called an instinct whereby he comes to detect infallibly the signs of a soul at
variance with God. You, my son, are very disturbed?A man doesn?t act like a
child unless his is hurting him. Your soul is hurting you, Mr. Micheldene.
Won?t you allow me to hear your confession, my son? Soon. The sooner the
better (101).? This is truly a problem and disappointment for Father Colgate
because he genuinely cares for Roger?s soul. The real conflict for Father
Colgate arises when Roger finally asks the father to hear his confessions but is
insincere in his repentance. The father must make the call as to whether or not
Roger?s repenting is valid. There is a conflict between Roger and women in
general. He has been married at least two times and has not managed to remain
faithful. He uses women for sexual pleasure, caring only for his own feelings,
and then comments on how silly women are. He does not like the power they have
over men nor their ability to change men. 9. Major Themes One major theme within
the novel is the search for self worth. Roger tries to find his worth in
meaningless relationships and alcohol because he is so insecure about himself as
an individual. This is parallel to the fact that he is fat. I think most people
have the same type of problem. They feel one aspect of themselves is so hideous
that they try to cover it up inside by lashing out on others or simply using
others to feel good. Amis is pointing this out through Roger?s actions and
relationships. Besides that I have a difficult time finding themes within the
work. I saw how Amis continually pointed out how lust conquered a man and
woman?s sense of right and wrong. However, Helene states she cannot lie to
Ernst about where she is. Obviously her entire life is a lie because he believes
her to be faithful. Perhaps Amis is also trying to point out the fact that
things are not always as they seem. People seem to have good jobs and money, but
that doesn?t account for happiness, as in Joe?s unhappiness with his life
and sudden outbursts of anger. Also he sort of hints at the fact that men are
only out to get what they want and is ready to squash any one who stands in
their way. For example, Roger is angrier with Irving over the fact that he stole
Helene for the weekend then the fact Irving humiliated him so many times.
Overall, I believe Amis wrote very little moral value into the novel, nor did he
incorporate major themes. It seems to me the novel is simply a satire about
American life. Amis also uses outrageous instances to make us fell sorry for the
fat Englishman that is really undeserving of pity because he is so mean and
nasty. 10. My Favorite Scene My favorite scene within the novel is quite simple,
but I find it humorous. Roger is at Helene?s home and her son Arthur just
returned home from school. Arthur is unhappy with Roger being there and Roger is
just as unhappy that the child?s presence spoiled his afternoon plans with
Helene. However, Roger must make an attempt to show Helene that he is
compassionate by trying to befriend Arthur. After a one sided conversation with
Arthur, Roger is about to give up. Then Arthur asked Roger to play scrabble with
him. The two sat down to play and needless to say Roger drew letters from the
bag that offered no chance making a word for quite a while. Arthur, a small
child with a smaller grasp on language than Roger, was winning. Eventually Ernst
came home and Roger was stuck playing the game in front of both Helene and
Roger. ?The humiliation of being routed at a scrabble game by a seven-year-old
seemed destined to pass by Roger (66).? Thus, Roger asked to resign from the
game, but Arthur informed him that resigning is not allowed. Thus, they were
forced to continue playing. Arthur?s next word was N-I-T-E-R. Roger looked at
the word curiously and said ?Niter? What?s that supposed to mean?? Arthur
ironically said, ?You know, like a one-nighter.? To which Roger responded
?No such word? and challenged Arthur. Arthur opened a dictionary and read
?Niter, a Potassium nitrate. A supposed nitrous element.? Roger still argued
with Arthur and said the correct spelling is N-I-T-R-E. When Arthur shook his
head Roger angrily stammered, ?I?But that is a bloody American
dictionary.? To which Arthur responded, ?This is bloody America.? I found
this quite humorous because I could easily visualize the scene. A large man and
a small child playing a game, the older man losing and then the child?s
retort. I also enjoyed the fact Arthur then quoted Roger?s new score of
?minus 21.? 11. The Significance of the title The title of the novel is One
Fat Englishman. The novel is named this because its main character is an
Englishman, Roger, who is considerably overweight, fat. 12. The author?s point
of view The novel?s point of view is third person omniscient. This allows the
reader to know not only what Roger is thinking and feeling but what others are,
too. Thus, the reader does not simply see everything from Roger?s perspective.
Also this allows the reader to understand more of what is going on between and
in scenes.