The theme of inter-generational conflict in American Pastoral demonstrates the collective desire to “one-up” or be different from one’s parents; in other words, to become more American. Of the youngsters of his neighborhood, Zuckerman says, “…we were steered relentlessly in the direction of success: a better existence was going to be ours” (41). The ability […]

Bernard Malamud’s The Assistant is one of the seminal works of Jewish fiction in the 20th century. Morris Bober is the Jewish grocer who cannot break the cycle of perpetual poverty. He “never alter[s] his fortune, unless degrees of poverty [mean] alteration, for luck and he [are], if not natural enemies, not good friends” (16). […]

Abramson, Edward A. “Bernard Malamud and the Jews: An Ambiguous Relationship.” The Yearbook of English Studies. Vol. 24, Ethnicity and Representation in American Literature, 1994. 146-156. Modern Humanities Research Association Web 19 Oct 10 <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3507887>. The article’s thesis: My contention is the Bernard Malamud is not only far from being an author concerned with the […]

My thesis project aims to prove that living in New York City limits the ability to fully practice Judaism for the Jewish characters in novels by Jewish authors that take place from the Great Depression through the civil rights movement. In other words, I will analyze the relationship between loyalty to Jewish traditions and pressure […]