“"Eat Jesus "___________________________*Spoilers: does everybody know by now...that if you don't want to know what happens....don't read my Discussion posts? The following, which is long, but oh-so-satisfying... was one of the most famous parts of this Pulitzer-Prize winning novel. It's called (informally) 'The Interrogation'. Inquisition ? Even Updike commented on this part of Philip Roth's masterpiece. Updike said he loved the Jewish Father's grilling of the non-Jewish potential daughter-in-law. You know, my Grandfather wouldn't even let girls into the home if they weren't Jewish....so, in my family, back in the day.... it wouldn't even get this far...an actual grilling..... But, that's why I've always said New Jersey Jews were completely different than Bronx Jews.... Also, I'm not gonna use quotation marks for this scene, because ...if I'm remembering correctly.... the prose in the book was written without quotation marks. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember a special way this particular scene was printed in the novel---different from the regular text printing.....ANYWAY....the text in caps is the stern Jewish Father....the lower case is the potential daughter-in-law. So, with out further ajew......here's the famous scene:_________________________________________WHAT IS YOUR FULL, NAME MISS DWYER?Mary Dawn Dwyer.DO YOU WEAR A CROSS AROUND YOUR NECK, MARY DAWN?I have. In high school I did for a while.SO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF AS A RELIGIOUS PERSON.No. That isn't why I wore it. I wore it because I'd been to a retreat and when I got home I just started wearing a cross. It wasn't a huge religious symbol. It was just a sign really of having been to this weekend retreat, where I made a lot of friends. It was much more that than a sign of being a devout Catholic.ANY CROSSES IN YOUR HOUSE? HANGING UP?Only one.IS YOUR MOTHER DEVOUT?Well, she goes to church.HOW OFTEN?Often. Every Sunday. Without fail. And then there'll be times during Lent when they'll go every day.AND WHAT DOES SHE GET OUT OF IT?Get out of it? I don't know if I understand. She gets comfort. There's a comfort about being in a church. When my grandmother died she went to church a lot. When someone dies or someone is sick, it helps give you some kind of comfort. Something to do. You start saying your rosary for special intentions--ROSARIES ARE THE BEADS?Yes, sir.AND YOUR MOTHER DOES THAT?Well, sure.I SEE, AND YOUR FATHER'S LIKE THAT TOO?Like what?DEVOUT.Yes. Yes, he is. Going to church makes him feel like a good man. That he's doing his duty. My father is very conventional in terms of morality. He grew up with a much more extremely Catholic upbringing than I did. He's a workingman. He's a plumber. Oil heating. In his view the Church is a big powerful thing that makes you do what's right. He's someone who is very caught up in issues of right and wrong and being punished for doing wrong and the prohibitions against sex.I WOULDN'T DISAGREE WITH THAT.I don't think you would. You and my father aren't that different, when you come down to it.EXCEPT THAT HE IS CATHOLIC. HE IS A DEVOUT CATHOLIC AND I AM A JEW. THAT'S NO SMALL DIFFERENCE.Well, maybe it's not such a big difference either.IT IS.Yes, sir.----(All of the above prose taken directly from Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' (1997) Page 392, Publisher's paperback edition)__________________________________________________________AND WHAT ABOUT JEWS? LET'S GET DOWN TO BRASS TACKS, MARY DAWN. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS SAY ABOUT JEWS?(Pause.) Well, I don't hear much about Jews at home.WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS SAY ABOUT JEWS? I WOULD LIKE AN ANSWER.I think what's more remarkable than what I think you're getting at, is that my mother might be aware that she doesn't like people for being Jewish, but she doesnt' realize that there are people who might not like her for being Catholic. One thing I didn't like, I remember, was that on Hillside Road one of my friends was Jewish, and I remember that I didn't like that I was going to go to heaven and she wasnt.WHY WASN'T SHE GOING TO HEAVEN?If you weren't Christian, you weren't going to heaven. It seemed very sad to me that Charlotte Waxman wasn't going to be up in heaven with me.WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER HAVE AGAINST JEWS, MARY DAWN?Could you just call me Dawn, please?WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER HAVE AGAINST JEWS, DAWN?Well, it isn't that Jews are Jews. It's that you're non-Catholics. To my parents you're just lumped with the Protestants.WHAT DOES YOUR MOTHER HAVE AGAINST JEWS? ANSWER ME.Well, the usual things you hear.I DON'T HEAR THEM, DAWN. YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TELL ME.Well, mostly about being pushy. (Pause.) And materialistic. (Pause.) The term "Jewish lightning" would be used.JEWISH LIGHT?Jewish lightning.WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?You don't know what Jewish lightning is?NOT YET.When a fire is set for insurance purposes. There's lightning. You never heard that?NO, THAT'S A NEW ONE ON ME.You're shocked. I didn't mean to.YES, I AM SHOCKED ALL RIGHT, BUT WE MIGHT AS WELL GET THIS OUT IN THE OPEN, DAWN. THAT IS WHAT WE ARE HERE FOR.It wouldn't be all Jews. It would be New York Jews.WHAT ABOUT NEW JERSEY JEWS?(Pause.) Well, yes, I think they're probably a variant of New York Jews.I SEE. TO JEWS IN UTAH IT DOESN'T APPLY, JEWISH LIGHTNING. JEWS IN MONTANA. IS THAT RIGHT? IT DOESN'T APPLY TO JEWS IN MONTANA.I don't know.AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR FATHER AND JEWS? LET'S GET IT OUT IN THE OPEN AND SPARE EVERYBODY A LOT OF SUFFERING LATER ON.Mr. Levov, even though those things are said, most of the time nothing is said. My family doesn't say very much about anything. Two or three times a year we go out to a restaurant, my father and my mother, my younger brother and me, and I'm always surprised when I look around and see all the other families talking away amongst themselves. We just sit there and eat.YOU ARE CHANGING THE SUBJECT.I'm sorry. I don't mean this as a way to excuse it, because I don't like it, but I'm only trying to say that it isn't even something they strongly feel. There's no real anger or hatred behind it. What I'm pointing out is that on rare occasions he uses the word "Jew" in a derogatory fashion. It isn't really an issue one way or another, but every once in a while something will come up. That is true.AND HOW WOULD THEY FEEL ABOUT YOU MARRYING A JEW?They feel about the same way you feel about your son marrying a Catholic. One of my cousins married a Jew. They might tease about it but it wasn't a big scandal. She was a little older, so everybody was glad, in a way, she found somebody.SHE WAS SO OLD EVEN A JEW WOULD DO. HOW OLD WAS SHE, A HUNDRED?She was thirty. But nobody was brought to tears. It's not a big deal until somebody wants to insult somebody.AND THEN?Well, then you might want to get in a snide remark if you were angry at the person. I don't think the issue of marrying a Jew is a huge deal necessarily.UNTIL THE ISSUE OF WHAT TO RAISE THE KIDS AS.Well, yes.SO HOW WOULD YOU RESOLVE THIS ISSUE WITH YOUR PARENTS?I'd have to resolve the issue with myself.WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?I would like my child baptized.YOU WOULD LIKE THAT.You can be as liberal as you want, Mr. Levov, but not when it comes to baptism.WHAT IS BAPTISM? WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT ABOUT THAT?Well, it's technically washing away original sin. But what it does, it gets the child into heaven if they die. Otherwise, if they die before they're baptized, they just go into limbo.WELL, WE WOULDN'T WANT THAT. LET ME ASK YOU SOME THING ELSE. SUPPOSE I SAY OKAY, YOU CAN BAPTIZE THE CHILD. WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU WANT?I guess when the time came, I'd want my children to make their first communion. There are the sacraments, you see----SO ALL YOU WANT IS THE BAPTISM, SO IF THE KID DIES IT GETS INTO HEAVEN AS FAR AS YOU'RE CONCERNED, AND THE FIRST COMMUNION. EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THAT IS.It's the first time we take the Eucharist.AND WHAT IS THAT?This is my body, this is my blood---THIS IS ABOUT JESUS?Yes. You don't know that? You know, when everybody kneels. "This is my body, eat of it. This is my blood, drink of it." And then you say "My Lord and my God" and eat the body of Christ.I CAN'T GO THAT FAR. I'M SORRY, I CANNOT GO THAT FAR.Well, as long as there's baptism, we'll worry about the rest later. Why don't we leave it up to the child when the time comes?I'D RATHER NOT LEAVE IT UP TO A CHILD, DAWN. I'D RATHER MAKE THE DECISION MYSELF. I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE IT UP TO A CHILD TO DECIDE TO EAT JESUS. I HAVE THE HIGHEST RESPECT FOR WHATEVER YOU DO, BUT MY GRANDCHILD IS NOT GOING TO EAT JESUS. I'M SORRY THAT IS OUT OF THE QUESTION.”
“"It's all permissible, baby ! "________________________________"She had raised her knees toward her chest and now, with either foot planted on the bed, she let her legs fall open. The floral skirt was gathered up by her hips and she wore no underwear."There," she said softly. "Put it right there. Attack there. It's all permissible, baby.""""Miss Cohen..." ......""What is it , dear? she replied. "You must speak up like a big boy if you wish to be heard.""What does this display have to do with what has happened?""Everything," she said. "You'll be surprised by what a very clear picture of things you're going to get from this display." She edged her two hands down onto her pubic hair. "Look at it," she told him and, by rolling the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ outward with her fingers, exposed to him the membranous tissue veined and mottled and waxy with the moist tulip sheen of flayed flesh. He looked away."It's a jungle down there," she said. ----By Philip Roth, from 'American Pastoral', Page 144, Publisher's softcover edition__________________________________________"She must have reached inside herself with her hand, her hand must have disappeared inside her, because a moment later it was the whole of her hand that she was extending upward to him. The tips of her fingers bore the smell of her right up to him. That he could not shut out, the fecund smell released from within."----Page 146, Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' (1997)_____________________________________...."The hand she'd offered him she now carried slowly up to her face, making loony, comical little circles in the air as she approached her mouth. Then, one by one, she slipped each finger between her lips to cleanse it. "You know what it tastes like? Want me to tell you? It tastes like your d-d-d-daughter". ____________________________________---- By Philip Roth, 'American Pastoral, Page 147, (Publisher's first soft-cover edition)”
“Marcia Umanoff----unforgettable character . Page 339, 'American Pastoral' Publisher's paperback edition:_______________________________"Marcia, a literature professor in New York, was, by even the Swede's generous estimate, ""a difficult person,"" a militant nonconformist of staggering self-certainty much given to sarcasm and calculatedly apocalyptic pronouncements designed to bring discomfort to the lords of the earth.(Wow! )"There was nothing she did or said that didn't make clear where she stood. She had barely to move a muscle-swallow while you were speaking, tap with a fingernail on the arm of her chair, even nod her head as if she were in total agreement--to inform you that nothing you were saying was correct."(We all know someone like this, don't we? Ahem )"To encompass all her convictions she dressed in large block-printed caftans--an extensive woman, for whom a disheveled appearance was less a protest against convention than a sign that she was a thinker who got right to the point. No nonsense, no commonplace stood between her and the harshest truths.(Above, from Page 340 Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' 1998, Publisher's paperback edition) __________________________________(Women are "disheveled"; men are "rumpled" )__________________________________________".....she was a slob, dressed even in college like somebody's grandmother,and with those buoyant eyes, unnervingly enlarged by the heavy spectacles...""..strident yenta..""...her animus, her superior airs, ....""...simply an oddball from another world, the academic world, the intellectual world where always to be antagonizing people and challenging whatever they said was apparently looked on with admiration. What it was they got out of being so negative was beyond ....""....this was the way she was accustomed to socializing in Manhattan..."(Above, from Page 341, Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' 1998, Publisher's paperback edition)____________________________________________"Marcia was all talk--always had been; senseless, ostentatious talk, words with the sole purpose of scandalously exhibiting themselves, uncompromising, quarrelsome words expressing little more than Marcia's intellectual vanity and her odd belief that all her posturing added up to an independent mind."(Above, from Page 343, Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' 1998, Publisher's paperback edition) "a militant nonconformist of staggering self-certainty much given to sarcasm and calculatedly apocalyptic pronouncements""dressed in large block-printed caftans"Sneering and bombastic Marcia ! Remember Alvie Singer's first wife in Annie Hall ? The sweeping caftans, and how she'd swept in and swirled around the culturally elite guests at the 'salon' style dinner party she was throwing, and all Alvie wanted to do was watch the sports game on TV....Caftans, mumuus, tent-dresses, shifts.....Fun.”
“Oh, this was good: This was the famous scene where the father vomits on the daughter's face. Delightful ! I'm pretty sure this is what won Roth the Pulitzer Prize. Sort of analagous to when Rabbit urinates on his extra-marital lover in Rabbit is Rich = 2nd Pulitzer Prize. The Pulitzer Committee loves that kind of thing.____________________________"She is disgusting. His daughter is a human mess stinking of human waste. Her smell is the smell of everything organic breaking down." -- Page 265, from Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' first Publisher's paperback edition (1998)_____________________________(And, what is the father to do about this?)"He tried to locate a muscle in his head somewhere to plug the opening at the top of his throat, something to stop him up and prevent their sliding still further into the filth, but there was no such muscle. A spasm of gastric secretions and undigested food started up the intestinal piping and, in a bitter, acidic stream, surged sickeningly on his tonuge, and when he cried out, "Who are you!" it was spewed with his words onto her face."-- Page 266, from Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' first Publisher's paperback edition (1998)(Cool. A father shows his love for his daughter, Philip Roth style!)"..spasm of gastric secretions""...bitter, acidic stream, "(.....I'll have fries with that, and one Pulitzer Prize...to go! )”
“Read my review, (where I've got all the sizzling 'Linda Lovelace stuff).... but here's the famous Unhooking of the Bra Scene at a 40? year high-school reunion. (From Philip Roth's 'American Pastoral' page 78-79, (1998) Publisher's paperback edition)________________________________________"Now that I'm no longer frightened it's much too late. I used to be shy--I'm not shy anymore.""Oh, Nathan, aging," she cried as we embraced each other, "aging, aging--it is so very strange. You wanted to touch my bare breasts.""I would have settled for that.""Yes," she said. "They were new then.""You were fourteen and they were about one.""There's always been a thirteen-year difference. Back then I was thirteen years older than they were and now they're about thirteen years older than I am. But we certainly did kiss, didn't we, darling?""Kissed and kissed and kissed.""I had practiced. All that afternoon I practiced kissing.""On whom?""My fingers. I should have let you undo my bra. Undo it now if you'd like to.""I'm afraid I haven't the daring anymore to undo a brassiere in front of the class.""What a surprise. Just when I'm ready, Nathan's grown up."We bantered back and forth, our arms tight around each other, and leaning backwards from the waist so each could see clearly what had happened to the other's face and figure, the external shape that half a century of living had bestowed. (Above text taken from page 78-79 of 'American Pastoral' by Philip Roth, (1998) Publisher's paperback edition) ”
“Excellent read. The American Dream!”
“As often with P. Roth, the beginning of the book is riveting, with the introduction of fascinating characters. Then it takes a little effort and the ending makes you hungry for more. A deeply interesting exploration into 1960's America and the generational struggles, it is also a subtle yet powerful psychological analysis of family dynamics. There isn't one way to live one's life and devoting it to making one's family happy (i.e., the Swede's) doesn't necessary work, while the younger brother, a sexual ogre, seems to do just fine. A book about duties, frustration, failures, racial and societal tensions, American Pastoral is a picturesque macroscropic analysis of America in the 1960's through one family journey into chaos.”
