The Plot Against America

Philip tells the story of how Alvin came to “have it in” for Sandy. One morning, before his stump had healed, Alvin was home alone, walking around the house on his hated crutches. For a moment, he forgot about the crutches—and about his amputation entirely—and tried to walk normally. He fell over, and, in great pain and with no one home alone to help him up, dragged himself to the bedroom. There, as he prepared to haul himself into bed, he spotted Sandy’s portfolio beneath the bed—flipping through it, he found the drawings of Lindbergh.

Alvin realizes that Sandy—and many other Jews in Newark—don’t just tolerate but are beginning to actively support Lindbergh, given that none of the fearful things Jews predicted when he ascended to office have come to pass. This makes Alvin angry and withdrawn. Many local Jews attribute Lindbergh’s even treatment of Jewish people to the influence of Rabbi Bengelsdorf—the man who is about to become an uncle by marriage to Sandy and Philip. 

Alvin is rarely home anymore—Philip misses Alvin and realizes that he had begun to use Alvin as a kind of stand-in for the aloof Sandy, who is now constantly off on speaking engagements with Aunt Evelyn. Now that Alvin is recovered, he has taken up dangerous habits which perturb Philip—but Philip can also recognize that 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 avoidance of these sessions as his nephew’s indifference.

One March afternoon, Philip wanders to the abandoned street near the school playground where Alvin often shoots craps with his friends. Alvin is there gambling with six other boys—among them is Alvin’s friend Shushy Margulis, a 30-year-old runner for a local bookie who works out of an office near a Catholic orphanage which stands on a large patch of land owned by the local diocese and populated by several horses. Shushy’s uncle is the “Pinball King” of all illegal slots in Philadelphia.

Months ago, Alvin taught Philip how to shoot craps one night after everyone else in the house had gone to sleep. Though Philip wanted to learn the tricks of the trade then, as he comes upon Alvin now with his crooked friends, Philip is flooded with anger on behalf of his parents and his brother—he hates that they must all endure so much for Alvin to throw his life away with his little gang. Still, when Alvin asks Philip to blow on his dice for him, Philip obliges him. After his roll, Alvin wins the pot, and after pulling himself up slowly—his prosthesis, Philip can tell, is ailing him—he gives two $10 bills to Philip.

Philip walks home alone, leaving Alvin with his friends. He stops to pet the horses, wishing he could ride them far away. Philip bursts out in anger, screaming “Nazi fucking bastard Lindbergh” at the horses before turning and running away, heading for home as fast as he can.

As Philip rounds the corner onto his street, a man in a suit sidles up beside him and addresses him by name. The man tells Philip that he works for the FBI, and he even pulls out a badge. Philip insists that he can’t answer any questions—he’s on his way home. Philip is afraid of the agent finding the money Alvin has given him. The FBI agent assures Philip that he’s on Philip’s side—he just wants to ask him some questions about how Alvin is doing. He asks if Philip has come from the playground where Alvin and Shushy are shooting craps and if he’ll tell the agent what the boys were talking about, specifically asking if they mentioned the president or about running away to Canada. Philip, anxious and tongue tied, says the boys weren’t talking about anything of the sort.

The agent continues pressing Philip, asking if the boys mentioned Hitler or called anyone “fascist.” Philip becomes afraid that the agent overheard him swearing at the horses. As the agent continues questioning Philip about Aunt Evelyn, Philip gives short, simple answers—the agent tells Philip that he knows Philip is too clever to reveal too much. He urge Philip to “go home and eat [his] matzohs.” Philip runs as fast as he can toward home.

As Philip arrives at the house, he sees three police cars and an ambulance parked out front. Philip has never seen all the neighborhood kids gathered as they are now on the street, huddled together and looking frightened. As Philip approaches them, he learns that Mr. Wishnow is dead—he has hung himself in his closet, and Seldon was the one who found the body. The kids report that the body has not yet been brought out from the house—they’re waiting to see it.

Philip is shocked when, moments later, Bess emerges from the Wishnows’—Philip fears for a moment that it is his own father who has committed suicide. As the coroners wheel a body out of the house, Philip runs toward it, crying. Bess grabs him and comforts him, insisting that Mr. Wishnow died of complications from his cancer. She assures him that his father will be home soon and that there is nothing to be afraid of.

There is, however, plenty to be afraid of. Philip learns that the FBI agent who questioned him has also stopped by his mother’s work to question her and his father’s office to question him, and even boarded Sandy’s bus home from Aunt Evelyn’s office to question him—all because of Alvin’s association with Shushy. Bess feels sad for Alvin, who has become lazy and bitter because of his injury, but Herman insists that if Alvin continues running with a bad crowd, he’ll have to move out.

After dinner, Bess and Herman take food to Mrs. Wishnow and Seldon. Philip tells Sandy the rumor he heard about Mr. Wishnow having committed suicide. Sandy is skeptical and tells Philip he’s wrong. Philip admits to himself that he doesn’t know up from down or bad from good anymore. Lately, everything lately feels like a dream. Philip feels he is going to faint, though he never has before. Philip feels that “never before” is “the great refrain of 1942.” Philip vomits into the sink, then takes to bed with a high fever for over a week. 

The following Sunday, Philip wakes up alone in his room. He can hear Alvin and Uncle Monty talking in the kitchen—Monty is again attacking Alvin, calling him a bum and a good-for-nothing. Philip listens as Alvin wearily accepts the job at the produce market and agrees to stop hanging around with Shushy and gambling, then bursts into tears and apologizes for his terrible behavior.

A week into Alvin’s job at the market, the FBI agent arrives at the grocery with several other agents to ask around about Alvin, insinuating to everyone who 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 states that because of Longy Zwillman, a Newark gangster who runs the rackets on truckers and merchants like Monty, Monty had no choice but to fire Alvin and keep the FBI from snooping around a business that’s in cahoots with Longy. Within 24 hours of losing his job, Alvin clears out and moves to Philadelphia to work for Shushy’s uncle.

In the spring of 1942, President Lindbergh and Mrs. Lindbergh hold a state dinner at the white house in honor of the Nazis’ Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop—the negotiator who was at Hitler’s side during the drafting of the Iceland Understanding. The liberal press decries the White House’s decision, and even Roosevelt makes his first nationwide address since leaving office to urge the administration to rescind their invitation. Vice President Wheeler—a former Democrat turned founding member of the America First movement—mocks Roosevelt’s “irresponsible” entry into the issue.

The weekend after the White House’s announcement, the German American Bund holds a rally at Madison Square Garden—over 25,000 people turn out in support of Lindbergh. The Bund is a fascist fellowship disguised as an anti-Communist organization rather than a pro-Nazi one. Though their anti-Semitic propaganda including banners calling for the smashing of “Jewish communists” and buttons decrying the “Jewish war” have been band from the rally, the energy of the gathering is no less frightening than the group’s former rallies have been.

Soon after the Bund rally, the Democrats hold a Madison Square Garden rally of their own. FDR himself speaks out against both Lindbergh and Hitler decrying the former’s “shameless courting” of the latter. In response, Lindbergh goes on a flying tour of America, giving speeches across the country in which he boasts that not a single American has had to go to war because of his policymaking. Lindbergh never once mentions von Ribbentrop, the Nazis, or Hitler.

Shepsie Tirschwell, one of Herman’s childhood friends, is a projectionist at the Newsreel Theater—Newark’s only all-news movie house. Shepsie and his coworkers daily splice together new reels to keep their patrons up to date on worldwide happenings—Herman goes about once a week to see a show and often brings Sandy and Philip along, as Shepsie lets the boys in for free. Philip, now nine, loves these outings to the theater—even now, as an adult, the broadcasts of the Bund rally, FDR’s own Madison Square Garden rally, and Lindbergh’s plane tour stand out in his mind. Sandy, however, doesn’t enjoy going—he only accompanies his father when he’s made to do so.

Philip, influenced by something Alvin said before leaving home, has come to see Sandy, Aunt Evelyn, and the “great” Rabbi Bengelsdorf as opportunists. Philip believes that Sandy, having realized his unusual potential to be someone of importance, is greatly enjoying extolling the virtues of Just Folks and the OAA.

In March, Rabbi Bengelsdorf 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 administration, don’t know what to do to keep her from going. They write Evelyn off as crazy, but when she calls to tell them that she wants for Sandy to accompany her as an emissary of Just Folks, Herman flies off the handle and tells her to leave their family alone. He forbids Sandy from going to the dinner—even as Sandy protests that it is a “great opportunity.”

Later that night, Evelyn shows up at the house demanding to be let in. She tries to explain 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 it. Herman and Evelyn quarrel terribly, and eventually, Herman opens the back door to the stairwell and orders Evelyn to leave his house and never come back. Bess begs Herman not to react so intensely—but she, too, turns to Evelyn and urges her to go home. Bess walks Evelyn out the door as Herman slams it shut on both of them.

When Bess does not return, Herman, Sandy, and Philip—none of whom have uttered a word to one another for over an hour—go out looking for her. They go down to the Wishnows’ and ask if they’ve seen Bess, but Seldon and Mrs. Wishnow say they haven’t. Philip’s aversion to Seldon is worse than ever—he avoids him at school and in the building, and he’s unhappy to see him now. Philip experiences a moment of deep fear in which he imagines that his mother has run away forever, leaving Herman to marry Mrs. Wishnow and make Seldon a part of Philip’s life forever. Philip wishes he could run away with Alvin.

Hours later, Bess calls the house—she has brought Evelyn home and put her to bed. She reports that she 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 car to pick Bess up. When he brings her home, she comes into Philip and Sandy’s room and sits on the edge of Philip’s bed. She can tell he is exhausted. She calmly tells Sandy that they need to talk things out. She explains that Aunt Evelyn has made a mistake getting involved with Bengelsdorf and the OAA—Bess doesn’t want Sandy, like Evelyn, to become “overexcited” and lose all perspective. Bess kisses Philip goodnight and leaves the room.

The next morning, Philip 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 thoroughly to Sandy why he is not going to the White House—and why he is no longer to participate, in any way, in any programs sponsored by the OAA. Herman insists that one day, Sandy will understand the depths of evil to which every member of the Nazi Party has sunk. Sandy, however, replies only that he’ll never forgive Herman.

Bess warns Sandy that what Herman is saying is true, and that it’s time for their family to try returning to normalcy. Sandy counters by asking when Bess is planning on moving them all to Canada based on her deluded belief that they’re being persecuted. Herman orders Sandy to shut his mouth. Sandy tells Herman that he is a “dictator worse than Hitler.” Herman, stunned, turns away—but Bess reaches out and strikes Sandy across the face. It is the first time either Sandy or Philip has ever been hit. Sandy turns to his mother and tells her that he is going to the White House with Aunt Evelyn whether “you ghetto Jews like it or not.” Bess hits Sandy again, this time harder, and Sandy bursts into tears. Philip grabs his backpack and runs out of the house.

A couple of weeks later, Herman goes to the Newsreel to watch the footage of the von Ribbentrop dinner. When he arrives, he learns that Shepsie and his family are planning on fleeing to a Jewish community in Winnipeg—his constant exposure to the footage from around the world has convinced him that fascism will soon come to America. When Herman comes home that night, he doesn’t tell his family about Shepsie’s decision—but he lambasts the smug, happy way Evelyn and Bengelsdorf looked in the footage from the White House’s dinner. He questions how such horrible things could be happening in America. Sandy declares that nothing is happening in America and leaves the table.

Philip is unsettled by Sandy’s behavior. He begins to worry that Sandy will soon run away from home and perhaps flee to Kentucky to live with the Mawhinneys. After dinner, rather than following Sandy to their room, Philip stays in the kitchen to do his homework at the table. He overhears his father quietly telling his mother about the 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 is upset. Herman tells her that if the congressional elections in November tip the courts and the House to the right, they can consider leaving. 

The next day, after school, Philip goes to the Newsreel Theater instead of heading home, desperate to see the footage of Evelyn at the White House. He is appalled that someone in his own family could behave the way Evelyn is behaving. At the box office, the attendant refuses Philip a ticket until he claims he lives at the nearby Catholic orphanage. He has even carefully written out a permission slip from a nun. He pays for his ticket with one of Alvin’s $10 bills, receiving $9.50 in change, and hurries to take his seat in the theater. As he watches the “horrors” on the news, he becomes frightened and disoriented. When Evelyn and Bengelsdorf at last appear on screen during the coverage of the dinner, Philip feels that they are less real and more unbelievable than anything else he’s seen.

When the show is over, an attendant pulls Philip from his seat and brings him up to the projection booth where Shepsie is 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 go home on his own—all he wanted, he says, was to see footage of his aunt. When Philip begins crying, Shepsie angrily says that Philip doesn’t have a legitimate reason to cry since horrible things are happening all over the world. Soon, though, Shepsie softens and hands Philip a handkerchief.

Philip asks why Shepsie is going to Canada. Shepsie replies simply that he has secured a new job there. Philip knows Shepsie is lying to spare him, 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 the street in full view of the bustling downtown crowds. Philip cries uncontrollably—he notices confused Gentiles walking by enjoying a “carefree spring [afternoon] in Lindbergh’s peacetime America.”