Focus

Focus The 1940s were a time of drastic social changes throughout the world. Although World War II was centralized in Europe, its effects created a shockwave across America. American Jews faced persecution and anti-Semitism on a daily basis. While some Americans chose to support the Jews, the majority either kept quiet or joined hate groups like the Christian Front. As these hate-groups expanded and their power increased, Americans were forced to take sides. Some tried to ignore the social changes, many joined the masses, and then a few individuals stood up to the oppression. In Focus, Arthur Miller strives to portray the different attitudes and perspectives of Americans during this time of war. Miller uses the characters as representations of different groups all faced with the same problem of anti-Semitism. The main character, Newman, becomes a victim of anti-Semitism when he acquires a new pair of glasses. Gertrude, Fred and Finkelstein represent the various societal responses to his seemingly superficial, yet complex change. The author uses the main character, Lawrence Newman, as the focal point for anti-Semitism in his epic novel. It is through Newman’s eyes that the hostile New York newman, glasses, anti-semitism, newman’s, through, new, jews, front, time, story, life, jew, different, christian, about, transformation, towards, subconscious, pair, fred, feels, change, beginning, society, same, right, one, now, having, even, author, world, work, way, war