Goodbye, Columbus Appearances Quotes

The very first line of the story suggests that appearances will be a major theme in Goodbye, Columbus. In stories, glasses often symbolize how people see and are seen by others. Subtle, huh?

If it wasn't clear from the glasses line, it should be now. Brenda and her family believe that to blend into late-1950s, upper-middle-class suburbia, they need to mask their physical identities as Jews.

Brenda's comment is slightly confusing. Is she saying that Ron's Jewish nose won't be a problem as long as he stays in the sports world? Stereotypes and discrimination are irrational and contrary to logic. It's no shock that victims of them might not make sense when discussing them.

Notice how our symbol of appearances, Brenda's glasses, combines deftly with the nose job issue. Neil may think Brenda is mutilating herself to fit in and rejecting her Jewish heritage in the process. In typical Rothian comic irony, Neil is hurting her and criticizing her because of—that's right—her appearance.

As is clear from the rest of the conversation, John McKee thinks that because the boy is black, he can't be reading in the stacks and is probably damaging the books. As we learn from his conversation with Neil, the boy knows full well that many people see him this way.

We know that Ron and Brenda got their noses from their father and that the family doesn't think this is a good thing. Is this connected to why there aren't any pictures of him in this house? Or, maybe he just doesn't like having his picture taken? What do you think?

Through Aunt Gladys, Roth continues hammering home the idea that in the late 1950s, Jews are blending into upper-middle-class suburbia. No one would suspect Jews of living there, not even other Jews.

Ha. This is a hint that Neil is becoming even more sensitive to appearances. We've probably all felt some brand name pride before. It's funny that Ron, the person he's showing off for, doesn't seem to care about brand names (though we can be sure Brenda does).

Though this theme focuses on appearances in terms of religion, class, and ethnicity, it's also about the difficulty in getting beyond someone's appearance and really knowing them. Brenda seems all surface to Neil at this moment, and he's afraid he'll never see deeper.