The Defender of the Faith

The Defender of the Faith by Philip Roth is a short story that portrays the nature of Jewishness through the characters of Sergeant Marx and Sheldon Grossbart. Sergeant Marx faces a great dile a! he has to decide whether to act as a good sergeant" good Jew to $uestion his beliefs. %n order or a good hu an being. #is internal struggle causes hi

to retain his faith" he had to struggle a lot. Marx is uncertain of Sheldon Grossbart" a Jewish trainee. Since Marx is also Jewish" Grossbart cunningly atte pts to use this co on trait as a way to recei&e special pri&ileges fro Marx. Through this encounters and although Marx is that cause Marx a great dile a" Marx's true character and personality are re&ealed. a(e others pity hi

Grossbart tried to use his religion in order to Marx was a tough

aware of his sly tactics" he still gi&es in to his re$uests. an! he was trained to prepare his en for war" and nothing uch else that else. #e belie&ed that while there was a war going on" there was not Grossbart as(s Marx to let hi

attered in this world" but still showed a sy pathetic $uality. For exa ple" when lea&e base for a day to &isit his aunt for the Jewish go" belie&ing in the i portance holiday" Marx is faced with the decision of whether or not to let Grossbart lea&e e&en though it was prohibited to do so. Marx agrees to let hi %n his final dile of fa ily and holidays. Marx beco es furious in the end of the short story. a with Grossbart" Marx re&eals his aggressi&e and &engeful Marx" as(ing if there is any way possible he can nature when Grossbart once again tries to swindle hi . %n one of his final encounters with Marx" Grossbart see(s sy pathy fro to help hi " but Grossbart be transferred to a )ew Jersey base rather than be shipped off to the Pacific. Marx refuses anages to do so by con&incing so eone else. Marx is caught between doing the right thing and trying to (eep his feelings. *s a sergeant" he (new he had to act accordingly to what he has been taught in the ser&ice" indifferent to his trainees' personal needs and proble s. *s a hu an being" Marx is faced with the dile a of si ply ha&ing a heart and actually caring for Grossbart's nu erous re$uests. This short story focuses on the conflict between two strong characters" Marx and Grossbart" who are both Jews in&ol&ed in the war. They are both strong characters but

ha&e opposite &iews on religion and suppressed his e otions and beca e i

ilitary life. Marx belie&ed that in order to sur&i&e" eat. Marx une to feeling of co passion with the &icti s arched through the defeated

en should so things that would not nor ally do! li(e ignore religion and eat of war and feelings of triu ph when he" as a Jew"

Ger any. The fact that he ca e reac$uainted with his feelings that can be seen in the following $uote+ ,....and it brought so many recollections with it that I began to grow exceedingly tender about myself. In fact, I indulged myself in a reverie so strong that I felt as though a hand were reaching down inside me. It had to reach so very far to touch me! It had to reach past those days in the forests of Belgium, and past the dying I d refused to weep over-.. /n the contrat" Grossbart always tried to e&o(e e otions in people and exploit both his religion and his fellow trainees to achie&e his selfish ai s. The story also explores the co plex of Messiah in the context of the war. Marx was ad ired because he fought as a hero against the )a0is and defended the Jews. 1ecause he defended the Jews" he ight be &iewed as a Messiah" the sa&iour of the to the Pacific. Jewish people" e&en though he is 2ust a si ple soldier participating in the war. Grossbart accused Marx of acting li(e a Messiah when he found out that he sent hi #is final action" the fact that he sent Grossbart to the Pacific" a ong with #alpern and Fishbein" can be seen as his last atte pt to restore e$ual conditions for all the trainees and stop granting Grossbart fa&ours. %t can also be seen as a re&enge on Grossbart for cheating on hi . % belie&e that The Defender of the Faith was an interesting short story. The title is &ery a biguous" the reader does not (now in the beginning to what faith does the title refer. % belie&e that the title refers to Marx's struggle to (eep his own faith" to (eep his beliefs and not gi&e in on Grossbart's pressure. 1ibliography+ .. http+33connection.ebscohost.co 3c3literary!criticis 3456475483philip!roths! defender!faith! odern! idrash 4. Steinberg" Gillian" Philip !oth s "Defender of the Faith"# $ %odern %idrash " ed. )9 :. )orton;<o" .==>
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Roth" Philip" The Defender of the Faith! pdf boo(" p.6