Roth’s “Formula”

As we have been discussing all term, authors are able to have the strongest affect when they meet the reader in an opaque, disembodied space in which only the concept/notion/expression exists. Although Roth manipulates/fabricates the “historical” events in the novel, his ability to reach that “space” is grounded in his allusions to actual concrete  historical events. The similarities and connections between made up and real events make for the most powerful statements. For example, when the Roth family is being relocated, it is a very basic and obvious allusion the relocation of Jews in Nazi Germany. However, once the main character begins a tangent on the image of New Jersey looking like an Indian headdress, the notion/concept that Roth is expressing becomes even stronger. The relocation of Native Americans is maybe the single most influential event in defining the the identity of this country. The combination of the two real historical events, with the “made up” relocation of the Roth’s transports the reader and the author to an oblique space where a very abstract concept is expressed.