The Ghost Writer (Philip Roth) analyze Literature & Language Review

Analysis of The Ghost Writer

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Analysis of The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer revolves around the life of a young writer, Nathan Zukerman, who comes from a Jewish family living in the New York neighborhood. The story portrays a young man who is struggling to kick-start his writing career and break away from his parents’ ethnicity. Two ideas are apparent from this novel. The author Philip Roth wants to reveal how one can encounter several hurdles while attempting to break away from family or ethnicity. Also, the author aims at revealing how inferior women are to men and they cannot exist independent of men.

Zukerman views women as inferior to men and individuals who cannot exist independent of men. He portrays women as individuals without souls, but bodies that contort in ways that alternately exasperate and delight the men characters in this novel. Women are banished to activities viewed as less important such as household chores whereas men are entitled to more prestigious jobs. Women are supposed to participate in less important activities as this quote suggests, “Only how old was she if Mama was feeding her cookies while she finished her homework on Daddy’s floor” (pg14). It is apparent from the quote that the narrator, Zukerman, views women as mere creatures to men and their role is seen lesser than that of men. Lonoff is working on the main work, and his wife is not supposed to be involved in any way but should do the minor work of just sorting the papers. To the narrator, women were created to act like men’s helpers and should participate in activities that are viewed as less important as seen throughout the novel, with Mrs. Lonoff only working in the kitchen while the two men sit in the study room conversing. Even working in the same environment, women always get minor roles than men. For instance, even in modern society. This is evident in the following quote “has taken it upon herself to begin sorting through my manuscripts” (pg19). The quote is about the work Amy does in Lonoff’s house. This quote reveals that Zukerman sees men more qualified than women even when they have the same levels of education. To the narrator, a woman having high levels of education means nothing. Further, Zukerman only sees women as individuals who are supposed to get married and remain in the house doing household chores and other homestead duties “By now Hope Lonoff had closed the study door and returned to her

Chores” pg18. This statement indicates that women in the novel appear good, decent, hardworking and self-sacrificing as depicted by both Mrs. Lonoff and Amy being obedient to Lonoff. However, such qualities cannot substitute inequality as conveyed by the narrator. These qualities cannot replace the soul, which is an internal furnace where questions burn, and true-self