POWER OF WORDS IN PHILIP ROTH’S THE HUMAN STAIN (2000)
POWER OF WORDS IN PHILIP ROTH’S THE HUMAN STAIN (2000)

Summary/Abstract: This paper reveals how Philip Roth’s novel The Human Stain (2000) explores words and language assomething that defines and constrainsidentity. For Roth, language is like a double‐edged sword that shapes reality while also imposing social limitations, particularly through the experiences of Coleman Silk and Faunia Farley. The paper focuses on Coleman Silk, an African American who chooses to live as a white man to escape societal constraints, but whose world collapses due to a single misinterpreted word. His journey illustrates the dual nature of language as both a tool for reinvention and a means of oppression. Unlike Coleman, who usesthe power of language to reconstruct his identity, Faunia Farley completely rejects language by pretending to be illiterate, thusresisting both the trauma she has suffered and societal labels. By applying Wittgenstein’s concept of “language games” this analysis reveals the importance Roth assigns to words. In The Human Stain, words are a force that drives, creates, and destroys identities and the social reality of its speakers.

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