“The plot against America”, by Philip Roth: so current!

The plot against America, written in 2004, presents a disturbing analogy with the current situation in the United States. However, In this uchrony Philip Roth imagines that the aviator Lindbergh (notorious anti -Semitic) won the elections in 1940 against Roosevelt. Similarly, Any resemblance to existing characters …

What do we recognize a big book or even a classic? Similarly, Beyond the intrinsic literary criteria: quality of style. For example, singularity, thickness of the protagonists, the narrator, interest of the subject and other factors still, a major “the plot against america”, philip work is distinguished by its capacity to resist the outrages of time and by the amplitude of its echo in the temporality of the reader.

The plot against America of Philip Roth (1933-2008) now checks all these boxes. In addition, Released in 2006 in France. Meanwhile, the book had not met with great critical success, some criticized Roth To make a paranoid “fixette” compared to anti-Semitism crawling in the United States, the book was more successful in its country of origin …

Twenty years after its first publication. Similarly, some French readers rediscover this book, in particular because “the plot against america”, philip of the situation in the United States and the ramblings of its president.

The plot against America is an uchrony where Roth Imagine that in 1940 Charles Lindbergh wins the presidential elections. For example, against Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Furthermore, We are then at the beginnings of the 2^th World War. Moreover, the United States has not yet committed it and the position of the famous aviator is far from being that of Roosevelt. Furthermore, The talent of the writer is to slightly twist reality to establish a new story (with a great H) even darker. However, cataclysmic.

Very judiciously. the author added at the end of the book a post-scriptum where he quotes his sources but where we also find the non-romanticized biography of all the protagonists of the book, we thus see that fiction very often joins reality …

It is very interesting to find out who was The “the plot against america”, philip guard not yet an airport but the mayor of. NYC but also Walter Winchell A journalist of the time who has an important role in the novel. I pass on other mafia figures of the time which during the troubled times -. as if by chance – are pulling out of the game. In this annex, we also read the extracts from the journal of Lindbergh which are quite edifying. The latter was at the time isolationist. especially did not want the United States to engage in an armed conflict in Europe despite the bellicose character of the German-Japan-Italy axis. For him all this had the same cause: “We are concerned about the Jewish influence in our press. our radio and our cinema. It’s a shame, because some interesting Jews are, in my opinion, an asset for any country. »» To add in 1940 to CBS: “The only factor that “the plot against america”, philip pushes us to enter the conflict is that. the powerful elements in America want us to enter it. »». No need to go further in the description of this fatal character who existed.

Why then does this book outrageously echo our current historical reality? Charles Lindbergh was a fervent defender of the organization America first Created in 1940 (does that remind you of anything?). Gathering that promoted isolationism (another kind of protectionism), analogy with Donald Trump fall under the meaning and we will not fail to add that the Trumpian mercy vis-à-vis Poutine is reminiscent of that of the aviator vis-à-visHitlerit was decorated by the Nazi authorities in 1939.

We will recall that The plot against America was written in 2004. that the president of the time was Georges W.Bush. More disturbing. that’s how Roth Anticipates our current geopolitical situation by highlighting in particular the fact that history can sometimes “the plot against america”, philip take an absurd and brutal turn with unimaginable consequences.

Let’s go back to the romantic structure of The plot against Americawe are in the skin of the nine -year narrator. a certain Philip Roth (the trademark of the writer whose double could also be Nathan Zuckerman in his other novels). Little Philip lives with his family in a Jewish enclave in Newark with his father insurance agent. his mother seller, his brother Sandy, four years older and an orphan cousin, Alvin, in his twenties. Via the prism of this child we see history taking another course. crawling anti -Semitism, its collateral effects, the compromises of certain members of the community in the face of new authorities and the damage that this new reality in families create. There again The plot against America Recalls another story. that that the French were able to live during the period of German occupation and “the plot against america”, philip conflicting family situations between collaborators, resistant and the others … It is very accurate but like any rather cruel truth.

Philip Roth is an immense writer. despite the hardness of the intrusive, he takes us into the marvelous of his little hero with an overflowing imagination. It is a novel on childhood. how the kid coexists with his neighborhood, the school, his friends, his philatelist passion, his disappointed admiration for Lindbergh Who remains for him the one who crossed America, his fascination for his cousin Alvin and his hazardous life choices. The reader will also enjoy the portrait gallery of this company.

Through his childish eyes we see the harsh reality facing his parents. this anti -Semitism which does not say his name. It is very easy to make a parallel between the novel where the authorities chase the Jews. the current context where Trump Boute the Mexicans without paper “the plot against america”, philip out of the United States. As 1984 d’Orwell. The plot against America offers us a mirror of current global drifts, this is how we can say that this date is.

The plot against America is more than a political novel. more than a denunciation of anti -Semitism (and more broadly of racism that targets certain communities), it is above all a great novel where the humor of the humor of Philip Roth Rage, where his stylistic virtuosity and the accuracy of the lexicon (thank you to the translator) delight the reader, the latter lasting only, knowing the destiny of this family to which he attached himself so much.

Éric ATTIC

"the plot against america", philip

The plot against America
Roman de Philip Roth
Translation of English (United States) by Josée KAMOUN
Gallimard – Collection Folio
576 pages – “the plot against america”, philip 10,5€
Date of publication: October 17, 2007 (first publication in 2006)