Philip Roth's View of Mid-Twentieth-Century American Jews as Seen in Three Stories from Goodbye, Columbus

Abstract:This paper examines three stories in Philp Roth's Goodbye, Columbus. The stories are united in their concern for the challenges posed to Jewish identity in mid-twentieth century America, a generation of Jews separated from their immigrant parents and grandparents. Roth, a keen observer of American Jewish life, shines a perceptive, occasionally critical, often humorous light on his characters; he teaches the reader some hard truths about American Jews, truths that remain relevant more than half a century later.