T 1290.pdf - Pondicherry University DSpace Portal

Jnabll~ty to come out of the shell of egotlsm-all lead to hls.oralrlislntegration.-3le &s.&.&&r.t portrays the travails of a Jewish grocersmoothened by the frustrating effects of Depression and Anti-serltrsm. Although the novel is not a critique, rt probes thepsyche of an lndivldual fated to be lost In the vortex of life.The drudgery of hls dual routlne has made Morrls "weightless,unmanned, the victim In motlon of whatever blew at his back:wlnc, worries, debts, Karp, holdupnlcks, rulns. He dld not go;he wds pushed.of. "(TAHe had the wlll of a vlctlm, no wlll to speak183) Mnrrls 1s normally aqalnst gulles and trlcks.Hls only transqresslon lands hlm ln dlsmal farlure.lnahillty LC plark evil could be seen ln hls desperate and lnept-ttt?lnpt ta tiuri', h~ s,:r,rt, for lnsdrance money. Morrls suffersnialnly because of 31s honesty and moral lnteqrlty. Frankregrets hls laak of restraint and resolves to be dlsclpllned.He trles to lmpress upon Helen that he 1s " a very good quy" Inheart, and clalms that "even when I am bad I am good". (TA 126)Hls carsfully-bullt relation with Helen goes to pieces with hls"stupid" rr,ove ln the seduction attempt.HlsThe act oftrar~!;()rt.ss~on turns the passionate longing of Helen intovlolfnt hatred for Frank.111 F:ug, the protagsr,ist IS an agnostlc and freetillr),~; i:lut 01' necessity 80k conceals hls Jewlsh ldentlty and