"Fiddler on the Roof" is About A Man Struggling With Autism

Fiddler on the Roof is one of the greatest musicals ever created. It shows the life of a Jewish man named Teyve, and the daily tsuris that he experiences. Teyve lives in Czarist Russia, where antisemitism is rampant in the nation. Teyve and his family reside in a small Jewish village that is overseen by a Russian military officer, Constable, who, despite being an anti-semite, likes and respects Teyve. The community lives mostly peacefully (not counting the daily squabbles that the denizens of the village get into), but there is an underlying tension between the villagers and the surrounding gentile communities. 

Most scholars interpret that the overall moral of the story is the importance of never giving up on your values -- despite the discrimination and harassment you may face because of it.  

I have a very different interpretation. 

I don't believe the story was ever about keeping "tradition" or staying "true to your values." I believe the real conflict of the plot is the internal struggle of a man who is suffering from severe autism. 

Teyve has kept to a strict routine all his life, and anytime something interrupts his routine he gets very irritated. In the song "Tradition" Teyve demonstrates that he only wants to do things the exact way that he's always done them. He's had a certain daily pattern all his life, and he feels he can't do anything outside of the box he has created in his mind. Venturing away from his comfort zone makes Teyve very anxious. Many people with autism get very nervous when they're forced to do something outside of their routine.

Because of this tradition Teyve believes that a "Matchmaker" named Yente -- a woman who arbitrarily picks two people to get married -- has to officially anoint a couple. This causes a major problem when Teyve's oldest daughter, Tzeitel, wants to marry her lifelong friend, Motel. Tzeitel and Motel love each other and have already gotten engaged, but they're afraid that Teyve won't let them get married because they did things outside of the normal tradition. 

They hesitate for a long time to tell Teyve about their engagement, and unfortunately, this causes a lot of tsuris when Yente decides to hook up Tzeitel with a rich butcher named Lazar Wolf. Even though Lazar is a rich man, he's physically hideous and Tzeitel doesn't want to marry him. 

After Teyve makes an ass of himself during the song "L'Chaim," where he gets publicly intoxicated, he tries to tell Tzeitel the following morning about how she has been chosen to be Lazar Wolf's wife. Tzeitel breaks down and wails in despair. She begs Tevye not to force her to marry Lazar, and Teyve, despite being extremely irritated, relents. 

Tzeitel and Motel then reveal that they want to marry each other. This puts Teyve in a great quandary: he knows they love each other, but he can't stand the fact that they hooked up outside of the strict tradition of the community. Teyve fights with his autism, but in the end he gives in and lets them get married. 

Teyve also has to overcome his autistic fixation on tradition when Perchik, a man who is a university graduate, offers to educate Teyve's daughters (in exchange for free meals and a place to stay). At first Teyve doesn't believe his daughters should be educated -- because of the sexist aspects of the tradition -- but he again decides to relent and let's Perchik teach his daughters. 

He even let's Perchik and his daughter Hodel get married. They assertively tell him that they're going to get married regardless if he gives them his permission, but they say that they would like his blessing. Teyve struggles for a few moments, but he then throws his hands in the air and gives them his blessing. 

Unfortunately, Teyve can't overcome his autism or "tradition" when his daughter Chava marries a gentile man named Fyedka. Teyve yells and screams, and has a complete meltdown! He gets completely infuriated and disowns her! This is one of the most tragic moments in story. Teyve should've been happy that his daughter found a nice man to marry. But instead of being filled with joy, his heart is filled with rage because the guy isn't Jewish. Teyve should've recognized that this aspect of the tradition was stupid. It shouldn't have been a problem that Chava married someone of a different ethnic background. But Teyve can't see the beauty in their marriage, and he handles the situation like a complete jackass.     

Teyve also has strong obsessive tendencies. In the song "If I were I Rich Man" Teyve daydreams and fantasizes about what he could do if he had an inordinate amount of money. He says he could stop working and just study the Torah all day long. Many people with autism have a "special interest" that they spend most of their time thinking about. For Teyve, it's the Torah and the Bible. He just wants to read and read and read and read and read and read and read and read and read and read and read and read. He doesn't even realize that reading so much will cause you to develop cataracts. Instead of playing sports and getting physical exercise, Teyve would prefer to remain fat and spend all his time reading the boring and meandering scribbles of the Five Books of Moses.

Many people with autism have poor communication skills. Teyve demonstrates this when he can't figure out how to tell his wife, Golde, about how Tzeitel will not be marrying Lazar Wolf. Instead of just telling her straight-up that Tzeitel doesn't want to marry Lazar, and that she will be marrying Motel instead, Teyve makes up this crazy story where Lazar Wolf's late first wife, Fruma-Sarah, appeared to him as a ghost and demanded that Lazar and Tzeitel not get married. Teyve claims that Fruma-Sarah declared she would haunt the family forever if the marriage took place. Golde, instead of calling Teyve out on his bullshit and saying he's a schmuck, stupidly believes his ridiculous tale. 

Overall Fiddler on the Roof is about a man trying to overcome his autism. Sometimes he succeeds, but other times, sadly, he doesn't.