Jewish Cynicism Popular Example Roth

Portnoy’s Complaint, by Philip Roth. 1995

A Teenage Version of the Archetypical Jewish Cynic. Polonophobic Innuendo Also Repeated

PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT is far more than a tale of adolescent rebellion and assorted fantasies. A close look makes this clear.

EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING IS DERIDED

Portnoy makes unfriendly remarks about Jews (e. g, p. 120). However, he is not merely defying traditional Jewish ways. He is in rebellion against God. He refuses to go to synagogue, even for Rosh Hashanah, because he does not believe in God. (p. 59). Of course, there are many Jewish atheists who observe the High Holidays out of a sense of cultural and historical continuity with Jews in general. Portnoy will not. Even when his parents try to instill in him a sense of the continuity of Jewish tradition, Portnoy remains adamant in his refusal to have anything to do with any kind of activity that smacks of belief in God. (pp. 60-61). He even half-seriously says that, “I would rather be a Communist in Russia than a Jew in a synagogue any day…” (p. 73).

Portnoy also makes unfriendly remarks about Christianity as [synonym of unintelligence] and the “worship of an established Jew”. (pp. 38-39). He alludes to Jews being morally superior to the GOYIM (pp. 54-55) and uses the derogatory term for a gentile woman—SHIKSE. (p. 127). Not finished yet, Portnoy makes some Polonophobic remarks (e. g, p. 58, 126-127) which feature the Pole as someone brutal and as unintelligent as an ox.

The main theme of PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT is unambiguous. Portnoy runs everything down that is sacred to people.

IMPLICATIONS

Jewish author and talk-show host Dennis Prager has identified and described the archetypical Jewish cynic. Having succeeded in life, and in a state of alienation from Judaism, the Jewish cynic projects his alienation onto others by tearing down everything that is held in high esteem by Jews and non-Jews alike. For details, please see my review of ANTISEMITISM, by Prager. This can be a factor in Jews in journalism.