Defender of the Faith

In Philip Roth’s, Defender of the Faith, there is a great intra personal struggle involving
the story’s protagonist, Sergeant Nathan Marx. Throughout the story he is challenged in learning
how to live as not only a sergeant, but also a Jewish man, and a human being. In facing difficult
decisions, he realizes that these three identities are very difficult to distinguish. This conflict
becomes the recurring theme of the story. The reader is able to see the trouble Marx has in
confronting his faith, occupation, and humanity, and in doing this the reader’s attention is called
too just how hard this truly is in life.
The theme is greatly demonstrated in Marx relationship with the Jewish soldiers, Sheldon
Grossbart, Larry Fishbein, and Michael Halpern. The three soldiers recognize Marx’s religion and
immediately take advantage of it. They begin by asking Marx for permission to attend the services
for Jews on Friday night, rather than participating in the G.I...