Portnoy's Complaint

Alex remembers watching softball in his neighborhood on Sunday mornings. The Jewish men from the area mocked each other with “gibberish and double-talk” (117), and Alex loved the sense of community. He imagined growing up to be one of those men, returning home from softball games to a wife and family. The thought of such a happy, content family makes Alex think about The Monkey threatening to throw herself off a Greek balcony. He worried that her suicide would expose him and his sexual proclivities.

After Greece, Alex traveled to Israel which seemed “more dreamy than real” (121). He was shocked to be in a country with so many other Jewish people. Despite being a member of the ethnic majority, Alex was bullied by a gang of Jewish youths. He was still preoccupied thinking that he contracted a venereal disease from the Italian sex worker. He became obsessed with examining his own penis and was confused that it seems to be totally normal.

The morning after arriving, Alex went to the beach. He noted the Jewish beachgoers, the Jewish lifeguard, the Jewish sand, and the Jewish plane in the sky above him.