Chapter 22 - Roth and the Holocaust

Summary

Though Roth has often been categorized as a Jewish American writer, one of the foremost criticisms leveled at his early work was that it was not appropriately Jewish – that, in fact, it was not good for the Jews, as some felt it did not portray Jewish culture or religion in a flattering way. And indeed, nothing is sacred in Roth’s work – not even depictions of the sacred. This chapter will focus on the relationship and conflicts between secular and religious Jewish identity, providing some context for the ways Roth engages with different definitions of what it means to be Jewish.