(130) The irony here is partly that Bok is treated so badly because of something he was trying to escape from in the first place. The other irony is that Bok decides to defend his Jewish heritage from his captors. He is offered freedom if he denounces the Jews. He refuses, stating that "he is against those who are against them... he will protect them as much as he can... this is a pact he has made with himself" (189). When Raisl brings the confession to him, he signs the line to which his name belongs with the statement: "Every word is a lie" (262). Bok's ordeal in prison was due to the religion he was trying to turn his back on when he left the shetl. However, while in prison, Bok seems to discover something valuable in the ancient Jewish religion (Tanner 336). Bok's existence proves once again to be very circular and full of irony. Irony is certainly a constant in Bernard Malamud's novel The Fixer. Two elements best illustrate the irony in the life of Malamud's protagonist, Yakov Bok: first, his attempt to escape life in the shetl; and secondly, Bok's attempt to escape his religion. Each event contributes to an ironic atmosphere in The Fixer.