The story revolves around a Jewish teenager, Ozzie Freedman, who stands against the hypocrisy that he observed as a result of devotion to Jewish formalism. The story started with a conversation between Ozzie and his friend, Itzie Lieberman who condemned the virgin birth of Jesus as impracticable. When the issue was brought in front of Rabbi Binder, he called Ozzies mother which is recorded to be the third meeting of his mother with Rabbi Binder. When Ozzie told his mother that she needs to go and meet with the rabbi the next day, she slapped on his face for the first time in his life. Reluctantly, Ozzie repeated the same question next day during free discussion time from rabbi who in return smacked Ozzies face, giving him a bloody nose. Ozzie cursed Rabbi and fled to the roof. Firemen were called but Ozzie refused to come down and ran around to different parts of the roof, making the firemen follow him on the ground with their safety net. Meanwhile, Ozzies mother also reached for her meeting with the rabbi. While his mother and rabbi pleaded him not to jump and his friends tell him to jump, Ozzie made everybody kneel in a non-Jewish posture. Ozzie made the rabbi and the crowds say that they believe in Gods powers of doing anything. While crying, he made his mother and the rabbi say that they wont ever hit anyone on religious matters. Having said this, he jumped into firemens net.
The story revealed that Roth had elevated Ozzie to a higher place throughout the story be it physically by placing him on the roof and spiritually by making him so divine in contrast to other characters of the story. As a matter of fact, it became quite apparent from what Roth was doing Roth was turning Ozzie into a Christ figure. Both Christ and Ozzie were born Jews. Both had the utmost reverence for the Jewish God. Both spoke out against religious hypocrisy in the Jewish faith. Both succeeded in converting a number of Jews to Christianity. By making Ozzie into a Christ figure, Roth sharpens the edge of his satirical sword even more. Now, he is doing more than just symbolically converting Jews to Christianity. He is doing it through a boy who evokes an image of Christianitys most revered figure, Jesus the same figures whose divine birth the Jewish characters in the story refuse to acknowledge. (Ryan D. Poquette)
A number of descriptions and images can be highlighted from this short story of Roth that shows Ozzies character as a more sacred person. When Ozzie told off his rabbi, he did in a loud, toneless sound that had the timbre of something stored inside for about six days. By choosing six days intentionally, Roth is pointing towards the six days in which God made heaven and earth, which is mentioned earlier in the story. When the rabbi asked him if he was ready for him to count to three, Ozzie realizes that a divine change had come over him, Ozzie nodded his head yes, although he had no intention in the world-the lower one or the celestial one hed just entered-of coming down even if Rabbi Binder should give him a million. Here, once again the very mention of Ozzie entering a celestial world makes him holier than others in the story. Another evidence of his holiness came right at the end when Ozzie jumped safely off the building right into the center of the yellow net that glowed in the evenings edge like an overgrown halo. By giving Ozzie a symbolic halo, Roth elevated Ozzie even higher.
In a nut shell, three themes have been discussed by Roth in the story hypocrisy, Freedom and Reverence. Although the story offended a number of American Jews but it succeeded to make its way to win 1960 National Book Award.
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