"What's the use of kidding myself?" he said"The way I look at it, every step in the Army turns out to be worse than you expected, and this is going to be the worst of all His voice was deep and sepulchral; he spoke so slowly that Goldstein became a little impatient for him to finish
"No, no, you're too pessimistic," Goldstein told himHe picked up a helmet and began to use it as a mallet on one of the stakes"If you'll excuse me for saying so, that's no way to look at it He pounded several times with the helmet and then whistled sadly"Very poor steel in these," he said"Look at the way I dented it just hitting in a stake
Roth smiled a little contemptuouslyGoldstein's animation irritated him"Aaah, it's all very well to talk," he said, "but you never do get a break in the ArmyLook at the ship we came over onThey had us packed in like sardines
"I suppose they did the best they could," Goldstein suggested
"The best they could? I don't think so He paused as if to edit his woes and select the most telling ones"Did you notice how they treated the officers? They slept in staterooms when we were
black and white chanel cambon handbag for sale jammed in the hold like pigsIt's to make them feel superior, a chosen groupThat's the same device Hitler uses when he makes the Germans think they're superior Roth felt as if he were on the edge of something profound
Goldstein held up his hand"But that's why we can't afford to have such an attitudeWe're fighting against that Then, as if his words had rubbed against a bruised part of his mind, he frowned angrily and added, "Aaah, I don't know, they're just a bunch of Anti-Semiten
"Who, the Germans?"
Goldstein didn't answer right away
"That's one approach to it," Roth said, a little pontifically"However, I don't think it's as simple as that
Goldstein did not listenGloom had settled over himHe had been cheerful until a moment ago, and now suddenly he was very upsetAs Roth talked, Goldstein would shake his head from time to time or make a clucking sound with his tongueThis had no relation to what Roth saidGoldstein was remembering an episode which had occurred that afternoonSeveral soldiers had been talking to a truck driver and he had heard their conversationThe truck driver was a big fellow
omega watches for sale with a round red face, and he had been telling the replacements which companies were good and which were notAs he meshed his gears and started to pull away he had shouted back, "Just hope you all don't get in F Company, that's where they stick the goddam Jewboys There had been a roar of laughter, and someone had yelled after him, "If they stick me there, I'm resigning plumb out of the Army And there had been more laughterGoldstein flushed with anger recalling itBut more, he felt a hopelessness even in his rage, for he knew it would do him no goodHe wished he had said something to the boy who had answered the truck driver, but the boy didn't matterHe was only trying to be smart, Goldstein thoughtIt was the truck driverGoldstein saw again his brutal red face, and despite himself he felt fearThat grobe jung, that peasant, he said to himselfHe felt an awful depression: that kind of face was behind all the pogroms against the Jews
He sat down beside Roth and looked off moodily at the oceanWhen Roth finished talking, Goldstein nodded his head"Why are they like that?" he asked
"Who?"
"The
white leather prada handbags Anti-SemitenWhy don't they ever learn? Why does God permit it?"
Roth sneered"God is a luxury I don't give myself Goldstein struck the palm of his hand with his fist"No, I just don't understand itHow can God look down on it and permit it? We're supposed to be the chosen people"Chosen! Chosen for tsoris!"
"Personally, I'm an agnostic," Roth saidFor a time Goldstein stared at his hands, and then he smiled sadlyThe lines deepened about his mouth, and he had a sarcastic indrawn look on his lips"When the time comes," he said solemnly, "they won't ask you what kind of Jew you are
"I think you worry too much about those things," Roth saidWhy was it, he asked himself, that so many Jews were filled with all kinds of old wives' tales? His parents at least were modern, but Goldstein was like an old grandfather full of mutterings and curses, certain he would die a violent death"The Jews worry too much about themselves," Roth saidHe rubbed his long sad noseGoldstein was an odd fellow, he told himself; he was enthusiastic about almost everything to the point of being a moron, and yet just start talking about
vintage gucci watch politics or economics or about anything that was current affairs, and like all Jews he would turn the conversation to the same topic
"If we don't worry," Goldstein said bitterly, "no one else will
Roth was irritatedJust because he was a Jew too, they always assumed he felt the same way about thingsIt made him feel a little frustratedNo doubt some of his bad luck had come because he was one, but that was unfair; it wasn't as if he took an interest, it was just an accident of birth"Well, let's stop talking about it," he said
They sat watching the final brilliant striations of the sunsetAfter a time, Goldstein looked at his watch and squinted at the sun, which was almost entirely below the horizon"It's two minutes later than last night," he told Roth, "I like to keep track of things like that
"I had a friend once," Roth said, "who used to work at the weather bureau in New York
"Did he?" Goldstein asked"You know I always wanted to do work like that, but you need a good education for itI understand it takes a lot of calculus
"He did go to college," Roth admittedHe preferred a conversation like
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