Herman Roth Character Analysis in The Plot Against America

Philip and Sandy’s father and Bess’s husband is a loud, emotional firecracker of a man who believes staunchly and steadfastly in the promises of America. Herman is a deeply political person and staunch Democrat who listens to the radio and reads the news almost constantly. After Lindbergh is elected to the presidency—something Herman never believed possible—Herman becomes even more politically outspoken, even as anti-Semitic language and rhetoric seeps into daily life. Herman has instilled in his children a great love for America—a love that he himself refuses to question even as the country becomes hostile toward its Jewish population and as the government seeks to assimilate Jewish people into the “greater fabric” of American society. Confronted with his own inability to turn the tides of history—or to even really control the members of his family—Herman watches angrily yet helplessly as Alvin, Sandy, and Philip rebel in their own separate ways against the paths Herman has worked so hard to open up for them. In many ways, the hotheaded and stubborn Herman is just as willfully ignorant about the true difficulties of Jewish life in America as Sandy and his sister-in-law Evelyn are, though Herman’s inability to accept the deepening anti-Semitism all around him stems from sheer disbelief rather than unawareness. Over the course of the novel, Herman finds himself doing things he never imagined he’d do: borrowing a pistol from a neighbor to protect his family, enduring anti-Semitic remarks during a visit to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, making a plan to escape to Canada, and even driving across the country to the heart of Kentucky to rescue a far-flung neighbor in need. As Herman’s ideas of what comprises Jewish life in America are challenged again and again—for worse far more often than for better—Roth exposes the pain and sadness of a man confronting the hollowness of the American dream.

Herman Roth Quotes in The Plot Against America

The The Plot Against America quotes below are all either spoken by Herman Roth or refer to Herman Roth. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Jewish Identity vs. Assimilation Theme Icon

“All families go through a lot. A family is both peace and war. We’re going through a little war right now.”

Related Characters: Herman Roth (speaker), Alvin Roth

Page Number and Citation: 52

Explanation and Analysis:

We had driven right to the very heart of American history, and whether we knew it in so many words, it was American history, delineated in its most inspirational form, that we were counting on to protect us against Lindbergh.

Related Characters: Philip Roth (speaker), Herman Roth, Charles Lindbergh, Sanford “Sandy” Roth, Bess Roth

Page Number and Citation: 58

Explanation and Analysis:

It was from there that we heard him refer to my father as “a loudmouth Jew,” followed a moment later by the elderly lady declaring, “I’d give anything to slap his face.”

Mr. Taylor led us quickly away to a smaller hall just off the main chamber where there was a tablet inscribed with the Gettysburg Address and a mural whose theme was the Emancipation.

“To hear words like that in a place like this,” said my father, his choked voice quivering with indignation. “In a shrine to a man like this!”

Related Characters: Herman Roth (speaker), Philip Roth (speaker), Mr. Taylor, Charles Lindbergh

Page Number and Citation: 65

Explanation and Analysis:

“An independent destiny for America”—that was the phrase Lindbergh repeated some fifteen times in his State of the Union speech and again at the close of his address on the night of June 22. When I asked my father to explain what the words meant […] he frowned and said, “It means turning our back on our friends. It means making friends with their enemies. You know what it means, son? It means destroying everything that America stands for.”

Related Characters: Herman Roth (speaker), Philip Roth (speaker), Charles Lindbergh

Page Number and Citation: 84

Explanation and Analysis:

“Alvin can’t bear your president,” my father replied, “that’s why he went to Canada. Not so long ago you couldn’t bear the man either. But now this anti-Semite is your friend. The Depression is over, all you rich Jews tell me, and thanks not to Roosevelt but to Mr. Lindbergh. The stock market is up, profits are up, business is booming—and why? Because we have Lindbergh’s peace instead of Roosevelt’s war.”

Related Characters: Herman Roth (speaker), Alvin Roth (speaker), Uncle Monty (speaker), Bess Roth, Charles Lindbergh, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), Philip Roth, Aunt Evelyn

Page Number and Citation: 124

Explanation and Analysis:

“And who will I talk to?” she asked. “Who will I have there like the friends I’ve had my whole life?”

“There are women there, too.”

“Gentile women,” she said. […] “Good Christian women,” she said,” who will fall all over themselves to make me feel at home. They have no right to do this!” she proclaimed. […] “this is illegal. You cannot just take Jews because they’re Jews and force them to live where you want them to.”

Related Characters: Bess Roth (speaker), Herman Roth (speaker), Sanford “Sandy” Roth, Philip Roth

Page Number and Citation: 208

Explanation and Analysis:

“I am not running away!” he shouted, startling everyone. “This is our country!” “No, my mother said sadly, “not anymore. It’s Lindbergh’s. It’s the goyim’s. It’s their country,” she said, and her breaking voice and the shocking words and the nightmare immediacy of what was mercilessly real forced my father […] to see himself with mortifying clarity: a devoted father of titanic energy no more capable of protecting his family from harm than was Mr. Wishnow hanging dead in the closet.

Related Characters: Bess Roth (speaker), Herman Roth (speaker), Mr. Wishnow, Philip Roth, Charles Lindbergh

Page Number and Citation: 226

Explanation and Analysis:

“I lived in Kentucky! Kentucky is one of the forty-eight states! Human beings live there like they do everywhere else! It is not a concentration camp! This guy makes millions selling his shitty hand lotion—and you people believe him!”

“I already told you about the dirty words, and now I’m telling you about this ‘you people’ business. ‘You people’ one more time, son, and I am going to ask you to leave the house.”

Related Characters: Herman Roth (speaker), Sanford “Sandy” Roth (speaker), Philip Roth, Walter Winchell, Bess Roth

Page Number and Citation: 230

Explanation and Analysis:

“Well, like it or not, Lindbergh is teaching us what it is to be Jews.” Then she added, “We only think we’re Americans.” “Nonsense. No!” my father replied. “They think we only think we’re Americans. It is not up for discussion, Bess. It is not up for negotiation. These people are not understanding that I take this for granted, goddamnit! Others? He dares to call us others? He’s the other. The one who looks most American—and he’s the one who is least American!”

Related Characters: Bess Roth (speaker), Herman Roth (speaker), Alvin Roth, Philip Roth, Charles Lindbergh

Page Number and Citation: 255-256

Explanation and Analysis:

A family, my father liked to say, is both peace and war, but this was family war as I could never have imagined it. Spitting into my father’s face the way he’d spit into the face of that dead German soldier!

Related Characters: Philip Roth (speaker), Herman Roth, Alvin Roth

Page Number and Citation: 297

Explanation and Analysis:

I wept all the way to school. Our incomparable American childhood was ended. Soon my homeland would be nothing more than my birthplace.

Related Characters: Philip Roth (speaker), Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf, Herman Roth

Page Number and Citation: 301

Explanation and Analysis:

My father was a rescuer and orphans were his specialty. A displacement even greater than having to move to Union or to leave for Kentucky was to lose one’s parents and be orphaned. Witness, he would tell you, what had happened to Alvin. Witness what had happened to his sister-in-law after Grandma had died. No one should be motherless and fatherless. Motherless and fatherless you are vulnerable to manipulation, to influences—you are rootless and you are vulnerable to everything.

Related Characters: Philip Roth (speaker), Herman Roth, Seldon Wishnow, Mrs. Wishnow, Alvin Roth

Page Number and Citation: 358

Explanation and Analysis:

Herman Roth Character Timeline in The Plot Against America

The timeline below shows where the character Herman Roth appears in The Plot Against America. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Historical Fact vs. Emotional Truth Theme Icon

...1940, Charles Lindbergh, America’s “aviation hero,” secures the Republican nomination for the presidency. Philip’s father, Herman, is an insurance salesman, and his mother, Bess, is a homemaker. His older brother, Sandy,... (full context)

...of one of the only Jewish families in town, harbored reservations about the move. When Herman took the family on a drive through the neighborhood in an attempt to reassure Bess... (full context)

...plastered with images of Lindbergh accepting his medal from the Nazis and shaking hands with Hermann Göring. (full context)

...later. As the Roths listen to the broadcast, Alvin states that Lindbergh has “bought” Bengelsdorf. Herman urges Alvin to give Bengelsdorf a chance. Bengelsdorf goes on to claim that Lindbergh’s visits... (full context)

Rattled by Bengelsdorf’s speech, Bess leaves the room on the verge of tears. Herman begins shouting obscenities about Bengelsdorf and his ridiculous speech. Alvin numbly states that Bengelsdorf is... (full context)

...months after Lindbergh’s inauguration—the Roths drive to Washington, D.C. for a sightseeing vacation. Bess and Herman booked the trip while Roosevelt was still in office. After Lindbergh was elected, the Roths... (full context)

...with his job as a driver for the obnoxious millionaire construction mogul Abe Steinheim, whom Herman had hoped would be a positive influence on the rebellious Alvin, Alvin rejected Steinheim’s offer... (full context)

...motorcycle police officer, seeing their out-of-state plates, offers to help get them to their destination. Herman happily offers the officer their hotel’s address, but Bess is nervous that the cop is... (full context)

...places to eat, and offer detailed information about all the major monuments. In spite of Herman’s reservations about the cost of the daily tours (and Bess’s suspicions about the man's motivations),... (full context)

As the Roths continue their tour of the Washington Monument, Herman continues extolling FDR and denigrating Lindbergh. Bess warns him to keep his voice down—and not... (full context)

...small hall off the main chamber, where the Gettysburg Address is inscribed upon the wall. Herman laments hearing such words “in a shrine to a man like [Lincoln.]” Mr. Taylor starts... (full context)

...won’t be charged for the room or the bar of soap “missing” from their room. Herman is irate and demands to know what’s happening. The manager calls the police as Herman... (full context)

...and hear both sides of the story—but ultimately side with the hotel manager and urge Herman to take his family and leave. Defeated, Herman joins the rest of his family and... (full context)

...the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress—he knows every detail about every place, and Herman admires the man’s smarts. Philip takes his stamp collection with him to each stop. After... (full context)

That night, Herman invites Mr. Taylor to join their family for dinner at a nearby cafeteria. Over the... (full context)

Herman stands up to fight with the cruel stranger, but Mr. Taylor intervenes. The owner of... (full context)

...in “an independent destiny for America.” As Philip listens to the address with his father, Herman laments that Lindbergh’s “independent destiny” means destroying American values. America, he says, is abandoning its... (full context)

...to be aimed at is young Jewish boys between the ages of 12 and 18. Herman has warned Sandy that the program is a nefarious plot to separate and alienate young... (full context)

...Sandy was still begging to go to Kentucky against his parents’ wishes, Aunt Evelyn accused Herman of being another Jewish person who lives in fear. Evelyn has long been the rebel... (full context)

...animals. When Sandy’s summer is up and he arrives home by train, Aunt Evelyn accompanies Herman, Bess, and Philip to pick him up from the station. Sandy is heavier and taller,... (full context)

...in tears and then begins lamenting that Alvin only went to the war because of Herman, who wants all of American to go to war. Herman, who has already gone up... (full context)

Weeks later, Bess invites Evelyn and Rabbi Bengelsdorf to dinner to celebrate their engagement. Herman is strongly opposed to welcoming the rabbi for dinner, but Bess insists he put on... (full context)

...through Sandy’s sketchbook, complimenting his work carefully. Sandy speaks lovingly of the things he’s rendered. Herman, overwhelmed, gets up from the table and joins Bess in the kitchen, where she is... (full context)

...the policeman, and the man in the diner in Washington—but Bengelsdorf is a rabbi, and Herman keeps his mouth shut. (full context)

Bengelsdorf listens respectfully and thoughtfully as Herman rants. Evelyn, too, maintains her composure, even as Bess grips Herman’s hand tightly. Bengelsdorf thinks... (full context)

...speech extolling Lindbergh for creating programs that help integrate Jews into American society, Bengelsdorf asks Herman if he has adequately addressed his fears. Herman flatly replies that the rabbi has not... (full context)

...for Jewish people in America. With Bess at work, Sandy busy with the OAA, and Herman frequently driving back and forth to go visit Sandy in Montreal, Philip is often alone. (full context)

...leg, Alvin is discharged from the hospital and sent home with a pension and severance. Herman’s brother Monty, a rich wholesaler of fruits and vegetables locally known as “the Tomato King,”... (full context)

...Roths go together to meet him at the train station. As Alvin’s train pulls in, Herman and Bess warn Philip not to be afraid of Alvin—or of his leg. Sandy rushes... (full context)

Sandy, Herman, and Alvin load Alvin’s luggage into the car while Philip and Bess take the bus... (full context)

...he hears the pained cough of his family’s downstairs neighbor, Mr. Wishnow, who is, like Herman, an insurance agent with Metropolitan Life. Mr. Wishnow has been out sick from work with... (full context)

...his hands, Alvin begins wandering the neighborhood and shooting craps with neighborhood youths. Bess and Herman are worried about Alvin’s future and believe he should return to school or find a... (full context)

...Alvin is just trying to get out of the house. Alvin himself is disturbed by Herman’s increasing obsession with reading grim war reports aloud each night after dinner. Herman interprets Alvin’s... (full context)

After dinner, Bess and Herman take food to Mrs. Wishnow and Seldon. Philip tells Sandy the rumor he heard about... (full context)

...works there that Alvin is plotting to assassinate Lindbergh. Alvin is fired on the spot. Herman calls Monty to ask how Monty could have capitulated to the FBI’s ludicrous charges—but Monty... (full context)

Shepsie Tirschwell, one of Herman’s childhood friends, is a projectionist at the Newsreel Theater—Newark’s only all-news movie house. Shepsie and... (full context)

...and Aunt Evelyn receive invitations to the White House’s dinner for von Ribbentrop. Bess and Herman, having already tried and failed to convince Evelyn to keep her distance from the Lindbergh... (full context)

...what an honor it is for Sandy to be invited to such an event, but Herman insists that as long as a Nazi is president, he doesn’t have any interest in... (full context)

When Bess does not return, Herman, Sandy, and Philip—none of whom have uttered a word to one another for over an... (full context)

...has spoken with Bengelsdorf on the phone—he has implied that he will never forget how Herman has treated Evelyn after all he has done for Sandy. Herman goes out in the... (full context)

...and Sandy are surprised when they go into the kitchen for breakfast and find that Herman hasn’t left for work yet. He’s stayed home a little late, he says, to explain... (full context)

Bess warns Sandy that what Herman is saying is true, and that it’s time for their family to try returning to... (full context)

A couple of weeks later, Herman goes to the Newsreel to watch the footage of the von Ribbentrop dinner. When he... (full context)

...Tirschwells, stressing that the anti-Semitic leaders who run the government want Jewish families to flee. Herman believes their family should stay put—he still has faith in America and American justice. Bess... (full context)

...waiting, holding the fake note in his hand. Shepsie tells Philip that he’s already called Herman, who is on his way to pick him up. Philip, close to crying, begs to... (full context)

...and this frightens him more. Philip continues crying until his father arrives 20 minutes later. Herman takes Philip by the elbow, leads him out of the theater, and smacks him in... (full context)

When Herman tells Sandy, Philip, and Bess the news, Bess becomes panicked. She knows that in the... (full context)

Herman tells the boys that they can ask him any questions they want or express any... (full context)

After dinner, Herman and Bess talk about the upsetting news. Bess remains fixated on the idea of being... (full context)

At the end of May, Herman and Bess host a small group of concerned Jewish MetLife agents and their wives. Mrs.... (full context)

That night at nine, Walter Winchell comes on the radio. Herman has been perturbed for weeks by Winchell’s failure to report on Homestead 42 and recently... (full context)

...on, Philip hears Sandy begin screaming at the radio, calling Winchell a liar and excoriating Herman for listening to Winchell’s nonsense. Sandy insists he lived in Kentucky and that there’s nothing... (full context)

The Roths’ phone begins ringing off the hook—Bess and Herman answer calls from their concerned neighbors, all of whom want to discuss the Winchell broadcast.... (full context)

...to work at Uncle Monty’s market in order to dodge the edicts of Homestead 42. Herman takes the night shift, which means he sleeps during the day and leaves the house... (full context)

Philip is shocked by Herman’s transformation—but also by Sandy’s less obvious one. Sandy, who was so angry and contemptuous for... (full context)

...Evelyn are married—the Roths are not invited. Bess is miserable to miss the ceremony, but Herman tries to calm her down. Bess insists all she can think about is what her... (full context)

...and the diner where the workers eat at the end of their shift, asking about Herman’s suspicious behavior: harboring a “traitor” and quitting MetLife to avoid Homestead 42. One of Longy... (full context)

All of Herman’s work friends and their family have been spread out across the country, and there is... (full context)

...the door of the Roths’ apartment and bring in some gifts—a cake and a pistol. Herman tries to give the pistol back, explaining that he doesn’t want to believe that as... (full context)

Herman continues talking about his love of America—particularly of Election Day. He remembers every candidate he... (full context)

Herman’s speech is interrupted by a new radio bulletin which reports that the body of Walter... (full context)

...called earlier to ask Bess for permission to come to dinner and thank her and Herman for all they’d done for him over the years and “make peace,” it is, Philip... (full context)

Though the night starts out amicably, things soon dissolve into havoc—the ordinarily gentle and nonconfrontational Herman exhibits “explosive strength” as he and Alvin clash horribly, beating each other bloody in the... (full context)

...in two and his stump is badly mutilated by the time the fight is over. Herman has three shattered teeth, two broken ribs, and a gash on his cheek in need... (full context)

Late that night, after Mr. Cucuzza brings Herman back home from the emergency room, shots, screams, and sirens break out on a nearby... (full context)

In the morning, Herman calls Shepsie Tirschwell long-distance to tell his friend how rapidly things in Newark have deteriorated.... (full context)

...tell her what’s inside. He does so—there is not much to eat. Philip, Sandy, and Herman have gathered in the kitchen—Bess asks Sandy how far the Mawhinneys are from Danville. He... (full context)

All Philip can think of that night—and in the days to follow, as Herman and Sandy drive out to Kentucky to scoop up Seldon and bring him home to... (full context)

On Thursday, October 15th, after Herman and Sandy have departed for Kentucky, the phone rings—it is Aunt Evelyn, announcing Rabbi Bengelsdorf’s... (full context)

Bess begins crying—she regrets having let Sandy and Herman go off into Lindbergh’s increasingly dangerous America, and she now regrets having turned Evelyn away... (full context)

Bess returns home, anxious to hear from Philip whether Herman or Sandy has called to say they’ve gotten safely to Kentucky. She’s upset when Philip... (full context)

Sandy and Herman’s 1,500-mile trip out west is the “adventure of Sandy’s lifetime.” Herman carries Mr. Cucuzza’s pistol... (full context)

Calling a tow truck—and seeking medical help for Seldon—is fraught business, as Herman and Sandy are terrified that the country folks they encounter on the backroads of West... (full context)

While Herman is being fixed up by the country doctor in Appalachia, Sandy begins sketching one of... (full context)

The Plot Against America

Herman Roth Character Analysis

Herman Roth Quotes in The Plot Against America

Chapter 2 Quotes

Chapter 3 Quotes

Chapter 4 Quotes

Chapter 6 Quotes

Chapter 7 Quotes

Chapter 8 Quotes

Chapter 9 Quotes

Herman Roth Character Timeline in The Plot Against America