Interpretation Of Roth’s Jewishness Embodied In His Israel Fiction

Philip Roth, as one of the most prominent American Jewish writer, is alwaysregarded as the most controversial writer among the critical world because of thedisputed themes in some of his novels. Some critics hold that Roth has run counter tothe Jewish tradition and got rid of the Jewishness. However, through the close criticalreading and analysis of Roth’s reflection on Jewish issue and his attitude towards theIsraeli situation in his two Israel novels The Counterlife and Operation Shylock, it couldbe revealed that Roth has been influenced to some extent by the Jewish traditionalthoughts and culture, which is also the presentation of his Jewishness. The author of thepresent thesis intends to render an objective evaluation of his distinctive Jewishnessthrough exploring the Jewish thoughts and culture Roth manifested.First of all, this study begins with the exploration of the significance of Jewishcultural and religious tradition to the Jews in diaspora. Through the close analysis of thecharacters, setting and the Jewish tradition depicted in the novels, the thesis exploresRoth’s advocation towards the Jewish faith. Then the study elaborates Roth’sdisapproval of the negligence of the Holocaust from the perspective of Jewish historyand Jewish national consciousness. Through presenting a systematic discussion on theinfluence of the fundamental belief on the Jewish people in Roth’s novels, the thesisexplores Roth’s reflection on the Jewish tradition and history.Next, the author of the present thesis analyzes Roth’s query about the behavior ofmodern Jews in Israel towards the conflict among Jews themselves and that with Arabs,presenting Roth’s inheritance of Jewish traditional thoughts. Through the closedecoding of such Jewish traditional thoughts as renouncing power, justice andredemption embodied in the novels, the thesis reveals Roth’s concern about the moralcrisis in Israel. What’s more, the Jewish traditional thoughts Roth reflects in the novel isthe representation of his Jewishness. Finally, from the perspective of the historical development of anti-Semitism, theauthor of the present thesis elaborates Roth’s critical attitude to anti-Semitism, throughanalysis of Roth’s satire and attack on anti-Semitism and his exposure of the root ofanti-Semitism. Then through the exploration of Roth’s argument for the typical image ofJews and his recreation of the image of Jews, the thesis illustrates Roth’s reconstructionof the image of Jews. The exploration of Roth’s way of defense for the Jewry manifestshis attempt of gaining the equal treatment for the Jews and reveals his inseparablerelation with the Jewish nation, which constitutes an important aspect of Roth’sJewishness.On the basis of these two Israel novels, the author of the present thesis exploresRoth’s Jewishness in the light of Jewish traditional culture and thoughts. Throughanalyzing Roth’s reflection on Jewish traditional culture and history, his concern aboutJewish moral crisis and his defense for Jews, the thesis elaborates on how Rothmanifests his Jewishness in these two Israel novels. The study from the ethnicperspective will present Roth’s distinctive Jewishness and deepen our understanding ofRoth and his works.