Like Marcus said, the novel is a way to preserve not only Herman himself, but also his stories and memories. Roth writes, “I must . . . remember everything accurately so that when he is gone I can recreate the father who created me” (177). That idea leads to another thread I noticed throughout the novel – reciprocity. As Nicole said, Philip assumes a parental role when dealing with his father, causing Herman to state, “Philip is like a mother to me” (181). However, Philip’s motives seem to be more than simply acting as a parent to an ill father out of obligation. He truly feels gratified after cleaning up after his father in the bathroom. He wants to remember everything so that he can “recreate” the man who created him. Philip has a desire to reciprocate and give back all that his father gave him. I think that reciprocity is another part of Philip’s definition of true patrimony.
On a somewhat different note, perhaps Herman discards objects because to him it is the memories that matter and the objects themselves are meaningless. Yes, Herman immediately cleared the apartment of his wife’s possessions after her death. However, by no means did he forget her. Philip writes, “Over and over again he recounted for me the pure prosaicness of the seconds preceding her death . . .” (36). He is unable to forget a single detail, nor does he seem to want to, even though the memories are incredibly painful. Herman preserves people and memories by word of mouth, and it is up to Philip to write them down. Herman also got rid of objects that others considered valuable, like the tefillin and Philip’s stamp collection. He even returns gifts given to him by his family. Philip writes, “Little by little I took everything back, struck each time by how inconsequential to him was the sentimental value . . . of things intended to betoken the love of those he most cherished” (91). For Herman, the true value seems to come with memories and people associated with objects, not the objects themselves. Lastly, memories served as a source of comfort for Herman throughout his ordeal, which likely accounts for why he valued them so greatly. Philip writes, “On and on, remembering the illnesses, the operations, the fevers, the transfusions . . . the deaths, the burials – his mind . . . working to detach him from the agonizing isolation of a man at the edge of oblivion and to connect his brain tumor t a larger history, to place his suffering in a context where he was no longer someone alone with an affliction peculiarly and horribly his own but a member of a clan whose trials he knew and accepted and had no choice but to share” (71).
Building upon the idea of Philip acting like a mother, he oddly feels like a mother (giving birth) right after his quintuple bypass surgery. Following the surgery, he states: "After the surgery I felt reborn - at once reborn and as though I had given birth" (225). He even talks to his so-called baby and describes his "delirious maternal joy" (225). Even though Philip and Herman are the two main characters in the memoir, Philip Roth is able to establish maternity as a theme. Philip being compared to a mother on multiple occasions really caught my attention.
ReplyDeleteYou also touch upon the idea of possessions in your post and mention the tefillin. Herman's decision to keep the shaving mug, yet give away the tefillin surprised me. Typically, Herman gives away objects to distance himself from events/people he does not want to remember, such as when he gives his wife's possessions away after his decision to continue walking ultimately plays a major role in her death. I wondered how the tefillin could have bothered him and and what caused the impulse to rid himself of this Jewish object (by putting the tefillin in a vacant locker at the Y) that had likely been passed down for generations in his family. Clearly, the tefillin must have had considerable value, but something bothered him about them. One possible (yet a bit far-fetched) explanation for not keeping the tefillin is that it reminded him of his retired life and later years, which he did not want to remember. As a working man in the Metropolitan Life insurance company, Herman was hardly religious or observant. However, as he grew older and eventually retired, he began attending prayer services (tefillin are largely only used by Orthodox Jews, or very observant Conservative Jews). Maybe, Herman gave away the tefillin because he wanted to distance himself from his retired years and the era of his life (his "last chapter") that ultimately causes the tumor and kills him. Essentially, putting the tefillin in a locker at the Y could have been a last-ditch effort to save himself and "start living again" (136). With the tefillin in hand, Herman was reminded of his retired years, which he was likely ashamed of. It is possible that he believed keeping the tefillin represented cowardice and weakness, as it was distracting him from reflecting on his strength as a working man. In order to "fight" in the later years, just like he had with everything else, he would need the fighting spirit that made him successful in the Metropolitan Life Company. He had to give away the tefillin to hold onto the last bit of his strength, so he could fight the tumor, even if it meant not being able to pass the tefillin down to his sons or grandchildren.
Emily, I definitely agree with you that Herman felt the memories were more important than the objects. Herman is the type of man who would fight against and hate the aspects of his illness that would cause him to lose control over his body, mind, ect. If a object connected to a memory was in Herman's house, he would have no control of when he thought about that memory-seeing the object would trigger it/them. However, if the object wasn't there, Herman would be able to recall the memories voluntarily, and when HE wanted to think about them. The objects weigh him down with forced recollection, while the absence of the objects allows his mind to have more control over the memories.
ReplyDeleteI just noticed that Herman kept two prayer shawls. Sandy found them in the bottom of a drawer as Herman was dying in the hospital. Roth writes, "These he hadn't parted with. These he hadn't ferreted off to the Y locker room or given away to one of his great-nephews" (233-234). It's interesting that he kept the prayer shawls but not the tefillin. Does anyone have any ideas?
ReplyDeletelike jason and nicole said, the objects definetly hold meaning for Herman, but it's not necessarily either negative or positive. while it's true that often objects hold some sentimental value for us, it's not always true that they have to be either completely associated with only one emotion or memory. this might be different for me since most of the gifts i receive are books or pieces of technology, but i often even forget when or whom from i received the gifts. instead, i usually just remember whether it was a friend or relative, it was around my b-day/Christmas or not near it at all, and usually what associations they had with the gift.
ReplyDeleteobviously there are emotions associated with Hermans' gifts, even if he persists in giving away all of his childrens' useless baubles/meaningful presents once his wife dies. but he's not really trying to escape from them in so much as he already carries the important bits (the memories/emotions) with him. this might be why he's constantly reciting the history of each and every person he remembers, as repetition aloud often makes one remember better (this works ridiculously well for me and it's actually a bit annoying). Herman already has all the things he needs in his brain, and when he finds out about the tumor that is threatening this precious trove of memories, understandably he decides that he NEEDS to prove that he can remember just fine without physical reminders. this is not only incredibly brave, it's a statement to everyone he knows: i'm still strong and i'm not dead yet so don't you dare treat me like i'm an invalid right now. as long as he considers and holds himself on equal ground, he hasn't lost the fight yet.
as a side note, when my grandparents died summer of freshman year we went through their house to try and find thing we'd like to keep. we found clothes from over 40 yrs ago that my grandmother insisted on keeping even though no one wore them, my father's first pair of shoes encased in bronze,about 300 lbs of mostly useless stuff, and about 500lbs of food stocked in 3 separate bedroom sized rooms--most of it already gone bad. i think that some people try to hold onto the past by clutching memories, and others try to hold on by grasping items with meaning. either way, it leads to a whole lotta clutter in your brain and house, but it makes living worth it to remember the first time someone laughed like crazy with you or the stories your grandpa told.
memories make us who we are.