Goodbye, Columbus Manipulation Quotes

Instead of trying to help make easier what he knows is really difficult for Brenda, Neil stresses his own pleasure. All this is partially brought on by Brenda's insensitivity to him—the Newark comment, the babysitting—but instead of telling her honestly, he punishes her by being insensitive back. Plus, like Brenda, part of him is just plain selfish.

"Defender of the Faith," a short story in Goodbye, Columbus and Five Other Stories, features a character who uses his Judaism to manipulate others into giving him special treatment. This is why some Jewish people accuse Roth of perpetuating negative stereotypes about Jews. One way to look at this is to ask the question, is it only Jewish people who do this? Is there something you yourself "use" to get what you want? Each reader will feel differently about this hot-button issue, hopefully after giving it serious thought.

Neil's accusing Brenda of leaving the diaphragm at home so her Mother would find it and "force" her to stop seeing Neil, giving her an excuse to break up with him. We don't know about you, but that seems like an awfully complicated and not sure-fire way to do the whole break-up thing. It's not clear whether he thinks she acted deliberately or subconsciously, but it is clear that he doesn't consider the fact that Brenda didn't want the diaphragm in the first place.