Plot Summary

WWII. In Brooklynite Lawrence Newman's world, many around him do not understand why Christian society based United States would be in war against Christian society based Germany. A milquetoast, Lawrence, a Presbyterian and WWI vet, has been working for the same company for twenty years and is only at a mid-level job overseeing the steno pool, is unmarried, and is still living at home with his invalid but overbearing widowed mother. At work, he turns down the job application of Gertrude Hart, as he believes she is trying to hide being Jewish. He is not anti-Semitic per se, but does not have the backbone to stand up to anyone or any group that is, or do anything about the world that does not negatively affect him personally, like the rape he secretly witnessed committed by one of his neighbors. Regardless, he can't stop thinking about Gertrude. He soon understands her anger in not being hired as he begins to face discrimination, even in what he would have considered the most unlikely places, when he gets a new pair of glasses which make him look Jewish. It isn't until he runs into Gertrude again and begins to spend time with her that he gets a clearer picture of the issue and what he needs to do as a start to live a happy life in a peaceful world free of discrimination, even if it is at an initial personal cost.—Huggo