Alvin+Roth

Melissa, Steve, and Liz

Alvin Roth is the older cousin of Phillip and Sandy Roth. He,“a quick-witted boy who gambled and stole” (Page 45), was taken in to live with his aunt (Bess) and uncle (Herman) after his parents died when he was 13, After graduating high school he was discovered by a multi-millionaire builder Abe Steinheim, to work for him as a chauffeur. Alvin moved out into an apartment but consistently visited with the Roth's. Alvin, being a Jewish boy at the age of 21 in 1940, managed to impress Abe Steinheim, who later offered him a full ride scholarship to college. However, Alvin was very displeased with Abe Steinheim's ways and declined the offer and joined the Canadian army against Hitler instead. After a big time shift in the novel, Alvin came back from the army to live with the Roth's again, this time with a prosthesis leg, and a very hostile attitude. He became very dependent on everyone around him, especially Phillip. Without a will to thrive after the accident in Europe, he drank and gambled his way throughout the rest of the novel, causing conflict between him and the rest of his family. Nonetheless, after moving out of his uncle's house, he asks Minna, a women "eight years his elder" (288) to take his hand in marriage. The inconsistent ups and downs Alvin experiences in very much controlled by his emotion rather than his rational side. This explains why Alvin gets into a huge fight with Herman ending in stitches and lost teeth, after returning home for the second time. Alvin blamed Herman's anti-Lindbergh views as the reason why he went to war.
 * Summary**

The author would not have been able to utilize the themes he did if Alvin's character did not exist. Alvin's being affected the scaffolding of young Philip's life, which forced the boy to grow up faster than necessary. It all started with the tensions that developed when Alvin was forced to move into the Roth household after his parents passed away. The extra mouth to feed, kid to look after, boy to watch over affected the Mr. and Mrs. Roth financially and emotionally. Later, those tensions would further develop and Herman and Bess would feel helpless when the teen disobeyed them and moved to Canada to join the army. More importantly, however, the real impact began once Alvin returned home from the war as an amputee. Philip began having nightmares about "stumps" and felt obligated to assist Alvin with his medical needs, which turned out to be a traumatic experience for the sheltered eight year old boy. On top of that, the conflict that arose from Sandy's support of the president created discrepancy between the Canadian soldier and Philip's older brother. Alvin was a nice contrast to Sandy's point of view on the president. Alvin and Herman made up one side while Aunt Evelyn and Sandy made up the other. Philip and his mother were found somewhere in the middle torn between family members they love so much. This progressive tension builds throughout the book, until Alvin creates such havoc in his relatives’ lives that he breaks down and tears his adoptive family to pieces, alongside the riots and discrimination in town against the Jews. Alvin was a big part of the book and offered many of his insights to Philip. All in all, Alvin was an obvious character that created conflict in the book. Even though conflict would have existed without Alvin’s character, the thorough understanding of this particular character, granted by the author, gives a more personal feel to the readers that allows Roth’s purpose of writing to be exposed.
 * Analysis **