However, he is a gentle person. Even though he was able to knock down people, he ‘never fought except in gym’. Also, by his last year of Princeton, no one remembered that he was middleweight boxing champion.
He is also a coward. He did not dare to stand up to people when he was in Princeton. He also did not dare to stand up to his wife until he became an ‘unattractive mould’ under ‘domestic unhappiness’ with a rich wife. He did not divorce his wife earlier because he felt that it would be too cruel to deprive herself of him. Later in his life, he was also taken in hand by a lady who was very forceful. He did not have a chance of not being taken in hand.
He is also a literary person. This can be seen as in his final year, he read so much that he had to wear glasses. He also did not look like a middleweight boxing champion and the author suspected that his flattened nose was a result of something else besides a boxing accident. Also, after his divorce, he fell among literary people and backed a review of the Arts. His name also appeared as a member of the editorial board until he became the sole editor.
He also liked the feel of power. When he was the sole editor of the magazine, it could be seen that he liked the ‘authority of editing’ and was ‘sorry’ when the magazine became too expensive.
Robert Cohn is also not assertive. He did not express any discontent but instead allowed his wife to harden him into an ‘unattractive mould under domestic unhappiness’. He also did not divorce her even though he was not happy throughout their whole marriage.
He is also not suited to control finances. Even though he was from a rich family, he lost most of the fifty thousand that his father left him and the remainder went to his mother.
He is also sensitive to discrimination. This can be seen when he was treated as a Jew in Princeton, he took up boxing to ‘counteract the inferiority and shyness’ that he felt. It also made him feel different and he was thus very bitter about it.
The prejudice that he suffered while he was in Princeton and his disastrous marriage probably affected his later behavior in life.
This is the opening of the novel. Has it successfully captured your attention? Justify your answer with close reference to the passage.
This opening has successfully captured my attention. This is because there is a feeling of suspense ion the story. It makes the reader want to find out about the discrimination that Robert Cohn had suffered during his stay in Princeton and also about the time he spent boxing. It also makes the reader want to know how he had managed to overcome his insecurities through boxing.
It also makes the reader want to know about his disastrous marriage to his wife and why it was disastrous. It also makes the reader wonder why they wanted to divorce when they had three children as children usually signify a happy marriage.
The reader would also be naturally interested in his literary pursuits before, during and after his marriage. They would also be interested in why he gave up boxing to read. They would also want to know about the things that he did while among the literary people and why he joined the advisory board and later became editor. The reader also would want to know why he later had to give it up.
The writer creates a feeling of suspense by first giving a summary of Robert Cohn’s life. The reader would then be curious to read more to find out more.
