From A Jew To An American: An Analysis Of David's Identity Transformation In Henry Roth's Call It Sleep From The Perspectives Of Culture And Religion

Henry Roth (1906—1995) is one of the greatest masters of modern American Jewish literature. His first novel Call It Sleep in 1934 is hailed as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. Nowadays, Call It Sleep is widely regarded as a masterpiece of American Jewish literature. With a dramatic history of revival legend, this magnum opus has a kind of ever-increasing enchantment on critics since it awoke from its sleep. Nevertheless, in our country, it is still a book of little significance. In order to call people's attention to this great novel, this dissertation will focus on the text of Call It Sleep. Since no one has yet explored in detail the identity transformation of David in Henry Roth's Call It Sleep from the perspectives of culture and religion, this dissertation will provide a detailed interpretation of David's identity transformation from a Jew to an American. In addition, this dissertation, by analyzing the causes and the process of David's identity transformation, finds out that cultural and religious factors have had a great effect on David. As a result, he decides to abandon his Jewish identity and to well integrate into the American society.