Goodbye Columbus

How does Roth use clothing as a symbol of identity, belonging, and exclusion? What kinds of uniforms exist in the collection, and what purposes do they serve?

How does the inversion of roles between Ozzie and Rabbi Binder in “The Conversion of the Jews” raise questions about authority and about how knowledge is validated? How is the rabbi’s loss of authority part of Ozzie’s coming-of-age process?

Family relationships are a key component to many of the stories in this collection. Choose two stories and compare and contrast how characters build or maintain relationships with family members and what actions, if any, hurt these relationships.

Sexual desire and sexual shame play an important role in both “Goodbye, Columbus” and “Epstein,” with both the diaphragm and the rash serving as devices that cause the accidental discovery or disclosure of sexual secrets. What do these stories say about privacy and about the tension between individual desire and communal expectations?

How does Neil’s paranoia and insecurity over Brenda’s commitment to him impact him, not only as a character but also as a narrator?

“You Can’t Tell a Man by the Song He Sings” is the shortest story of the collection. Compare and contrast Albie Pelagutti and Duke Scarpa in terms of the protagonist’s relationship to them and their appeal to him as friends.

Roth uses both first-person and third-person narration in the different stories of Goodbye, Columbus. Choose a story that uses first-person narration and one that uses third person and compare and contrast how each story is impacted by its narrative style.

The eggroll in “Defender of the Faith” is only momentarily on the page. Explain how this simple object takes on different meanings for Marx and the man who finds it outside his window.