onathan Safran Foer’s, “The Very Rigid Search”, recounts the journey of the speaker, Alexander Perchov through Ukraine in an attempt to aid the American Jonathan Foer to find his grandfather’s village, as well as a lady named Augustine who saved him from the Nazis. Using only an old photograph and a map, Alex and his grandfather, who is “very melancholy and...blind” (116), navigate from city to city in search for Trachimbrod. In every conceivable moment, Alex questions Jonathan about life in America and reveals to the reader in his own words that, “I desired to show him that I, too, could be an American” (119). Although initially forced by Alex’s father to complete this task, Alex and his grandfather gradually become more intimate with Jonathan
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From consistently referring to the, “ennobled country America” (116) to realizing he, “had a connection in America and was not alone” (122), Alex’s lack of Ukrainian nationalism is evident from the start. Unlike the rest of his family, he is the ugly duckling who does not fit in at home. He desires more than anything else, a life of luxury, adventure, and social superiority. Whereas locations like New York City offer a diversity of women and activities, “the humble towns in Poland and Ukraine” (116) provide neither flamboyance nor excitement. Although he has more family than Jonathan, Alex comparatively experiences a greater degree of solitude, both in terms of his interests and goals. Thus, with his apathetic father insisting, “your [Alex] boys will be from Odessa” (118), Alex is stuck amidst his own desires and his family’s expectations. As a result, for him, Jonathan is an embodiment of everything he wishes for his future. He yearns to show him that he too, “could be an American” (119). However, more than just a desire to live in America, Alex seems to crave an escape from his heritage. Not wanting to inherit his father’s or grandfather’s lives, he latches on to the smallest beacon of hope he can find. For the readers, Jonathan is far from a perfect character and is not the best representation of all things American. He is, “severely short” (119) and, “did not look like anything special at all” (119). Yet, he is the closest Alex has to someone who is unordinary and not Ukrainian. Jonathan is thus the one person Alex relates to the most, not the parents or grandparents he has spent his entire life around, but a stranger from
From consistently referring to the, “ennobled country America” (116) to realizing he, “had a connection in America and was not alone” (122), Alex’s lack of Ukrainian nationalism is evident from the start. Unlike the rest of his family, he is the ugly duckling who does not fit in at home. He desires more than anything else, a life of luxury, adventure, and social superiority. Whereas locations like New York City offer a diversity of women and activities, “the humble towns in Poland and Ukraine” (116) provide neither flamboyance nor excitement. Although he has more family than Jonathan, Alex comparatively experiences a greater degree of solitude, both in terms of his interests and goals. Thus, with his apathetic father insisting, “your [Alex] boys will be from Odessa” (118), Alex is stuck amidst his own desires and his family’s expectations. As a result, for him, Jonathan is an embodiment of everything he wishes for his future. He yearns to show him that he too, “could be an American” (119). However, more than just a desire to live in America, Alex seems to crave an escape from his heritage. Not wanting to inherit his father’s or grandfather’s lives, he latches on to the smallest beacon of hope he can find. For the readers, Jonathan is far from a perfect character and is not the best representation of all things American. He is, “severely short” (119) and, “did not look like anything special at all” (119). Yet, he is the closest Alex has to someone who is unordinary and not Ukrainian. Jonathan is thus the one person Alex relates to the most, not the parents or grandparents he has spent his entire life around, but a stranger from