Goodbye, Columbus by Phillip Roth has been very intresting to read through its first half. Muck like Chaim Potok in My Name is Asher Lev Roth uses incredably discriptive language to describe the city in which Neil, the main character lives. “Jammed between a grimy-windowed bookstore and a cheesy luncheonette was the marquee of tiny art theatres(Page 31).” By doing this Roth clearly illustrates a picture in the readers mind about the looks of the city. Since the readers can clearly visualize a particular situation he is using one increment of “good” literature to his advantage.
The time period in which the novel is describing is never outright stated, but by using the type of language the characters use I can hypothesis on about what time. For instance, “They are taking over the city,” and the reply to this is “just the Negro sections(Page 35).” By using the word “Negro” I can tell that there is still a lot of racism conserning blacks who are being discriminated against by some of the white characters in the novel. Also the book talked about black servants, and black poverty. This proves that the novel is telling the story of at least a few decades ago. But this racism is not carried through all of the individual characters.
Neil works at a library, and one day a young “colored” boy came in. This came as a shock to most, because most black were interrpruted as illiterate. However, when it came time for them to help the young boy Neil stepped forward, and was willing to help the boy. Neil did not only help him, but he had long conversations with the boy and even told one customer that a book was out when it was not really out, because the boy loved the book so much. Neil made this boy feel so at home and comfortable that the boy came to the library at any free time he had. Neil was breaking down previous border that had not been crossed by most whites at this time in this part of the country. He was befriending a black, and by doing this he broke all the unwritten laws that he was supposed to abide by.
Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth was an great book. Its descriptive language creates a clear and visual picture in the reader’s head about the novel, and what is taking place. The character’s portrayed throughout the novel were interesting, and the situations that they overcame were even more interesting. Neil, and Brenda’s relationship is an on-going roller-coaster throughout the book creating a page turning novel. The subject of religion, race, and social class were all brought out in these one hundred and thirty-five pages.
Neil’s job at the library became more interesting in the second half of the book. The “colored” boy’s visits become more often, and this causes Neil to put his job on the line. Neil’s courage, and will to help the less fortunate almost got him fired. One day a man came in looking for one of the books that the boy was reading in the corner. Neil told the man that the book had been taken out by someone else. He told him that the book should be back soon. The man came back a week later, and got the same response from Neil. He then filed a complaint to the library about their staff. Neil was called into the managers office, and reprimanded. He almost got fired, because he wanted to help a little boy learn how to read.
Neil showed other improvements as well. His relationship with Brenda took on a more serious state. He and her started to live together. By doing this the conflict of their religion’s only became more of a factor. Neil desperately wanted to be with her, but they could not live together under such difficult circumstances. Then Brenda went to college, and Neil could not let her go. So within the first week of her departure he went to the college. He pleaded for her love, and finally they got married. This book turned out to be more of a story about love and maturation, rather than what I had presumed it was; a story about race and religion conflict. These issues were not brought up as much as I previously thought. All in all it was a great book to read.