A Gentleman's Agreement

[khiemtran]

There's a powerful scene in A Gentleman's Agreement where the protagonist, Skyler Green, who has been telling people he's Jewish in order to write a series on anti-Semitism, finally can't take it any more when he hears that the hotel where he's booked his honeymoon is "restricted" and won't take him. It's not the denial that's the worst part, it's that no-one will say upfront that they're excluding him. Enraged, he flies to the hotel and tries to force them into at least admitting that they won't take him because he's Jewish, but gets no satisfaction.

The scene is especially effective because by this stage he's completely forgotten that he's only pretending to be Jewish. And the audience has forgotten too. It's interesting to consider whether I could have written a scene like this, or whether I'd be too obsessed with the logic of the story to see the possibilities of letting the characters fall into illogic.

Comments

[sciamanna.livejournal.com]

Indeed, a very interesting writing problem. I've been dealing with something similar lately (logic/illogic rather than pretending), and it's a tough one.

And of course there is the related problem of the necessary setup so the readers/audience will believe that the illogic is plausible. And then, as the author, having to judge whether it's come out plausible...

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's somewhat easier if your character is played by Gregory Peck too.