One interesting approach for a thesis would be to discuss the importance of family in the novel. Samuel and Josef both value family—albeit in different ways—and it shows a lot about the similarities and differences between their characters.
One approach is to analyze how Samuel and Josef spend their earnings when their comic starts to make real money. Samuel spends a great deal of the money funding his own lifestyle, while Josef works tirelessly to rescue the rest of his family from Europe and the Nazis. When his efforts are ultimately unsuccessful and his brother is killed, it tears him apart. You can look at how the men find fulfillment through different means. Josef's money is spent to rescue his family and others; Samuel's money is spent on other things. Determine how wealth changes them, both in similar and different ways.
Another approach is to examine the lack of fulfillment...
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the men's choices bring after Josef leaves. Josef left Rosa and their son, Tommy, behind. Samuel decided to be a father to Tommy and a husband to Rosa, in large part to help fill the gap that Josef left behind. However, this life isn't ultimately fulfilling for anyone. Samuel is a gay man who wants to live his life as a gay man but can't because of their culture and his responsibilities to Rosa and Tommy. Josef actually wants a close, loving family but doesn't feel he deserves it. Things are righted in the end, though, when Samuel heads for the west coast and Josef stays behind with Rosa and Tommy.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is fictional; however, many plot points and events are consistent with real events in the lives of classic comic book creators. As such, Michael Chabon’s narrative in many ways feels more realistic than a traditional fiction novel.
An interesting thesis would be to examine the way the idea of the American Dream is obscured and deconstructed.
Joe and Sammy are the quintessential archetypes of those who would benefit from the American Dream. Following Joe’s secret escape from Nazi-occupied Prague, he experiences freedom as a refugee in the United States.
The young cousins work together to discover their talents and passions and then help each other get different jobs which leverage their skills. Through hard work and dedication, the cousins work together to write and illustrate comic books. While Joe and Sam are the creators of the highly popular work, they make little money compared to how lucrative the character The Escapist is. This includes social commentary on the disproportion of pay in creative industries for writers and artists.
Later in the novel, Joe impregnates Rosa before joining the war to fight against the Nazis. Homosexual Sammy moves in with Rosa to help raise her child, Tommy. From the outside, they appear to have a normal nuclear family, which is a staple of the traditional American Dream.
Michael Chabon’s novel covers a wide range of topics so numerous theses could be relevant. For the Jewish characters of European heritage who make their way to New York City, the opportunity to begin new lives in the New World is especially significant. The burden of the Old World is not so easy to cast off, however; the Golem is a potent reminder of the burden of the past.
One thread that runs through the novel, therefore, is the possibility of re-invention and creation of new identities. This topic relates to the individual characters who develop new relationships in New York but also to the communities of which they become members. Re-invention can be applied to the partnership between Joe and Sammy, who complement each other and bring out new angles of each other’s creativity. One could focus on their comics as a way reworking of old themes into new, uniquely American characters. The complex familial relationships among Joe, Sammy, and Rosa show constant re-invention.
A closely related topic that could generate a well-supported thesis is the pursuit of the American Dream. To some extent, Chabon is reviewing territory that is familiar to 20th-century authors, that of the European Jewish immigrant experience in New York. His particular approach to the American Dream highlights some aspects that are often overlooked. One can examine the interwoven stories to see how the different characters envision an ideal life and the steps they take to achieve it. Sammy’s character, as he struggles to come to terms with issues of sexuality, could be explored using this topic.
One of the major themes in the novel is the relationship between reality and fantasy. Most of the characters have secrets that they hide from others, and they consider their private lives "different," just as the characters they create are different from normal humanity. Joe, who has the most rocky relationship with reality, is capable of tremendous altruism, but also of extremely narrow-minded self-interest. His drive to change the world causes others -- especially the Nazi-sympathizer Ebling -- to see him as more than a normal human, almost as a real-life Escapist.
Having lost [everything], his history -- his home -- the usual charge against comic books, that they offered merely an easy escape from reality, semed to Joe actually to be a powerful argument on their behalf.
(Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Google Books)
A good thesis statement for this theme would focus on the need to escape from reality, and for what purpose. Some people escape simply for the fun of it, while the characters in this book tend to escape because their lives are difficult and filled with tragedy. Joe in particular uses his escapes as a method of personal punishment for failing to save his family. For Joe, a thesis statement could read
While escapism is often thought to be recreational, it can also become a method of self-harm.
This thesis would focus on the unhealthy aspects of escapism and how it negatively affected Joe's role in the lives of the people around him. Instead of being an escape from reality, his escapes turned into an intrusion on reality, complicating his life and the lives of others.
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