Alvin, fed up with his family’s inability to recognize all he has given for the Jews of Europe, is pushed past the edge of reason when Herman accuses him of being indifferent to the suffering of American Jews. As the fight breaks out, Herman and Alvin notably shatter a glass coffee table, mirroring the violence of
Kristallnacht (in which windows were shattered en masse) and the similar pogroms and riots now breaking out all across America. Roth suggests that when Jewish people police one another’s Jewishness or allegiance to other members of their community, there will be only violence and hatred between them.