8/18/2019 About Nathan Zuckerman

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About Nathan Zuckerman

Who is Nathan Zuckerman?

Zuckerman is the narrator of The human stain, a writer that happens to be

Coleman’s neighbor and whom Coleman chooses to share his story with. Heacts as a mere observer to Coleman’s comple story, which is then revealedthrough his eyes. He acts as a kind of alter-ego for the author.

The human stain, however, is not the !rst novel in which this characterappears. "oth !rst created a character named Nathan Zuckerman in thenovel My Life as a Man #$%&'(, where he is the )product) of another !ctional"oth !gure, the writer *eter +arnopol #making Zuckerman, in his originalform, an )alteralterego)(.

-n later books, "oth uses Zuckerman as a protagonist, starting with the $%&%novel +he host /riter, where he is a writing apprentice on a pilgrimage tocull the wisdom of the reclusive author 0. -. 1ono2.

 +here are % books in which Zuckerman appears3 The ghost writer (1979), Zuckerman Unoun! #$%4$(, The "natomy Lesson #$%45(, The #rague$rgy  #$%46( all these are collected under the title 7Zuckerman 8ound9, The%ounterlife (19&'), "merican #astoral (1997), Marrie! a %ommunist (199&) ,The uman *tain (+), .it /host (+7)

:rom The /host 0riter  we learn that Zuckerman, like "oth himself, was bornin America in a ;ewish family. +his duality is what eventually takes him closerto Coleman’s story. /e also !nd out that after being diagnosed with prostatecancer he has a surgery that leaves him impotent, this in turn leading to hisisolation. His friendship with Coleman is something that brings him back to

the real world. He lives through Coleman’s stories and a2airs. +he interesting thing is, as +im *arrish notes in his essay ecoming lack2 Zuckerman3s ifurcating self in the human stain, that Zuckerman’s identityseems to be constructed di2erently according to the events and stories thathe observes and writes about. 7+o understand The uman *tain then, onemust !rst confront how in the trilogy "oth has made Nathan Zuckerman verymuch subs present is absorbed by hismemories of the past so that his current identity is but a conse=uence of theevents and other lives he recalls.9

Zuckerman’s role in the narrative

"oth uses a framing narrative to unveil the story of the protagonist. +hepresence of Zuckerman becomes an embodiment of meta!ction in "oth’swork. +he narrative is comple, constructed on di2erent alternating levelsthat describe the stories of the characters’ present or past events. At !rst,"oth presents the story as if it were Zuckerman’s story, when he recalls the

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuckerman_Unboundhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_Lesson_(1983_novel)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prague_Orgyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prague_Orgyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_Lesson_(1983_novel)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prague_Orgyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prague_Orgyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuckerman_Unbound

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events of the summer of $%%4. +his eventually gives him more authority as anarrator.

As the story unfolds, the narrator introduces alternating scenes that re?ectColeman’s past.

8asically, The uman *tain, along with  "merican #astoral  and marrie! acommunist , are all accounts of how Zuckerman ended up writing thesenovels. However, this meta!ctional construct doesn’t seem to diminish therealism of the novels. - think that Zuckerman’s presence acts as a mediumbetween "oth, his characters and the readers. +he fact that we see the storythrough the eyes of an immediate observer gives an even more realisticview.

Zuckerman vs. Roth

-t is clear that Zuckerman becomes "oth’s alterego. :rom the !rst books in

which he appears as a character we !nd out that he and "oth share manycommon traits Zuckerman is also ;ewish, he is "oth’s age, he’s fromNewark, he’s a writer. However, some of the novels that evoke Zuckerman’slife uncover various di2erences as well.

/hen "oth eventually wrote an autobiography, The facts #$%%4(, tracing hislife from his childhood in Newark, New ;ersey to becoming a successful,widely respected novelist, he included, at a meta!ctional level, a letter fromZuckerman himself addressed to "oth, in which he urges him to stay with!ction rather than autobiography. Not surprisingly, *hilip "oth himself reactsbadly to the idea that he>s an autobiographical writer. )+o label books likemine >autobiographical> or >confessional>), he once told the :rench writerAlain :inkielkraut, )is not only to falsify their suppositional nature but, if -may say so, to slight whatever artfulness leads some readers to think thatthey must be autobiographical.) He also told Hermione 1ee in $%4' that)@aking fake biography, false history, concocting a halfimaginary eistenceout of the actual drama of my life is my life. +here has to be some pleasurein this s it. +o go around in disguise. +o act a character. +opretend. +he sly and cunning mas=uerade.)

 +he conclusion would be that Nathan Zuckerman acts more as anintermediate between "oth and his characters’ stories, and his presence

bring these stories closer to the readers, as they both seem to share theperspective of an observer.

7ZuckermanB became a kind of stage for an endless play of di2erent, evencontradictory, roles.

Zuckerman>s seemingly endless selfinventions are a conse=uence of thehistorically situated identity choices available to him.9