The Conversion Of The Jews By Philip Roth: An Analysis

Children are thought to have immense curiosity, so why are they penalized and punished when they express it? This is presented in Philip Roth’s “The Conversion of the Jews” and in my personal life as well. Religion and its method of being taught often exposes itself to this situation. The expectations in regards to teachings are that the children not question and not critically examine what they are being taught. Those who fail to question the rationale and evidence behind religious instruction are in danger of actually believing in an invisible superpower and not having a clear understanding of why they do. Children question and are immediately shot down by parents, instructors and even peers. Despite this fact, children look up to their parents

Ozzie at the beginning of the novel talked about what occurred in the classroom. He questioned what he was being taught because he has blindly accepted all he has learned from Rabbi Binder: “What Ozzie wanted to know was always different. The first time he had wanted to know how Rabbi Binder could call the Jews ‘The Chosen People’ if the Declaration of Independence claimed all men to be created equal“ (442). Ozzie was the one child who couldn’t blindly agree with what the religion was stating and the values it instilled and needed clear-cut reasoning as to why it functions the way it does. He also wanted to truly understand it it instead of being indoctrinated: “Ozzie said he could read faster but that if he did he was sure not to understand what he was reading” (445). Children can be taught religion but it must be all religions as equally as possible and the history of religions. If this cannot be achieved, religious teachings should be self-discovered instead of taught and risk the possibility of instructor bias and subsequent influence, both of which occur in the short

Ozzie in his denial of Rabbi Binder and asks if he is truly the one running away from everybody: “Can this be me?” (447). He wasn’t sure if he truly wanted to perform these actions that were seen as heinous by Rabbi Bonder. All his peers blindly followed so why didn’t he? It is because he truly wanted to test the validity of the religion or more particularly what he was being taught about the religion. Without any valid reasoning from an authority figure he couldn’t continue learning. Children look up to their parents and instructors and have a herd mentality when surrounded by peers so even if they do disagree or question religion they don’t want to be shunned because of fear. However, Ozzie overcame this fear and truly expressed how he felt about his religious