A Conflict between Self and World in Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint
Metadatos
Afficher la notice complèteEditorial
Universidad de Granada
Materia
Self Moral Dilemma Individualism Sexuality Memory
Date
2022-11-10Referencia bibliográfica
Aujo Philip J.M,C. Govindaraj (2022). A Conflict between Self and World in Philip Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers,Vol. 13(4). 193 – 197. DOI: [10.47750/jett.2022.13.04.028]
Résumé
This study discerns Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth concerning the struggle between self and world.
Roth’s protagonists want a haven of protection and stability, or a home, from which they may interpret
the world meaningfully. In addition to this, they require stability and repose in the achievement of
selfhood. Their home may be their static, centred self, from which they could get meaning from their
surroundings. In the novel Portnoy’s Complaint , the protagonist faces external and internal and selfversus-
world conflicts. It is discovered that Portnoy conflicts with his Jewish family, a microcosm of the
ethnic group to which he belongs. He incorrectly feels that his ethnicity is the core reason for his alienated
feelings. In addition, he is troubled by the contradiction between his moral convictions and his sexual
indulgence. His difficulties remain unanswered until the novel’s conclusion, even though he begins
comprehending the actual nature of his moral issue. In his exploration of the never-ending and, maybe,
the insoluble issue between man and his fundamental desires, Roth delves into the simple mind of his
species to bring to light the unfathomable, grotesque, and frightening realities of human drives and
experiences. This skill lends his compositions a worldwide appeal that transcends ethnic and racial
distinctions. All the characters in the narrative are banished from themselves and arrive in the brave new
world of choice, America, representing a domestic transgression.