• DOI:10.5703/PHILROTHSTUD.11.1.105
Corpus ID: 160969212

Confronting the “C” Word: Cancer and Death in Philip Roth’s Fiction

@article{Pozorski2015ConfrontingT,
  title={Confronting the “C” Word: Cancer and Death in Philip Roth’s Fiction},
  author={Aimee L. Pozorski},
  journal={Philip Roth Studies},
  year={2015},
  volume={11},
  pages={105 - 123}
}

• Aimee L. Pozorski
• Published 1 April 2015
• History
• Philip Roth Studies

This article argues that while, for many readers, it’s not surprising that women and an unspeakable “c” word might be linked in Philip Roth’s fiction, he also invokes a c-word that is not vulgar; it is cancer. This illness, which strikes characters such as Drenka Balich, Consuela Castillo, and Amy Bellette, has been considered too little in Roth’s fiction. Contrary to the frame of alleged misogyny within which Roth’s fiction is often situated, I argue that his characters with cancer, especially… Expand