Long Island Compromise

While she is one of the novel’s four protagonists, Jenny is the only member of the Fletcher family who does not experience Carl’s kidnapping, as she is born after Carl is released from his ordeal. Jenny thus inherits trauma, though her internal conflict is not directly tied to the events of the kidnapping.

Jenny’s internal conflict is defined by her relationship to the family’s wealth. Jenny’s privilege enables her to pursue various academic opportunities from an early age, but once she graduates from high school, she finds herself driven to determine an identity that isn’t tied to her wealth. This is influenced by her relationship with Dr. Richard Messinger, who informally mentors her to look at the world through a critical social lens. Jenny starts to see how her family perpetuates the structures of inequality that prevent positive change from occurring. This also explains why her reaction to the possible loss of the family wealth is a positive one. She thinks that without the safety net of her wealth, she can finally grow as a person, stressing Wealth as a Barrier to Personal Development.

During her studies at Brown, Jenny selects a double concentration in art history and economics to appeal to her interests and her desire to break away from her family. As she progresses through her studies, she starts to see her choices as futile academic exercises, which is why she repeatedly switches concentrations. This leads to a pivotal conversation with a career development officer at Brown, who advises her to use her expertise in art history to affect definitive change in the industry. Jenny fails to live up to the officer’s suggestion, however, because she cannot see what change looks like outside of activism. This results in her becoming a labor organizer at Yale, a job she falls into after accidentally subverting the student union’s strike action.

Jenny’s conflict manifests as nostalgia for Middle Rock, which feels at odds with her life at the Yale union. Jenny initially resents her high school friends for settling for lives of domestic comfort, but as she gets older, her resentment turns into a quiet longing for the warmth of their company. This is disrupted by her interactions with Ike’s son, Max, who is initially presented as a romantic interest but becomes combative with her when she returns to the factory shortly before its closure. Max calls her out for patronizing him and Ike without recognizing the ways that her family has failed to share their wealth with the Bessers. By the end of the novel, she returns to her high school boyfriend, Brett, whom she had initially seen as being too sincere about his attachment to Middle Rock for her taste. Their relationship implies that her sentiments have aligned with his as well.

Nathan is the eldest child of Carl and Ruth. As one of the novel’s four protagonists, his personal conflict illustrates The Illusory Promise of Certainty. Nathan is characterized by his anxiety and tendency to avoid difficult situations—traits that he has displayed since childhood. Carl’s kidnapping exacerbates Nathan’s anxiety since it shows Nathan that nothing can insulate him and his family from danger. He only finds calm at the onset of the kidnapping because he can register the panic of everyone around him. For once, he feels that his anxiety has been normalized. When Nathan is a child, his anxiety functions as a manifestation of love for others. After he prays the Shema to spare Beamer from being hit by a truck, he says the prayer nightly to spare his family members from further harm. As an adult, Nathan’s anxiety causes him to develop an addiction to buying insurance. Though this does not prevent harm from coming to him, it gives him the reassurance that liability can be compensated by money.

Nathan quickly gives in to pressure, which is displayed in his relationships with his childhood friend and bully, Mickey, and his wife, Alyssa. Mickey strongarms Nathan into investing with him, despite the many signs that show that Mickey may be running a fraudulent investment practice. Similarly, Nathan chooses not to address the topic of home renovation in discussion despite the many signs that Alyssa is already pushing a renovation forward behind his back. She later uses emotional appeals to justify the need for a renovation. This puts pressure on Nathan to withhold the truth about their financial situation.

Nathan is also characterized by his empty ambitions. As the first Fletcher to graduate from college, he pursues law to work at his uncle Arthur Lindenblatt’s firm. He ends up engaging in the low-profile area of land use law, a field that allows him to spend his time doing research rather than facing clients and attending hearings. Nathan only aspires to ascend the ranks of his law firm when he learns that his junior colleague, Dominic Romano, has been promoted to partner. When Nathan tries to argue his value to the firm to Arthur, Arthur hints that Dominic has reached his position through consistent work, contributing significantly to the firm’s reputation. Dominic nevertheless tries to help Nathan by giving him an opportunity to justify a promotion. The promotion is ultimately revealed to be symbolic and nominal in nature, existing only to satisfy Nathan. Nathan ultimately reveals his disposition toward the profession of law when he decides to offer bribes to Lewis Squib as a bargaining tool. Rather than assert himself, he communicates his misconception that law is ultimately a deceptive profession.