Earl Axman Character Analysis

Earl is an older boy whom Philip often plays with after school. Earl— whose parents are divorced, “glamorous,” and absent—is a bad influence on Philip. It is with Earl that Philip begins his after-school habit of “following Christians” on Newark city buses, often trailing them through their commutes and very nearly up to their doorsteps. Philip and Earl are both insatiably curious about the lives of goyim, finding their Jewish friends and neighbors profoundly uninteresting. Like Philip, Earl is an avid stamp-collector, and because Philip thinks of Earl as a kind of mentor, he allows himself to be easily influenced by the naughty and devious Earl’s whims.