Il morbo della coincidenza. Una lettura inattuale di “Nemesi” di Philip Roth

Abstract

This article offers an analysis of the identity of Bucky Cantor, the main character of Nemesis, Philip Roth’s last novel. This Physical Education teacher is acutely aware of his role, particularly at the time when his students begin to be disabled and killed by the spread of a polio epidemic. Instead of developing an actualizing interpretation of the literary text, encouraged by a theme that evokes our contemporary, I thought it important to observe the main character’s reaction to the dramatic effect caused by the polio, as well as to highlight the relationships that constitute his identity. As he is completely identified with the idealised image of himself, so as to look like an invincible hero to his students, Bucky proves unable to consider his own fallibility. This presumption makes it impossible for him to accept to be the main responsible for spreading the polio and turns him into a death trap for the others, into a real nemesis. The novel shows, therefore, that is not much the epidemic that put an end to the students’ lives, as the existence of teachers who, instead of feeding their desire to become themselves, interpret education as a process of conformity to existing models.