Chakravarty 1

Diptojyoti Chakravarty
English III A
Mrs. Bathke
February 21, 2015
Fear in the Mind of Loved Ones
Once fear has gone past, one shall turn the inner eye to see its path. Because of that,
authors like Philip Roth create stories that narrate about the alternate paths of past fears by
having a family become scared about their future, and by describing the negative effects the
family face because of the fear. In The Plot against America, Phillip Roth mainly uses literary
devices such as Amplification, and Suspense in order to narrate the effects of political fear (AntiSemitism) on Roths family.
Predominantly, In the Plot against America, Roth uses literary devices such as suspense
in order to narrate the effects of Political Fears such as Anti-Semitism on Roths family. It starts
with the second chapter Loudmouth Jew, where the Roths were initially going to go to
Washington DC, but now with the Republicans in power and the new man in the White House
considered a treacherous enemy, (Roth, 44) the family has a discussion whether or not to go to
Niagra Falls instead, and take a cruise to Canada, since most of their neighbors are going to
Canada, and so that they can avoid discrimination. A similar objective like this occurs in many
depictions of Anti-Semitism, such as Ms. Wales from Gentlemans Agreement, as she legally
changes her name from a Jewish last name, so it could be more likely for her to get a job, and so
she wouldnt get discriminated. Back to the Plot against America, the tension continues when
Alvin enlists in the Canadian Army against Hitlers troops. This shows itself to be a recurring

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theme of suspense, due to how not only does the Roth family face tension, but so does the reader
due to how he/she gains a sense of ambiguity for Alvin and where the Roth Family will go to for
vacation due to the reign of Lindburgh. Once the citizens of Newark begin to see that
Lindburghs advocacy of peace really turns out to be an approval of Anti-Semitism, tension and
suspense begin to rise in the Roth Family. It only worsens once Alvin comes back from Canada
and gets accompanied to Newark by the Canadian Red Cross, only for Roths family to see him
missing half of one of the legs that hed left with (Roth 125). With the increase in power that
the Germans have, and the fact that Lindburghs advocacy of peace turns out to be an approval of
Hitlers genocide against Jewish people, the Roth family can only wonder what will happen in
the future, as they live with the fear that anything can happen to anyone (Roth 125). The
suspense becomes extremely apparent in the last chapter Perpetual Fear, in which the family
hears reports on the radio of the rioting that had broken out in the Midwest and the south
following the announcement by British intelligence that President Lindburgh had deliberately
ditched his plane three hundred miles out to sea (Roth 328) so not only does President
Lindburgh disappear, but a riot emerges because of this, having the Roth family live in fear,
wondering if they will be affected. Comparing this to Liz Robins article about Anti-Semitic
crimes, Katherine Frommer, part of a support group for holocaust survivors in Brooklyn feels
that the recent crimes make her feel like [she] was living in Europe again, (Robins, photo
caption) where she has the same thought of the Roth family of anything happening to anyone.
As Roth uses a literary device like suspense to narrate the effects of political fear, he
mixes it up with amplification for extended thoughts or statements from the family which also
manage to show the effects of Political Fear. An example of this literary device preforming its
action takes place in the third chapter, Following Christians, where Sandy joins the Just Folks

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program, a part of the OAA, and where Roths mother finds a new job. Roth tries to make sense
of the world changing to him after Lindburghs election, and ends up having extended
realizations which add importance to making the most of the circumstance, as Roth learning that
The terror of the unforeseen is what the science of history hides, turning a disaster into an epic,
(Roth 114) which show extended thoughts of realization. In comparison to Milton Meltzers
Never to Forget, the narrator realizes the hardships his people face in Europe during the Second
World War and learns to never forget about the Holocaust and Nazi Europe, which has become
one of the most fully documented crimes in history. (Meltzer, 18) Another example takes place
back to the last chapter Perpetual Fear. When Roths father, and his brother, Sandy, drive out to
pick up Sheldon, while Mrs. Wishnows remains followed after them by train. (Roth 336) Roth
then keeps envisioning visions with Mrs. Wishnow, such as envisioning her inside the casket
with her fists still clenched, and envisioning himself in the bathroom with Mrs. Wishnow outside
of the bathroom, telling him how to open the door. Roth couldnt think about anything else, other
than the fact that he did this to Sheldon and [he] did this to her, (Roth 336) and that he was the
one who started it off, showing Roths extended thoughts of regret and sadness. Roths extended
thoughts of regret can be very comparable to Kathys regret in Gentlemans Agreement, in which
she regrets to not fight the gentlemans agreement, or to stand up against Anti-Semitism for that
matter, due to her fear of being ostracized from the community.
With the statements and evidence given, Philip Roth creates stories that narrate about the
alternate pathways of past fears. He uses literary devices such as Amplification, and Suspense to
show the effects of political fear in the Roth Family.