Philip Roth's The Plot Against America

When my dad first told me to read Philip Roth, I ignored him for about a year because Philip Roth is in the genre of "speculative fiction," which I wasn't into until recently. Right now I've read about 150 pages, and it's a very intriguing novel. The basic premise of it is that it's an alternate reality in 1940 where Charles Lindbergh, a staunch isolationist and sympathizer of Hitler, is elected President instead of Franklin Roosevelt. What ensues is the United States not entering the 2nd World War, Lindbergh and Hitler coming to a "negotiation," and the government of the United States organizing a program rooted in anti-semitism.

I've become surprisingly inadequate at talking about this book, and as my dad asked me what I thought this afternoon, my reply was simply, "It's... eerie." And it is. When I read it, I come frighteningly close to believing that it's real, a level of which is very uncomfortable. Up until 1940, what is depicted in the book is what actually happened, and Roth doesn't go so far off the radar as to present situations that in no possible circumstance could've ever come to pass. It's one of those books that actually requires outside research, and the book's depiction of Lindbergh shocked me. It's embarrassing how ignorant I apparently am over him, but honestly, if someone asked me to describe Lindbergh before reading this book I could say that he flew from New York to Paris and that his baby son was kidnapped and murdered. I knew of his involvement in America First, but I had never really known about his suspected anti-semitism resulting from a speech given where he criticized the groups who he saw "pressing this country toward war", the three groups being "the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt Administration."

I've always been impressed when author's can completely involve the reader in the time period they choose, and this is a definitive example of that. Even though I know that what Roth depicts is not what actually happened, I still feel frightened and threatened in thinking about what is going to happen next. A sense of helplessness is very present in this novel; people unable to change the course of history and directly affected by the failure of the times. That is also a notion heavily present in possibly my favorite work of literature ever, the play Angels in America by Tony Kushner. Set in 1985 during one of the worst years for the AIDS crisis, Kushner's protagonist Prior Walter is afflicted with the disease and faces head on the Reagan Administration's failure to handle that crisis effectively. In Prior's delirium, he sees an angel who tells him that he a prophet who has to get the world to "stop moving." When Prior relays this message to his friend Belize, they have the following exchange that, while extremely simple (especially in the context of a Kushner play), is profoundly effective:

Prior: It's all gone too far, too much loss is what [The Angels] think, we should stop somehow, go back.

Belize: But that's not how the world works, Prior. It only spins forward.

Prior: Yeah but forward into what?

The feeling that there has to be some way of stopping, something done to prevent what has come to pass is extremely prevalent when I have been reading The Plot Against America. It's so strange, because obviously what Roth depicts did not actually happen, but for some reason when I read this, I feel a distinct sense of fear for the characters, knowing that in this alternate history- where America doesn't enter the World War and Hitler continues to reign- his Jewish family will be doomed. 

I don't feel ever like Roth is giving the reader a cautionary tale, and he's not using giant changes in American culture to show how Lindbergh's rule changed history, (something that would've definitely taken the reader out of focus) but rather subtle instances of anti-semitism for the Roth family that aid to their despair. The most heartbreaking scene I've read so far is when young Philip sees his father breakdown and cry over what has happened to their family, and the country itself by extension, and Philip realizing that his family is being torn apart, and that he is really alone. 

Roth's writing style is really interesting. It's without a doubt written in an intellectual style, but I don't feel that it is difficult to read, and Roth doesn't get bogged down in overly flowery diction or rhetorical devices, which sort of fit with the story itself. I hope to check out some more of his stuff if I get the chance.