Philip Roth’s Fiction in a Post—Colonial ContextAn interpretation of Philip Roth’s novel： The Human Stain

【Abstract】Philip Roth is a successful Jewish writer in contemporary America. His fiction， The Human Stain explores the human relationship in a post-war multi-ethic America. In this essay， I give a tentative analysis of the main characters in the novel in the post-colonial context， thus enabling people to have a better interpretation of the novel in the post-colonial context.

【Key words】post-colonial； negritude； prejudice； tragedy

Philip Roth is one of the prominent contemporary writers of America. He is prolific and awarded. With his first fiction Good Bye， Colombia published in 1959， Roth started literary carrier at the age of 26， and wrote marvelous novels for as long as almost fifty years. In 2010， at the age of 77， he indicated that he would like to quit writing after the publication of Nemesis. Also， Roth is one of the most awarded American writers of his generation. He was also one of the most likely candidates of the Nobel Prize winner. Roths fiction is usually tinged with autobiographical features， and is famous for its explorations of Jewish and American identity. The critic A.O. Scott said， “If we had asked for the single best writer of fiction of the past 25 years， [Roth] would have won.”（Scott， Para. 33）

In altogether thirty books Roth had written in his life， one of the fictions is remarkable to mention：The Human Stain is a masterpiece published in 2000， the last book of Roths “American trilogy”， the other two being American Pastoral and I Married a Communist. The Human Stain was well received， became a national bestseller， and won numerous awards， including the United Kingdoms WH Smith Literary Award for the best book of the year and the Pen/Faulkner Award for fiction. It was also adapted as a film by Robert Benton. Released in 2003， the film starred Anthony Hopkins， Nicole Kidman， and Gary Sinise.

As a Jewish writer， Roth not only paid attention to his own race but also to all human kind. In The Human Stain， the hero is not born as a Jew as in other fictions like Good Bye， Colombia with autobiographical elements. The protagonist， Coleman Silk is an African American with light skin， which gave him an edge to pass for a white man in a racial- discriminated society. Roth employed a narrator named Nathan Zuckerman， who is a writer， as an observer in the novel. From Zuckermans point of view， we see Coleman abandoned his own race and his own family， cut off all the bounds between him and his family， disowned his own mother who loved him so much to have his life and “lost himself to all his people” （Roth 67） “to be free：not black， not even white—just on his own and free” （Roth 56）. However， as his mother had told him in their last meeting， “there is no escape， （and） that all your attempts to escape will only lead you back to where you began” （Roth 64-65）， his downfall began at his uttering a simple word “spooks” in class which accidentally referred to two African-American students. Sarcastically， as an African-American himself， he was accused of racism. A former dean of the college though he is， he resigned out of fury when nobody stood out for him. Later， his wife Iris died of heart attack under pressure. “They meant to kill me and they got her instead” （Roth 7） Coleman told Zuckerman more than once during his unannounced visit to his house. With rage and grudge， Coleman determined to write a book named “Spooks” by himself when Zuckermans refused to write for him. However， after finding that he lacked the talents required in the work， he quitted and fell in love with a woman of half of his age， who is a custodian in his former work place， college Athena. Her name is Faunia Farley， the ex-wife of a Vietnam veteran who suffered from PTSD. Farley tortured her in their marriage and stalked her after the death of their two children in a fire accident. Farley couldnt stand his ex-wifes affair with an old Jew. He plotted an accident and killed them in a car crash. Before Colemans death， Coleman had almost lost everything except his love for Faunia. Ridiculous and scandalous rumors about their affairs had been in his childrens ears. They distanced him just as he disowned his mother many years ago. In the end of the novel， Zuckerman met Colemans sister Estine and found out the secret.endprint

In this novel， complicated racial issues are explored. Identity crisis is touched. The protagonist is an African American by birth. However， with light skin， he was ashamed of being a colored， and chose to be a white man. Unfortunately， the choice he made didnt bring him much luck. He chose to be a Jew， and married a Jew， died as a Jew in the end in a sarcastically way. Nevertheless， being a Jew also means prejudice if not as radical as those between the white and the black. In the fiasco which leaded his resignation and his wifes death， even the black professor， Herb Keble， who was recently brought into college Athena by Coleman as the first black professor， was “radicalized by the racism of Jews”， （ Roth 9） and said to Colemans face， “I cant be with you on this， Coleman. Im going have to be with them”（ibid.）.Thats what he had gotten after all those years of hard work for Athena， been abandoned by all those people he had promoted to their place， just because he was a Jew and unintentionally uttered a word “Spooks”. Just as his mother had said to him when he abandoned his race to have his freedom：“there is no escape， and that all your attempts to escape will only lead you back to where you began.” （Roth 64-65） Even his wife， Iris， who died of heart attack， which was due to the pressure pushed on her during the “Spooks” event. Being a Jew， she also suffered prejudice， maybe not as harsh as those of the colored. When the colored children accused of her husband of racism for just uttering a single word “Spooks”， she suffered from both the humiliation that the colored could be so impertinent and insulting， and the fear of the persecution and prejudice they would encounter during the case.

The whole novel is like an Aristotelian tragedy. In A Glossary of Literary Terms， the Aristotelian tragedy is defined as：

Aristotle defined tragedy as “the imitation of an action that is serious and also as having magnitude， complete in itself， ” in the media of poetic language and in the manner of dramatic rather than of narrative presentation， involving “incidents arousing pity and fear， wherewith to accomplish the catharsis of such emotions.” （Abrams and Harpham 371）

Philip Roth put King Oedipus in his preface as an allusion. Coleman escaped from his race to find freedom， and ended up a victim to the racism-permeated society. His tragic flaw is that he didnt have a sense of belonging to his own race. He never had a sense of negritude. He found another race which he thought would serve him better for his future， but it betrayed him and abandoned him in the end. Unlike him， his own brother Walt， with darker skin than him， stick to his own race and fight for his freedom and equality. In Walts eyes， Coleman is a “calculating liar”， a “heartless son”， “the traitor to his race” （Roth 158）. In Colemans funeral， Zuckerman came across his sister， Ernstine， who was also darker than Coleman. They had a conversation， and he learned Colemans ancestry. Also， Erstine told him all the changes her race had underwent in those years， which her brother just left behind. Its a tragedy and a fiasco， as the world will be in every day. “The inevitably stained creatures that we are. Reconciled to the horrible， elemental imperfection” （Roth 111）. Coleman never had once in his life had a sense of belonging to anything， if ever， it was to his family. But after his fathers death， he refused to listen to her mothers begging and left her forever. Just to gain his own freedom， he pushed his mother away from him. His brother Walt is so furious at his action that he forbade his meeting with their mother. “Dont you dare ever show your lily-white face around that house again！”（Roth 67）endprint

This sense of belonging is “negritude”， which has been brought up by post-colonial theorist long ago. Edward Said has mentioned it in his Culture and Imperialism to express the specific nationalism. In the novel， Coleman abandoned his own race， and chose to live a life as a white man. Consequently， He abandoned all the past concerned with his family and made up another version of life for his children and friends. He couldnt tell his children exactly where they came from.

The novel is written in a reminiscence style， roughly in the first narrator on the whole. Flashbacks and memories are entwined with the chronological movement of plot. Little by little， the whole picture is clear in front of the readers eyes. In flashbacks， Coleman told Zuckerman a letter from his first love， Steena Palsson， “Iceland and Denmarks American progeny， of the bloodline going back to King Canute and beyond”（Roth 57）. Coleman almost married her. However， after the visit to his family， Steena found out that Coleman was a colored person with light skin. She cant accept it and they broke up. Having the blood which came from Europe， Steena cant give up his racial prejudice. “White supremacy” is in her blood， and she cant stand marrying a person with blackness in his blood. “The traditional grounds of racial identity are dispersed， whenever they are found to rest in narcissistic myths of Negritude or White cultural supremacy.” （Fanon 24） Here， negritude is negative in the white people or those European descents eyes. After this blow， Coleman learned that its a mistake that he told Steena that he is a black， though he had light skin which could almost pass for a white. After he lost Steena， he came across a colored and sweet girl named Ellie， a girl with almost the same background with him. They talked about their family and their life. And they were agreed that Howard is a horrible place to go. He told her that “Howard University looked to me like just too many Negroes in one place.” They came in pairs in public. Coleman liked to let others think he was a white man. He enjoyed this feel of ambiguity. And when he met Iris Gittelman， his future wife， he decided to keep his blackness as a secret， and told her he was also a Jew. His decision to marry Iris due partly to Iris un-Jewish look：“Iriss hair， that sinuous thicket of hair that was far more Negroid than Colemans—more like Ernstines hair than his”（Roth 63）. If their children had that kind of hair， it could also be from Iris. It was such a dazzlingly utilitarian motive.endprint

For Faunia Farley， white though she was， she was also an oppressed woman in the post-colonial context. Born into a wealthy family， she suffered from her stepfather sexual assaults in her childhood. When she ran away from her family， her mother would not believe her and told other people that her daughter was dead. If the first half of her lifes misery resulted from her mothers negligence and the patriarchal society， the second half of her miserable life resulted indirectly from the post-colonial society. She married Lester Farley， who suffered from PTSD， and kept beating her. When their children were died in a fire accident， her husband kept stalking her like a lunatic. In the end， she was killed by him. Les Farley was in the Vietnam War twice. After he came back the second time， he was hardly a man. “Marriage was doomed. Came back from Vietnam with too much anger and resentment. Had PTSD. I had what they call post-traumatic stress disorder.” （Roth 164） “Back in civilization， you are doomed. And your wife， even if its ten years later， shes doomed” （ibid.）. He was devastated while the president was sleeping in the White House. Vietnam War was a failed attempt of America for colonization. The war of injustice of the United States did harm to the Vietnamese as well as Americans. Those people with PTSD could hardly live a happy life in the post-colonial context. This is a shame of the whole country.

Delphine Roux was another post-colonial factor in the novel. This annoying woman played a noticeable role in Colemans life. She is a well-educated French woman， a so-called feminist in Athena College. Actually， she never knew that Coleman was an African-American， and she treated him like an elder Jew who was her superintendent. With European backgrounds， she showed contempt over those American scholars. With radical ideas， she stood in those two African-American students grounds and showed little concern about Colemans feeling. When Roux found out that Coleman was having an affair with Faunia Farley， she felt jealous and wrote an anonymous letter to Coleman to warn him in backgrounds of feminist. In the end， Roux figured out she was indeed in love with him， which was revealed in her advertisement for a marriage， “and then， and only then， did the mythical man being summoned forth in all earnestness on the screen condense into a portrait of someone she portrait of someone she already knew” （Roth 125）. She felt shame and was furious with her emailing the advertisements to her colleagues. To compensate it， she made up a story that Coleman had broken into her office to do this to smear her. When she was in France， she couldnt stand her family， the aristocratic aura， which stifled individuality. However， she felt a sense of superiority in America， over those Americans， over those Jewish people. She was European-centered in her heart. Here， American Jews is marginalized.endprint

In The Human Stain， the writer depicted complicated racial and identity problems in America. The novel touched heavy themes like race， family， ancestry， history， war， identity， and so one. Put in a post-colonial context， one can understand this novel better in a new perspective. The protagonists tragedy resulted from the racial prejudice and his lack of negritude. In interpreting the novel in the post-colonial context， we found clues of encoding the novel entwined in the novel. Different people occurred in Colemans life， with different races， playing different parts， and having different influences on his life. Nevertheless， Coleman found his last love in his later years， even at the price of his life. When his children distanced him for rumors about him and Faunia， just as what he did years ago towards his own mother， he didnt compromise like a coward or an ordinary old man. He was determined to live with his love despite other peoples opinions. Since he had retreated and escaped years ago and abandoned his mother， the one who loved him so much that couldnt disown him for his heartless action， he wouldnt did it again. He wouldnt give up his beloved at the end of his life， even at the risk of his life. That is payback. Thats cycling. Just as his mother said：“There is no escape.”（Roth 64） In the post-colonial context， the novel The Human Stain depicted stained human relationship in a dramatic way， making us think and sigh.

References：

[1]Abrams，M.H.and G.G.Harpham.A Glossary of Literary Terms.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2010.

[2]Fanon，Frantz.Black Skin，White Masks.Trans.C.L.Markemann.London：Pluto Press，1986.

[3]Roth，Philip.The Human Stain.London：Vintage Books，2005.

[4]Scott，A.O.“In Search of the Best”.The New York Times.May 21，2006.

作者簡介：趙識（1985-），女，黑龍江齊齊哈爾人，碩士，研究方向：美國文學經典。endprint