| Philip Roth is widely regarded as one of the most significant and influential American Jewish novelists of the 20 th century.His final novel,Nemesis,is set during the 1944 polio plague in Newark,New Jersey,and employs plague as a metaphor to explore its impact on individuals and communities.This thesis interpreted Nemesis from the perspective of the disease metaphor as described by Susan Sontag,examining the origins,symptoms,and effects of the plague.By analyzing the two-way effects of the plague,thus revealing the dual situation of different entities in the crisis.The radiation of the epidemic is not limited to negative feedback on the physical functions of the infected population,but rather causes a more extensive and severe crisis through cross-population and multi-perspective coordination.The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the crisis-causing force of the epidemic on the Jewish community and present the complex position of the Jewish community in contemporary negotiations,while also providing a warning for intergroup interactions in future periods.Introduction first provides a brief introduction to Philip Roth and Nemesis and provides a comprehensive review of domestic and foreign text studies.Then it introduces the theoretical base and main content of this thesis.Chapter One first approaches the crisis of faith from the perspective of the protagonist Buck,interpreting it from the angle of the origin,the reaction(symptoms)and the impact of the plague.Secondly,through an analysis of the crisis,it explores the reasons and outcomes of Bucky’s ultimate mental breakdown when he treats Jewish faith extremely.Chapter Two turns to the analysis of the Jewish community.Through the perspective of the origin,the reaction(symptoms)and the impact of the plague,it deepens the understanding of the crisis of ethnic ties.Secondly,it points out the importance of Jewish value ties within the community under extreme survival conditions through the impact of the crisis.Chapter Three mainly interprets the state of external communication of the Jewish race,and then concludes that the Jewish community not only represents individuals but also represents the various ethnic groups in the historical context.Secondly,through an analysis of the crisis of inter-ethnic relations of the Jewish race,it is concluded that extremism is not conducive to the coexistence of multiple races in the face of a complex external environment.Conclusion points out that Roth reflects on the meaning of Jewish tradition for the survival and development of the Jewish race through Nemesis.For Roth,the adherence to Jewishness cannot be questioned,but how to adhere to it is a test for Jews in the historical context.The presentation of the crisis of the Jewish race also provides reference for the development and growth of various ethnic groups. |
