I- Cohn's Motivation

I think Cohn's motivation for acting throughout this novel is his upbringing. He was a shy, nice boy who because of his religion had to take up boxing as a way to overcome those who persecuted him. He also had to overcome probably the most difficult thing for someone to overcome as well: his own feeling of inferiority. This made him an awkward combination of a ruthless fighter and naive, mostly moral man. Thus, he is socially inept and verbally attacks those who hurt him and, as seen, will resort to violence when he is angry and thinks he was wronged. He has been controlled by women, especially his mother, which is also a possible reason for his naivety and motivation for his need to get women and then leave them until one of them, Brett, reduced him to a lovesick little boy. I think that because he is so awkward, the other characters take out their insecurities on him because his are so apparent. His behavior throughout the novel is, like most of other people's behavior, caused by his upbringing. His motivation for finding a girl and protecting himself is caused by the opinions and persecutions he faced as a young man.