Navigate
- Defender of the Faith (Magill's Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
- Defender of the Faith (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
See Also
- Theory of Short Fiction (Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition)
- Philip Roth (Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition)
- Philip Roth (Identities & Issues in Literature)
- Philip Roth (The Sixties in America)
- Philip Roth (Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition)
- Philip Roth (Critical Survey of Short Fiction, Second Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: May, 1945, to August, 1945
- Setting: Camp Crowder, Missouri
- Characters: Sergeant Nathan Marx, Captain Paul Barrett, Private Sheldon Grossbart, Private Larry Fishbein, Private Mickey Halpern
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Jews or Jewish life, Loyalty, Military life or service
- Locales: United States, Missouri, North America
The Story
Sergeant Nathan Marx, a veteran of combat in the European theater, is rotated back to the United States and assigned as top sergeant to a training company in Camp Crowder, Missouri. He soon becomes acquainted with a trainee, Sheldon Grossbart, who appeals to their common Jewish heritage as the rationale for granting him and the two Jewish fellow-draftees whom he dominates, Fishbein and Halpern, a succession of special favors. Grossbart cunningly uses their shared roots in the New York Jewish community to exploit Marx’s humaneness, generosity, and sense of...
(The entire page is 1444 words.)
Want to read the whole thing?
Subscribe to eNotes for access to this content as well as thousands of study guides and critical materials. SUBSCRIBE
