Defender of the Faith by Philip Roth
"Defender of the Faith" is a short story by Philip Roth that explores the moral complexities of duty, identity, and manipulation within the context of military life during World War II. The narrative centers on Sergeant Nathan Marx, a Jewish combat veteran who is assigned to oversee a training company at Camp Crowder, Missouri. When trainee Sheldon Grossbart, also Jewish, begins to exploit their shared heritage for personal gain, Marx's initial compassion leads to increasing frustration and indignation.
Grossbart's clever tactics include requesting special privileges that play on Marx's sense of fairness, such as skipping activities for religious observance while cleverly avoiding the implications of being perceived as uncommitted. As the story unfolds, Marx becomes aware of Grossbart's deceptive behavior, leading to a conflict rooted in themes of integrity and loyalty to one's community versus the ethical dilemmas posed by self-serving actions. Ultimately, the story highlights the tensions between personal identity and the expectations of military camaraderie, raising questions about the nature of respect and the boundaries of friendship in challenging circumstances.
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Defender of the Faith by Philip Roth
First published: 1959
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of work: May, 1945, to August, 1945
Locale: Camp Crowder, Missouri
Principal Characters:
Sergeant Nathan Marx , the top sergeant of a basic training company at Camp Crowder, MissouriCaptain Paul Barrett , the company commanderPrivate Sheldon Grossbart , ,Private Larry Fishbein , andPrivate Mickey Halpern , trainees
The Story
Sergeant Nathan Marx, a veteran of combat in the European theater, is rotated back to the United States and assigned as top sergeant to a training company in Camp Crowder, Missouri. He soon becomes acquainted with a trainee, Sheldon Grossbart, who appeals to their common Jewish heritage as the rationale for granting him and the two Jewish fellow-draftees whom he dominates, Fishbein and Halpern, a succession of special favors. Grossbart cunningly uses their shared roots in the New York Jewish community to exploit Marx's humaneness, generosity, and sense of fairness. Their relationship is characterized by deviousness and self-serving opportunism on Grossbart's part, while Marx changes from open vulnerability to wariness to righteous indignation at Grossbart's increasingly outrageous conduct.
The first episode revealing their conflict occurs when Grossbart wants Marx's permission to attend Jewish services Friday night yet does not wish to give Gentile recruits the impression that he is ducking the customary "G.I. Party," or barracks cleaning. He insists, "this is a matter of religion, sir," deliberately using the salutation reserved for officers despite Marx's continuing reminder to address him as "Sergeant." At the synagogue Marx observes, from a back-row seat, Grossbart and Fishbein playfully pouring the contents of the sacramental wine to and from each other's cups, while their prayer books remain closed—until they notice his presence.
Army food becomes an issue for intrigue. Although Grossbart has a lusty appetite for it, he composes a letter for his father to sign and send to his congressman, complaining that his son is forced to eat nonkosher meals that Orthodox Judaism forbids. After Marx has been forced to explain Jewish tradition to his irate captain, Captain Barrett contrasts Grossbart's "goldbricking" to Marx's valor under fire: "Do you hear him [Marx] peeping about the food? Do you?" Formidably flexible, Grossbart writes another letter for his father's signature, addressed to the general who is the post commander, praising Marx as being "in part responsible for Sheldon's changing his mind about the dietary laws" and calling the sergeant "a credit to the U.S. Army and the Jewish people."
For a time, Grossbart eschews scrambling for special privileges. Then he confronts Marx with a request for a weekend pass to celebrate Passover with St. Louis relatives. At first Marx is firm: "No passes during basic, Grossbart." Grossbart, however, weeps and wears down Marx's defenses. After Marx has issued weekend passes not only to Grossbart but also to Fishbein and Halpern, he muses to himself, "Who was I to have been feeling so grudging, so tight-hearted? After all, I wasn't being asked to move the world." Marx soon discovers, however, that Grossbart and his friends never did attend the Passover dinner—they enjoyed a Chinese meal instead. Brazenly, Grossbart even presents Marx with an egg roll as a souvenir of the occasion.
The egg roll proves the last straw for Marx's tolerance. He now becomes Grossbart's enraged enemy. When he discovers that Grossbart is the only company recruit who will be assigned to a safe, stateside station at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and all the others are to be shipped to the Pacific combat zone, he smells connivance and goes into counteraction. This time, he pulls strings of his own, phoning the sergeant in charge of cutting orders to ask him for a favor: Marx tells him that a Jewish trainee in his company is burning to see action, having had a brother killed in Europe. Could Sergeant Wright therefore change one Monmouth order to the Pacific? Sergeant Wright can and does.
Bibliography
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