58 pages • 1 hour read
Philip RothGoodbye Columbus
Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1959A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Philip Roth
Philip Roth was born on March 19, 1933, in Newark, New Jersey, and died on May 22, 2018, in New York City. In addition to the short story collection Goodbye Columbus, which was his literary debut, he is the author of nearly 30 novels. He has won numerous prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize for his 1997 novel, American Pastoral. Many of his works enjoy widespread popularity, and several have been adapted for the screen, including Goodbye, Columbus, a film directed by Larry Peerce and released in 1969. Roth’s work is defined by its intermingling of comedy and drama, its exploration of Jewish American identity, and its probing of middle-class sexual mores. These themes are very present in Goodbye, Columbus, with the portrayal of the Patimkins outside of Newark in “Goodbye, Columbus” or the struggles of Lou Epstein as his affair is uncovered in “Epstein.” Of Roth’s many novels, one to enjoy recent popularity after his death is The Plot Against America, an alternate history novel in which Franklin Delano Roosevelt loses the 1940 election to Charles Lindbergh, a Nazi sympathizer. The novel follows a Jewish family from Newark, New Jersey, as they navigate a new America in which antisemitism is more accepted. The novel was adapted as an HBO miniseries in 2020. Like many of his other works, the novel focuses on the Jewish experience in America and the many obstacles that face Jewish communities, such as waves of antisemitism. Even as his career neared its end, Roth enjoyed critical acclaim, winning the Man Booker International Prize in 2011, before retiring from writing in 2012.
Social Context: Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey, and the surrounding area is one of the primary and most frequently used settings in the stories of Goodbye, Columbus. The city itself is located in northeastern New Jersey, near the coast, and is an important part of the state’s economy. Newark was once home to a large Jewish population, the result of widespread European migration at the beginning of the 20th century. Of the many synagogues founded at that time, few remain operational, though Ahavas Sholom, site of the Jewish Museum of New Jersey, remains: “With the exodus of Newark’s Jewish community by the end of the 1960’s, some members of Ahavas Sholom wanted to close the synagogue” (“History of Congregation Ahavas Sholom.” Ahavas Sholom – An Historic Landmark and Sacred Space). Ahavas Sholom is one of the longest operating synagogues in the city and remains in the city despite the departure of other synagogues from its time: “Of the forty Newark synagogues, all have either moved to the suburbs or merged with other shuls” (“History of Congregation Ahavas Sholom”). Goodbye, Columbus predominantly occurs in the immediate aftermath of the fighting in Europe in WWII and the 1950s, a time in which the Jewish community of Newark is still prominent. In the story “Goodbye, Columbus,” Newark features prominently as Neil’s home and the site of the Patimkins’ family business, Patimkin Kitchen and Bathroom Sinks. Neil works at a library in Newark and even attended college at Rutgers University’s Newark campus. Nonetheless, signs of the community’s exodus to the suburbs appear, such as with the Patimkins living outside of Newark or references in “Eli, the Fanatic” to the yeshivah’s arrival, signifying that the city is spreading out into the suburbs.
Religious Context: Jewish Organizations and Holidays
Throughout the stories in “Goodbye, Columbus,” characters refer to various Jewish organizations and holidays. In “Goodbye, Columbus,” Mrs. Patimkin asks Neil if his mother is involved in Hadassah. Hadassah is a Jewish women’s volunteer organization dedicated to fostering connections between the US and Israel. In the story, Mrs. Patimkin is conducting work for Hadassah when she and Neil discuss his faith. During the conversation, she asks if he will join B’nai B’rith. Founded in 1843, B’nai B’rith is one of the most prominent Jewish organizations in the US. The organization is very involved on college campuses and does much more in terms of education and philanthropic work. Finally, in “Eli, the Fanatic,” Leo’s home is referred to as a yeshivah—a Jewish religious school—because of his plans to teach his children there.
Jewish holidays are also frequently referenced in the collection. In “Defender of the Faith,” Sheldon Grossbart requests leave from his army base to visit his aunt for Passover, though in fact he has no intention of visiting his aunt and is merely using the holiday as a pretext. Similarly, in the title story, Neil uses Rosh Hashanah to get out of work so he can visit his girlfriend at her college. Unlike Grossbart, Neil has ambivalent feelings about this action. He is not religious and does not plan to observe the holiday, but he also realizes that he should not be forced to work on an important religious holiday, especially since everyone gets holidays like Christmas and Easter off as a matter of course, regardless of their religious beliefs.
In the collection as a whole, Jewish community organizations and religious holidays serve as sites through which characters navigate their often complex, ambivalent relationships with Jewish identity, community, and tradition. Each of these organizations and holidays illuminate Jewish culture and the Jewish experience in the US for the characters in Goodbye, Columbus and are important for fully understanding their identities and histories.
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