Fantasy as 'Recovery, Escape and Consolation' in the Short Stories of Isaac Bar Moshe

Isaac Bar Moshe (1927-2004) was born in Baghdad and immigrated to Israel in 1950. This article deals with his literary world, which is split between realism on the one hand and fantasy, mysticism and dreams on the other, with both these planes reflecting his perspective on various existential questions. The article focuses on the short stories in his book Behind the Wall (1973), which, like many of his other works, are largely anchored in his private life and depict a bleak reality, with dreams and fantasy offering the only hope of escape into a better, more spiritual world. The article concludes with an analysis of Bar Moshe's stories in terms of the three functions of fantasy - 'recovery, escape and consolation' - as formulated by writer and philologist J.R.R. Tolkien in his book Tree and Leaf.