P. Roth "Goodbye, Columbus". Class differences in Goodbye, Columbus

Šiauliai University Faculty of Humanities English Philology Department Student : Giedrė Lunskytė AFIII Doctor : Patrick Chura Class diferences in Goodbye, Columbus Social quality is one of the most important themes in P. Roth’s novel Goodbye, Columbus. The differences between people from the different social classes are emphasized. Those differences are seen from the very begging of the novel then Neil first meets Brenda. She asks him to hold her glasses while she is swimming in the pool. Neil is attracted by Brenda, he looks at her with admiration and she does not pay much attention at him. After their first meeting Neil decides to call her. Brenda even does not remember how he looks like. But their first real meeting is even stranger. When Neil arrives Brenda is playing tennis with a friend and her reaction at him is not very pleasant: “Hello, Neil. One more game,” she called. It shows that Neil is not so much important for Brenda as she is important for him. Her words “one more game” can be understood in several ways. On one hand, it can be understood that she is talking with her friend and asks her to play one more game. But on the other hand, those words can be dedicated to Neil, just indirectly. It may seem that he is another game for Brenda, for a girl from higher social class, and she is not expecting anything serious to happen between them. Another difference arises while they are talking about the universities. Neil is attending Newark Colleges of Rutgers University. It may look that he feels cheap about this: “Whenever anyone asks me where I went to school I come right out with it: Newark Colleges of Rutgers University. I may say it a bit too ringingly, too fast, too up-in-the-air, but I say.” Brenda is attending prestigious Radcliffe University. The surrounding Brenda lives in is totally different from Neil’s. Firstly, her family lives in Short Hills, the prestigious district, while Neil is from Newark, the place that is typical for the real Jewish. The Patimkins’ house is full of things that make a great surprise for Neil. Especially the basement is emphasized in the novel and the description of it is given in more detail. Here the writer shows Neil’s feelings while being there: “It felt cavernous down there, but in a comfortable way, like the simulated caves children make for themselves on rainy days, in hall closets, under blankets, or in between the legs of dining room tables.” So Neil fees in this place like a child who builds a tent for a short time. Maybe at that time he understands that everything he sees here is contemporary for him and that everything can be destroyed soon. What is more, the writer pays attention at the thing that at the first sight may seem not important at all. This thing is a tall old refrigerator that stands in the basement. It reminds that once this family was poor and did not belong to the high social class as Neil now: “This same refrigerator had once stood in the kitchen of an apartment in some four – family house, probably in the same neighborhood where I had lived all my life .” So this is the only one thing in the house that reminds that Patimkins’ family had lived the same as he lives now. In some slight way refrigerator can be contrasted with Neil, because it was moved from Newark to Short Hills. It is what Neil is seeking. He wants to move to Short Hills and to have a better life. But one of the most interesting things in this part is Neil’s thievery. He steals the fruit from refrigerator and puts it into his pocket. It can be understood that the fruit has the symbolic meaning and it can be related with Brenda. For Neil she is a juicy fruit that can change his life. But differently from the fruit in the refrigerator it can be harder to steal Brenda, “the golden girl, the king’s daughter.” Neil’s aunt Gladys is quite skeptical about Neil’s relationships with Brenda and all her family. She is a conservative Jewish woman and is suspicious about all the Patimkins’ family. Neil’s decision to spend the rest of summer with Brenda does not make her to feel happy: “Since when do Jewish people live in Short Hills? They couldn’t be real Jews believe me.” Aunt Gladys understands that they are from different social class and that they are not real Jews anymore. They have assimilated and they have lost their values as the real Jews, while she does not want to forget her real roots. Brenda’s parents do not like her relationships with Neil as well. Even they do not show this directly but we can feel it from their actions and speeches. Maybe they understand that he is another toy for Brenda during her summer. Very interesting aspect is Neil’s visit to Mr. Patimkin’s work. There is only one chair in his office: “Sit down,” Mr. Patimkin shot at me I saw there was only one chair in the office, his.” It shows the social inequality. Workers in his office do not have right to sit. They have to work if they want to earn some money. He explains that people have to work hard if they really want to achieve something in their life like he did. But now he gives to his children everything they want and need. He always lets his youngest daughter Julie to win, and she does not know what it means to loose, to fail. Brenda also has everything she wants and his son Ron is a sport super star and he expresses one thought about Ron: “This kid need gold to eat of.” This shows that Mr. Patimkin is ready to give everything their child need, while Neil’s parents are not able to provide him with “golden” things. The author gives very interesting description of the women that Neil sees while he is driving to Patimkin’s house. He sees ordinary women: “They looked immortal; sitting there”. He imagines their simple life, simple details that is important for him: the color of their hair, clothes, and homes. Everything looks so simple, not expensive and soon he remembers Brenda: “Only Brenda shone. Money and comfort would not erase her singleness – they hadn’t yet, or had they?” At this point Neil starts to hesitate: does he really love Brenda or her money? His hesitation gives answer that love between two people from different social classes is almost impossible, because there always will be someone who will think that only money keeps two people together.

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