Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. serves as both a political address and a place of professional return in the novel: the Newark Committee of Concerned Jewish Citizens seeks help there from Lionel Bengelsdorf, while Burton K. Wheeler later practices law in the capital and allies himself with Joseph McCarthy. The city’s appearances link national political power to the question of whether local Jewish communities can rely on it for protection.

A Destination for an Appeal

After violence in Detroit raised fears that attacks might spread to Newark, the Newark Committee of Concerned Jewish Citizens arranged meetings with municipal and state authorities to prepare for possible violence. The committee also telegraphed Lionel Bengelsdorf, requesting a meeting with him in Washington, D.C. The response was that the danger was a local rather than a federal issue, and that the committee should continue addressing its concerns to city and state officials.

The exchange places Washington, D.C. at the edge of the committee’s efforts: its representatives appeal to a figure associated with national authority, but are directed back toward the governments closest to the threatened community. The episode does not establish that a meeting took place; instead, the city marks the point at which the request for federal attention is turned aside.

A Later Political Base

In the 1950s, Burton K. Wheeler practices law in Washington, D.C. and allies himself ideologically and politically with Joseph McCarthy. The brief account gives no further description of Wheeler’s legal work or the setting, but it places him in the capital after his earlier political career and identifies his later alignment there.

Narrative Significance

Washington, D.C. connects two distinct forms of political power: the committee’s unsuccessful effort to bring a local threat to federal attention and Wheeler’s later association with McCarthy in the capital. Against the committee’s practical preparations in Newark and at the state level, the capital represents authority that is sought but, in this instance, does not assume responsibility for the danger.