35 pages • 1 hour read
Philip RothThe Human Stain
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary: “The Purifying Ritual”
Nathan attends Faunia’s funeral. Two people—a coworker from the dairy farm and Smoky Hollenbeck—eulogize her. Fourteen people attend. Nathan approaches Faunia’s father and his companion, Sylvia, after the funeral. He learns that Faunia kept a diary and lied about being illiterate. Sylvia refuses to let Faunia’s father read the diary. She also reveals she has already scattered the ashes of Faunia’s children. Nathan also goes to the local police and state police to report everything he knows about Lester stalking Coleman and Faunia. The police promise to keep in touch but never follow up.
Someone in the department at Athena College later sends an email about Faunia’s death, full of rumors and insinuations that Coleman abused her and was responsible for her demise.
Nathan also attends Coleman’s funeral. The attendance at Coleman’s funeral is overwhelming, and Herb Keble, the first Black professor hired by Coleman at Athena College, gives the eulogy. Herb expresses his remorse for not supporting Coleman during the incident that got him fired and offers his assurance that Coleman was always fair in his dealings with students: “The alleged misconduct never took place. Never” (310).
Nathan meets Ernestine at the funeral and can tell immediately by her resemblance to Lisa Silk that she is related to Coleman. Thus, Nathan learns Coleman’s secret: that he was an African American man passing as a white male for most of his adult life. Ernestine comes to Nathan’s house and tells them the story of their upbringing and the ramifications of Coleman’s decision to disavow his family. Nathan tells Ernestine about the incident and the real reason Coleman retired. Ernestine later invites Nathan to come to East Orange, to see the house where Coleman grew up, and meet their brother, Walter.
In the final scene of the novel, Nathan comes across Lester ice fishing. They have a brief conversation about Nathan’s writing, and Lester's diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Nathan keeps asking Lester if he’s ever been in a car accident, which Lester denies. The scene ends with Lester threatening Nathan to keep his secrets, and as Nathan walks away, he realizes he will have to move once he finishes his book, which he’s already decided to title The Human Stain.
Chapter 5 Analysis
This is a chapter of revelations, even in the midst of more rumors and lies. The two main revelations of the chapter are that Faunia lied about being illiterate and Coleman lied about being a white man. Nathan feels like he has to rethink everything he knows upon discovering Coleman’s secret. This rethinking also relates to Faunia’s secret as well. The novel depicts Faunia as an abused, tragic woman with little power beyond her sexuality. Yet the author reveals Faunia invented her reputation. Similarly, Coleman masterfully created his identity as a white, Jewish man.
What does knowing these secrets about the two main characters reveal in their deaths? The novel offers no certain answers. Juxtaposed with these revelations are an anonymous obituary of Faunia emailed to the faculty at Athena College. The obituary spreads lies about Coleman abusing Faunia, impregnating Faunia, and even murdering Faunia. Nathan knows that people will believe the accusations because they have a deep need to believe lies. Nathan also muses that people who do not believe the lies tend to respond in silence. Herb Keble would not support Coleman during the controversy, yet he gives the eulogy at Coleman’s funeral and absolves Coleman of any wrongdoing.
Coleman’s funeral is another example of the way people can manipulate and invent identity. Nathan realizes that Coleman’s children orchestrated the overwhelming turnout, and they must have convinced Herb to give the eulogy. Even after his death, Coleman’s children are attempting to restore their father’s reputation and refute the mistaken labels applied to Coleman during his lifetime.
It is also important to note the nonlinear narrative employed throughout the novel. Nathan learns Coleman’s secret in Chapter 5, yet Nathan narrates the events of Coleman’s childhood in Chapter 2. Nathan assures the reader in Chapter 5 that he learned the details of Coleman’s earlier years from Ernestine. However, it is impossible for Ernestine to know all of the events, thoughts, and inner motivations expressed in Chapter 2. This experimentation with the narrative timeline and the consistent unreliability of the narrator contributes to the larger theme of the impossibility of knowing.
The final scene between Lester and Nathan at the conclusion of the novel further underscores the impossibility of knowing. According to the narrator, Nathan knows that Lester murdered Faunia and Coleman. Lester knows that Nathan knows this fact, or at least Nathan believes that Lester knows this fact. Their conversation is vague and mostly revolves around writing, ice fishing, and keeping secrets. Lester begins to approach Nathan with an auger in his hand but goes to sit back down and fish. There is an undertone of warning throughout the scene, and Nathan leaves believing that his life is in danger.
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