good on everything he said he would do if he were a rich man (from the staircases to the added worship).