Throughout the book I noticed a theme of survival. First of all Philip's father, Herman, has a brain tumor that will eventually cause his death. Given the option to get it removed with a chance at success, he decided to fight through the tumor and let it slowly kill him. While wasting away, what could be perceived as pure stubbornness, his cataract surgery, was him fighting for his independence. Herman knew he was going to die and his war with the tumor was over but he could still fight and win one battle -his sight. Another survivalist with a lesser role I saw was Joanna. Joanna, a recovered alcoholic friend of Philip, was the person he chose to talk to about his fathers eminent demise. The reason he had chosen her was that she was a survivor, too. during his conversation Philip came to the realization that "that was what she shared with [his] father and what [he] prized in both of them: survivorship, survivorhood, survivalism" (125). Another way the theme of survival showed up was the holocaust and Roth's Jewish heritage. Brought up mainly by Walter Herrmann, who had himself survived the holocaust first hand and had written a book of his "experiences". There was also more mention of survival in the chapter "They Fought Because They Were Fighters, and They Fought Because They Were Jews adding to the many other survivalist in the book. I think this book has other themes such as memory and patrimony itself which I have yet to fully ponder, but I see survival as one of the main themes.
I agree with Bridget and Jason about the importance of survival. Herman is a very independent person and does not want people to consider him feeble and helpless. One moment that clearly demonstrated Herman's determination to remain strong was when he expressed his dislike for his cane, saying, "I don't like it because you become accustomed to it. I don't want to become dependent on it" (220). He does not want to have to rely on anything.
ReplyDeletePhilip's dream on the eve of his father's death serves as a metaphor for Herman and his struggle with the tumor. Roth writes,"In the dream, a boat, a medium-size, heavily armored, battle-gray boat, some sort of old American warship stripped of its armaments and wholly disabled, floated imperceptibly toward the shore" (235). Philip later realizes that his father was the ship. Herman was a fighter, just as the ship was a "heavily armored" warship. However, the once powerful warship was "stripped of its armaments" with "no sign of anyone in command" (235). Its fate was left to the current. Philip describes the scene as "a portrait of the aftermath of a disaster" (235). Toward the end of his ordeal, Herman is unable to fight any longer and ultimately loses the battle against the tumor.