Американская еврейская литература: роман Ф. Рота «Когда она была хорошей».

Abstract

В статье на примере романа Ф. Рота «Когда она была хорошей» исследуются особенности американской еврейской литературы.

At first sight Roth’s novel “When She Was Good” appears to be a purely social novel. But the social problem lying at the base of this novel, the tragedy of a young woman, Lucy, who grew up in the family with very moderate means, who had to work in the milk bar for a few years to save enough money to go to college,who had to give up college because of unplanned pregnancy and found out upon marrying that her husband was as irresponsible as her own father and infantile into the bargain, is viewed by Roth from a moral standpoint. Roth wrote his novel in the 6o-s, when feminist movement in the USA was especially strong. So, his attitude to his heroine is dual: he sympathizes with her, he creates a psychologically true woman character, he motivates her behaviour; but being a man he can’t forgive her all the qualities that his predecessors in literature didn’t forgive Jane Eyre, and punishes his heroine by death.