47 pages • 1 hour read
Philip RothThe Plot Against America
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Why do you think Philip Roth—the author of the novel—cast himself as the main character?
Why is Philip so afraid of Alvin’s missing leg, even before Alvin returns home?
Does Philip actually share any responsibility for Mrs. Wishnow’s death? Discuss.
Discuss the different types of strength in the novel.
Which character did you identify most strongly with? Why?
Why is Rabbi Bengelsdorf willing to serve as a Jewish mouthpiece for the Lindbergh administration?
Why does Philip want to escape from his life, even before the worst events of the novel take place?
Do you find Roth’s alternate version of events a plausible one? Discuss.
Why do you believe that the author chose to write an alternate history, instead of fictionalizing a country going through similar events, while making it clear that it was an analogy to America and Nazi Germany?
Why does Alvin grow apathetic to the war, and to the plight of the American Jews?
Related Titles
By Philip Roth
