NP - Roth's Women

[Paul Mackin]

On Jun 2, 2006, at 9:48 AM, Ghetta Life wrote:

>
> Yes, the mother character in "The Plot Against America" was very  
> sympathetic (and the incident you recall below was set amidst the  
> backdrop of the family's dire financial state, yet she holds on to  
> the collect long distance call anyway).  But Mom's don't count,  
> especially when the significant male is the son (unless we're  
> talking about some dark Freudian tale).  A better challenge would  
> be to find a sympathetic female *lover* in Roth’s writings.


That'd be difficult.  Lucy,  the protagonist of When She Was Good,  
has a lot of character and assumes  much responsibility from an early  
age.  But to do a Lucy Roth had to forget Newark and environs, travel  
to WASP middle America and back a century in time.

>
> In Humbolt’s Gift the very sexy younger female lover turns out to  
> be a real castrater (figuratively).  But Humbolt’s wife is so  
> sympathetic that she let’s Humbolt abuse her as he slips into his  
> bipolar manic state.  Not exactly a healthy character either
>
>
> Ghetta
>
>
>> From: Paul Mackin <paul.mackin at verizon.net>
>>
>>
>> On Jun 1, 2006, at 1:15 PM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
>>>  If anyone has an  example of a sympathetic portrayal of a woman  
>>> in Roth's work, I  stand corrected.
>>>
>>
>> One comes to mind. The Mrs. Roth character in "The Plot Against   
>> America." She is exemplary throughout the book (no trace of Mrs.   
>> Pornoy) but there  is one passage in particular (fairly near the  
>> end)  that truly sums up her nobility of character. I'd quote it  
>> if I could  find my copy of the book but, anyway, in this  
>> passage,  she is trying  to comfort Seldon, a boy about the age of  
>> her young son Philip. The  conversation takes place over the  
>> telephone. Seldon is far from home  and in very dire straits. His  
>> own mother is missing and he is alone  and terrified. Seldon is a  
>> difficult kid. Philip hates him as the  loser everyone considers  
>> him to be. Mrs. Roth is the only one Seldon  can think of to call  
>> and doing so is the right move. Mrs. Roth  masterfully talks  
>> Seldon down from his  terror. Tells him to look in  the cupboard  
>> for something to eat. Put the bread in the toaster (when  Seldon  
>> complains it is stale.) That sort of thing, all the time  keeping  
>> herself calm and focussed on the immediate problem. Don't  know if  
>> it's "soul" and some will probably think it's  too   
>> stereotypically in a woman's role. For Roth it seems pretty  
>> impressive.
>>
>
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