Locating the Superstitious Elements and Understanding

the Portrayal of ‘Sound Faith’ in Sarah Braunstein’s ‘Superstition’

Aaron Mathew Roy

III Year UG,

PG and Research Department of English,

Mar Thoma College, Tiruvalla, Kerala

9544773609

aaronmathewroy11@gmail.com

Abstract

The term ‘superstition’ revolves around ‘man-made’ beliefs and concocted stories, it is

not necessarily something that is rooted in science or based on reason. Sarah Braunstein’s

short story by the same name is about two adolescent boys, Lenny and James, who came to

know about eBay. Lenny sells a ‘Lucky trout’ for ninety-three dollars and James, following

his brother’s lead, ends up listing his First Communion cross on the website, concocting a

tale about the product just like his brother did. In the story, a fish mounted on a plaque, a

silver cross, a brass sombrero etc. are the things that appear as superstitious elements. A kind

of unbelief grips James and he repudiates his religious faith completely though he abhorred

atheism. James wanted to be repugnant to the faithful. The unavoidable dichotomy between

superstitious notions and ‘reasonable practices of faith’ would be helpful to the reader to

understand the story in a more nuanced manner.

 The first superstitious article that we come across in the story ‘Superstition’ is a fish

mounted on a wooden plaque. It was purchased by Lenny for a sum of three dollars. The

object was detestable to his mother since she was of the opinion that fishes were not supposed

to be part of home décor. Lenny utilises eBay to the sell the item. He writes connivingly on

the website, “LUCKY TROUT! (WORKS IN THREE-MONTH CYCLES ONLY.)”

(Braunstein). He gets ninety-three dollars or a trivial item that he purchased for a petty sum.

The marketing strategy of Lenny was outstanding. Lenny says that when the fish was in his

possession several fortunes came his way. He adds in the product description the concert

ticket he won, report that mother’s tumour became benign, and his winning of fifty dollars on

a scratch-off, all because of the ‘lucky fish’. Lenny also mentions that one has to keenly go

by what the fish commands. As the per this, the fish would only bring luck for a period of

three months, after the time-period its power begins to produce ‘contrary effects’. Here one

could easily notice that a trivial thing transforms into something that has enormous value and

marketability because of the addition of ‘superstitious element’ into it. The fish was a mere

trifle which was hitherto unnoticed yet superstitiously ‘value-added’.

Following the lead of his brother Lenny, James decides to sell something in a similar

way. Seeds of connivance germinated in the heart of James, so to speak. He rummages

through old plastic bins that contained puzzles, games, and plastic trash. He says that those

are the same ‘shit’ that every child he knew of in his locality possessed. Remarkably, the

object he finds in his underwear drawer adds to the thematic emphasis of the whole story – a

silver cross. In actuality, it was his First Communion cross. It symbolises that his religious

faith, too, was buried deep in a dark corner. He held fast to some superstitions, willingly or

unwillingly, though he was wavering with respect to his faith. Scott Redd says in an article,

“The Christian life is often difficult and complex. Superstition boils down that complexity to

a simple input-output equation” (Redd). It was kind of a “hedge against the Devil”
(Braunstein). James really wanted to concoct a story for his material benefits. The story he

makes up revolves around the ‘connection’ the silver cross has with a Pope. James

‘researches’ for long and writes that the cross has been in his family for many years. It was

Pope Pius XII who gifted it to his great-great uncle when he was in Vienna. He wrote all

these ‘cooked-up information’ as he was sitting at the computer in the school library. Writing

all these made him feel subversive: “Anyone who would be moved by that Pope, or by any

Pope, anyone for whom such an object had meaning deserved to be misled” (Braunstein).

This looks like a strong warning from the part of Braunstein. Connivances and manipulations

can be expected in this fast-paced age in which everything is taken at face value.

Recently, the world witnessed a peculiar ‘event’ at a joint science operation by NASA

and ISRO: “The countdown to an exciting science exercise jointly conducted by the United

States' NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and India's ISRO (Indian

Space Research Organisation) began with a bit of tradition -- the breaking of coconuts and

handing over of ‘lucky peanuts’” (India breaks). There is a striking similarity with what

happened at this event and the story. Both are about beliefs that are not based on science. The

‘lucky peanuts’ tradition and ‘fish on a wooden plaque’ story is somewhat similar. The

traditional belief of glorifying things touched by ‘holy men’ and breaking of coconuts are

similar as well. The fraud committed by Lenny was non-religious in nature whereas the

fraudulence of James has a religious nature.

As soon as James posted the ad about the silver cross the number of watchers hiked

way beyond expectation. James was terribly distressed and frustrated because of the crime he

did. He certainly did not want to be an atheist since he believed that atheism is ‘another

religion’. He just wanted to be repugnant to the believers, which seems like a merciless wish.

As the auction ended the winning bid for the cross was a whopping two hundred and ninety

dollars. The number terrifies and agonises him. Another character who comes into the scene
is Sheila, the girlfriend of James’ and Lenny’s father. Her role is significant towards the end

of the story. Lenny comforts James by saying that he could not be arrested by the police for

holding a false belief. Regardless, James decides to give the ‘thing’ for free to the man who

won the bid, his name was Steven. Interestingly, Steven sends a thank you note to James with

a picture attached with the e-mail. It showed Steven’s room and the cross which was pounded

into the wall by someone. The object, as it seems, has already become a part of his blind faith

and veneration, he takes the lies of James at face value. James and his ‘doubtful’ father go to

their church the next Sunday as a result of James’ actions which hinted to his father that he

needed the help of God, but that was a misunderstanding – his faith was still problematic.

After Sheila’s union with the family, all of them (except Lenny) climb a cragginess as part of

their recreational journey and settle themselves down for a coffee. Under the table a brass

sombrero glistened near James’ foot. He considered it a bad omen and threw it away, which

caused his ensuing fall from the ledge. The story has an ambiguous ending.

The concept one could figure out from the story is that there should be clear distinction

between ‘sound faith’ and blind superstitions. Ominous tales and concocted beliefs wreak

havoc and misconceptions in societies. The story ‘Superstition’ by Braunstein throws light on

the fact that there are still people who hold fast to unreasonable and illusory superstitions in

this cyber age. Religious faith, as shown in the story, gets tainted by ‘unholy’ superstitions

and traditions. Superstitions can be divided into non-religious as well as ‘religious’ in the

light of what we read in the story, bearing in mind that the latter is only indicating a shift

from ‘believable patterns of faith’.

Works Cited

Braunstein, Sarah. “Superstition.” The New Yorker,

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/08/09/superstition. Accessed 4 March 2023.

Redd, Scott. “Don’t Be a Superstitious Christian.” The Gospel Coalition, 18 Jul. 2017,

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dont-be-a-superstitious-christian/.

“India breaks coconut, US gifts 'lucky peanuts' ahead of joint science operation.”

Onmanorama, 5 Feb. 2023, https://www.onmanorama.com/news/india/2023/02/05/nisar-

mission-earth-science-satellite-isro-nasa-coconut-breaking-jpl-lucky-peanuts.html.