Gimpel seems to have known that since he was a child and chose the path of righteousness and truth over social status. He never did care to be accepted by people who got pleasure out of hurting or deceiving others. When the Spirit of Evil visits him Gimpel is well able to resist being lured into indignancy because of his habit of believing, of faith. Moreover, Gimpel emerges from the shocking realization that his wife betrayed him as an even wiser man than before. Whereas he trusted blindly at first, in the end, he realizes that "there were really no lies," (p. 20). In other words, life is not as black-and-white as people prefer to believe. Gimpel's belief in God remains so solid throughout his life that forgiveness comes surprisingly easily to him. He does not become bogged down by resentment or remorse and cultivates only love and compassion. Gimpel is uniquely able to walk a path of righteousness outside of common social norms, to live in the world but not of it. After his vision...

Gimpel's willingness and ability to admit his own faults and failings proves further that he is far from being a real fool.
Gimpel notes that "the world is entirely an imaginary world, but it is only once removed from the true world," (p. 21). Concepts like good and evil allow human beings to make sense of what they cannot understand but ultimately the mundane world does not contain the keys to happiness, truth, or wisdom. Only by being detached from the world can a person achieve true faith and spiritual sustenance. Gimpel, through his genuine cultivation of faith, finds a source of inner peace unavailable to those who struggle through life to be accepted, to succeed, to make money, or to have power over others.