Tags
divide and conquer, Donald Trump, facism, FDR, Jew, Life imitating art, Lindbergh, religious control, subterfuge, Walter Winchell
Published in 2004, Philip Roth’s book received the Society of American Historians Award for “outstanding historical novel on an American theme.” Suggested by one of my blogging friends, this novel came at me with the force of locomotive.
Told mostly through the eyes of a seven-year old boy living in Newark, NJ from 1940 – 42, Roth uses historical characters and events as the framework for an eerily plausible dystopian American in which aviation hero, Charles Lindbergh, has defeated FDR in his bid for a third presidential term.
Philip, our wide-eyed, young narrator, observes the workings of a mysterious adult world through the incomprehensible activities and reactions of a tight-knit, Jewish community that includes his older brother and cousin, both of whom he worships, but both of whom resist the proud and stubborn wisdom of Philip’s father. Philip’s mother grows in depth and stature as the “plot against America” thickens and threatens the safety of her family. Always hovering in the adult psyche are the ages-old pogroms, which of course, youth never fully take seriously.
Lindbergh’s America is, at outward appearance, determined to stay out of the war by building up it’s military personnel and technology, thereby creating jobs at home while walling itself off from foreign danger. Security by might. At the ugly heart of isolationism is a growing anti-Semitic movement, evidenced by the “Homestead 42” act tailored to weaken Jewish political and social ties by breaking up Jewish communities, re-educating Jewish children, and isolating Jewish families among rural goyim enclaves where Jews become instant outcasts. Lindbergh deviously uses vain Jewish leaders as Judas goats to guide their congregants into the clever plot that will inevitably expose Jews (and then blacks, and then . . . ) as the American problem.
Roth could not have written a more appropriate essay about our current political situation. Presciently, his President Lindbergh is a remarkable model for the current American President (aka PDT): arrogant, duplicitous, given to wordplay, symbolism, and fascist ideology. Lindbergh uses his private airplane gad-abouts to rouse the admiration of his followers, much as PDT uses 140-character, early-morning tirades to imply how hard he is working to “Make America Great Again.” In Roth’s America, Lindbergh admires and romances Hitler like PDT courts Putin. Radio personality, Walter Winchell’s outrageous bid to unseat the president in the next election, rivals the tenacious bid of Bernie Sanders. FDR, as Lindbergh’s predecessor, could sit in for Barack Obama. Roth’s anti-Semitic theme duplicates America’s Muslim phobia. (Among the other phobias that are paralyzing the reasoning abilities of a wide swath of Americans.) Roth even recreates, right here in America, a version of the infamous Kristallnacht uprising. In this novel we observe that “A political catastrophe of unimaginable proportions was transforming a free society into a police state” and America was on the brink of war in alliance, not with Britain and Canada, but with Hitler’s Nazis against Britain and Canada.
Roth’s Mayor La Guardia claims, “There’s a plot afoot all right, and I’ll gladly name the forces propelling it—hysteria, ignorance, malice, stupidity, hatred, and fear. . . . How it must please the Führer (Putin?) to be poisoning our country with this sinister nonsense.”
Despite the chilling, all too familiar themes, Roth weaves the story together with grace and moments of laugh-out-loud humor. I found myself alternately marveling at the prose, gasping at the parallels to my world, and chuckling at the boyish interpretation of adult behavior and life in general. This book would make a fabulous film.
Thanks for this review. I have not read anything by Roth, but his probably most famous American Pastoral. It’s probably time to read another book by him, and The Plot Against America seems like a good option.
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I had read a few of his books and had mixed feelings about them. I’m currently reading American Pastoral. The Plot is just the right book for this most perplexing time in history.
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Great review … I will recommend this book to my husband … he is the reader in the family! Me? … I like pictures!
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I get that, Denise. 😉 And I like your pictures.
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Great review of something that obviously chills . Not sure I want to read it. Staying awake enuf at night already.
D U see any forces “out there” yet that could legitimately get rid of Trump? 🙋Bob
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Trump has done one thing for me, Bob. He’s made me glad I’m not 20 or 30 years younger!
I’m thinking he’s going to break so many constitutional laws that he will walk himself right into impeachment hearings. I’m also hoping that Congress is reluctant to act until they have a body of crap to throw at him. Now, will that all happen before he drags us into Armageddon?
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Interesting paralells to the current situation in our world, and scary. was reading in the newspaper about Bannon, how he is a follower of the four generation rotation of building , excelling, disintegrating and renewal(my words, don’t have the article with me) and would welcome a revolution. I also read how we might accept US border patrol on our side, giving the US power to question our citizens and refuse entry..That I do not like, but am happy with how Prime Minister Trudeau dealt with the “handshake” and his take (our take) on immigration. One of the biggest sellers of books again is “1984.” It all concerns me.
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I think Trudeau is a bit of a mirror of America’s Obama. A good, well educated, and analytical man, faced with a world in turmoil. I hope you guys can keep him around and in his current position.
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Oh I think you’re right that Hollywood should be making that film. Sitting here in Canada we cannot feel too smug as within our Conservative political party are rising candidates who admire and emulate Trump.
History does repeat itself.
We do not learn.
Sincerely, your friendly local “libtard”
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But at least for now you are blessed with JT. He is the antithesis of DT. I would like to have been lodged in JT’s head during his talks with DT. 😮 But I fear your concerns are valid. I feel our whole planet has shifted to more dangerous, highly charged atmosphere. World War is not new. But our ability to destroy the entire planet has gained as exponentially as have our computing capabilities. Very scary.
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Great review! I really enjoyed the book when I read it several years ago, but it would probably be worth a re-read now, given what’s going on in our country, and the world. I’m glad you liked it and I agree: it would make a terrific film (although is there anyone brave enough to make it?).
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I thought the exact same thing when I suggested it as a film! But you know, those Hollywood types are pretty bold. They like to sink their teeth into sarcasm. It would even be a good stage production. I was in awe of the book. Would Philip be chuckling or rotating in his grave at what has become of us?
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I don’t think either… I think he is still alive. He’s probably holding his head in his hands, as are most of us.
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