Chapter+Three


 * Chapter 3**

This chapter starts out with a brief update of the war going on in Europe. Hitler breaks the Nonaggression pact, a real historical treaty that stated that he wouldn't invade Poland. Besides this, the war keeps spreading throughout Europe. Next, there is more talk about the just folk’s government program, and it is explained more thoroughly in that it is a "volunteer work program introducing city youth to the traditional ways of heartland life". Sandy leaves for this program and it is said to be very emotional. There is conflict in this, because Sandy's father does not trust this program but his mother’s sister, Aunt Evelyn fully supports it. This causes one of the many arguments that erupt inside the family. Another family issue comes up later on in the chapter with Alvin, who went off to war by joining Canada's forces, helping to deliver supplies to Great Britain. He writes letters to the Roth family, although they are very short and to the point such as, "off to fight, see you soon". The family then gets a letter from the Canadian government informing them that Alvin has been wounded in which Mrs. Roth immediately writes to him. A nurse writes back that Alvin has lost his left leg below the knee. After picking Sandy up from Penn Station and seeing his new muscular figure and different accent, the family hears endless stories about his life on the farm that he is very proud of and the fact that he has started to eat pork, something Jewish are not suppose to do. After Mrs. Roth tells Sandy about Alvin, it’s clear that the views of young Sanford have changed after there is an argument about why the war is even happening. It's clear that Phil does not completely understand what's going on when he asks his father a lot of questions about the war. Soon after, Evelyn brings her new friend, Rabbi Bengelsdorf to dinner at the Roth family's residence. The Rabbi shows a lot of pride in Sandy's accomplishments of being in Kentucky, and also shows his approval for the president. It is hard for Herman Roth to sit through this, and although he tries not to offend the Rabbi, eventually he gets angered by what he says and tells him this. Things only get worse after this when Mrs. Roth opens a Montreal bank account in case the family needs to escape the country, which they never imagined would happen to their home. In the end, Phil has a new friend named Earl whom he rides the bus around town with and then follows men home to see where they live. Although this seems awkward, it keeps the boys entertained. Earl's family moves one day and is never to be seen again, but the chapter ends with a story of the boys following a man home and seeing his Christmas tree with an angel on the top. There is a discussion about Jesus, and though very questionable logic, Philip draws to the conclusion that Jesus Christ is the reason that all the anti-Semitism is going around in America.
 * Summary**

Sandy leaving for the just folk's government program shows him independently thinking from his father and breaking away from him. Doing something so against his father's beleifs shows some resentment that Sandy has. And when Sandy comes back and talks about how he started eating pork shows that the program is "working". A jewish belief and tradition about not eating pork no longer means anything to Sandy and he is starting to pulling away from being jewish. With his brother not the same anymore, Alvin leaving and losign his leg, his fathers anger and the prospect of maybe moving to Canada Phiil's family life is falling apart on top of all the confusion surrounding Lindbergh and there is nothing he can do about it. This would be difficult for anyone, ecspecially for a young boy. To get some type of control and to get away from his life as a jew he and his friend Earl started to follow Christians. It allowed them to see in his mind a more stable and in some ways better life. When Philip starts to think about Jesus being behind anit-Semitism, is somewhat the beginning reason for it, but is more complex and differs for many people, because there is never a good reason for anti-semitism or any predjudices.
 * Analysis**