Plot Against America

One of the best things about reading is coming across characters who are easy to identify with. In any realistic novel, the author creates characters who show essential human traits and behaviors so that the reader can look at the character as if he or she were a real person. A reader might hate the character who cheats, swindles, and lies, and fall in love with the one who is brave, heroic, and intelligent. In Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, Philip's mother Bess's essential humanity lies in her sweet, protective, motherly nature. It is easy to see her humanity in how she tries to take of her husband, her children, and herself.
In the novel, Herman, Bess's husband is troubled by many things. He is angry that the United States, led by President Charles Lindbergh, has agreed to stay out of World War II, allowing the Nazis to kill millions of Jews with even more ease. His violent temper also leads him to become very emotional about his political views. Since he believes that Lindbergh's government will turn the United States into a fascist, anti-Semitic state, he is always on the look out for anti-Semitism. When he gets particularly worked up, Bess instinctively tries to calm him down for his sake as well as the rest of the family's. For example, when the Roths are in Washington D.C. on a family vacation, something goes awry with their hotel reservations. They are kicked out of their room, given a refund, and instructed to find a new place to stay for the night. Herman immediately assumes that the hotel manager is an anti-Semite and gets very angry with him, stating that he would rather involve the police than leave quietly--his human nature causes him to lose control of himself as his anger mounts. Bess tries to take care of both her children and the need to get her husband to leave the hotel. Philip recalls that "Here my mother--who was holding my brother and me around the shoulders, shielding us alongside her and at a safe distance from the desk--called my father's name, trying to prevent him from going any further. (68)" Her human nature both encourages her to resolve the conflict and to protect her children so that her family's safety is not threatened.
After considering the needs of her family. Bess also tries to take care of herself. At the beginning of the novel, Roth describes how she has found a comfortable niche for herself in Newark. She is president of the PTA at Philip and Sandy's school, has many other friends, and has found a Jewish community in which she feels like she belongs. Near the beginning of the novel, Herman is given the opportunity for a raise and a promotion if he and his family move to Gentile-dominated Union, New Jersey. Although Bess realizes that the move would mean a more materially comfortable life for her family during the Great Depression, she realizes that it would also lead to a less comfortable social life for her and her family alike. She remembers her childhood in which she constantly felt as if she did not belong because her family were the only Jews in Elizabeth, her hometown. When she heard the news, Philip even knows that "she was thinking, "Ours will be the house 'where the Jews live.' It'll be Elizabeth all over again. (8)" The reader can sympathize with her human desire to belong somewhere, with people who similar to her, who she can identify with.
Bess is not the only character in Plot Against America who readers can easily identify with. Herman, Philip, and Sandy also exemplify common human emotions such as anger, confusion, frustration. The essential humanity of these characters as well as the believability of their situation are two components of Plot Against America that make it a terrific novel. (649)