What the boy shows us is that the myth of the American dream is precisely that-a myth. The boy’s misplaced confidence in the continued presence of his Gauguin book is analogous to Neil’s lack of awareness of the fragility of his relationship with Brenda. While Neil is keenly aware of the challenges the boy faces-he is treated with suspicion, has difficulty making himself understood, and does not understand how the system works-Neil remains remarkably obtuse about recognizing the parallels between the boy’s situation and his own in Short Hills. The nameless little boy in the library is a foil for Neil and a source of irony in the story. While the trajectory of Neil’s relationship with Brenda comprises the main plot of the story, several interlocking subplots evolve in parallel ways each features a foil for Neil and sheds light on Neil’s dilemma, ultimately suggesting a cost or limitation of the American dream: the African-American boy in the library and his romance with Gauguin, Ron Patimkin and his mother, and Leo Patimkin’s unsuccessful marriage to Harriet, the relationship between Brenda and pursuit of the American dream. Most prominently among its themes, “Goodbye, Columbus” offers a reexamination of the American dream, questioning its attainability and whether its benefits are worth its costs. What separates the two is simply that they are at different stages on the path to seeking and achieving the American Dream and have conflicting attitudes about the compromises such a journey entails. Neil and Brenda are of the same race and the same religion both have or will obtain a college degree their families have nothing against each other. Over the course of a summer, Neil dates Brenda Patimkin, a wealthy Radcliffe student and stereotypical Jewish-American princess whose family lives in the ritzy suburb of Short Hills the relationship seems to have potential as more than just a summer fling but dissolves soon after Brenda returns to school.Īlthough “Goodbye, Columbus” is about social class and Americanization, it does not present the entrenched polarities that audiences are trained to seek. The story is narrated by Neil Klugman, a 23-year-old graduate of Newark Colleges of Rutgers, a secular Jew, and an employee of the Newark Public Library. While “Goodbye, Columbus” provides sharp social criticism, it is equally resonant on a surface level as a classic story of summer love. Sometimes called a novella, Philip Roth’s “Goodbye, Columbus” offers a thorough introduction to some of the key themes, techniques, and character types that will populate Roth’s subsequent novels. Analysis of Philip Roth’s Goodbye, Columbus

Goodbye columbus and five short stories