21 pages • 42 minutes read
Philip RothA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Foreshadowing can enhance the reading experience, especially if, at the end of a story, the reader remembers a small but significant detail from the start. For example, at the beginning of “Defender of the Faith,” Sergeant Marx claims that war has toughened him up, so much so that he feels inured to the effects of observing “fear in the eyes of the once arrogant” (1).
This admission foreshadows the end of the short story, when Marx, in fact, does observe fear in Grossbart’s eyes. If Grossbart had not pushed Marx so far, Marx might have overlooked Grossbart’s obvious and self-serving role in avoiding the Pacific theater when the trainees’ orders come out. But, because Grossbart had asked for too much too many times, Marx feels a need to exact revenge, which leads Marx to make the phone call that ensures that Grossbart will go to the Pacific with all of the other trainees.
Irony plays a key role in the impact of this short story as a whole. For example, the title of the short story is “Defender of the Faith,” which will inspire many readers to wonder who in the story is doing the defending, and against whom. Superficially, Private Sheldon Grossbart appears to be defending the Jewish faith against the non-Jewish residents of Camp Crowder. He insists on following kosher laws, attending Friday night services, and traveling to St. Louis for a Passover meal with his extended family. Grossbart implicates two other young Jewish trainees in his efforts, and he implicates Marx as well.
By the end of the short story, Marx is in a position where, ironically, he must defend the Jewish faith against the manipulative Grossbart. Because Marx’s own relationship to Judaism is ambiguous, readers may wonder if Marx would have felt the need to defend the faith at all had Grossbart not revealed his tendency to overstep and to ask for too much under false pretenses.
By Philip Roth