The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen

Anna-Marie Diaz-O’Leary is a friend and potential love interest of Hoodie Rosen. She is described as having “deep brown eyes, and jet-black hair” (7). When he first meets her, Hoodie is intimidated by the fact that Anna-Marie has “a poise and self-confidence [he can’t] match” (32). Anna-Marie’s characterization in the novel is complicated by the fact that the narrator, Hoodie, is obsessed with her without knowing much about her. As a result, the novel presents Anna-Marie as an object of desire, rather than a fully fleshed-out person, focusing on how Hoodie feels toward her and his perception of her actions. When he first meets Anna-Marie, Hoodie claims that he “[doesn’t] really want to talk to her” but that he “had to” (6). He describes being “drawn toward her, as though pulled by some kind of sci-fi tractor beam” (6). These passages put the onus of their relationship on Anna-Marie, as if she is drawing him to her, rather than their mutual decision to spend time together.

Because of the modesty laws governing Orthodox Jewish communities, Hoodie is not used to seeing women with bare limbs. As a result, his descriptions of Anna-Marie often focus on her bare body, especially her arms and legs. When he first sees Anna-Marie, he fixates on the fact that she wore a shirt with “short sleeves revealing skinny arms” and “a pair of shorts that left most of her legs exposed” (2, 3). The next time he sees her, he again notices her “exposed arms and legs” (31). Even in the midst of the shooting, Hoodie is fixated on Anna-Marie’s bare skin, noting that she has “gashes all up and down her legs” as she is saving his life (176). Later, in the hospital, Hoodie feels disappointed to see Anna-Marie wearing pants, because he can’t “see what kind of shape her legs [are] in” (195). Hoodie’s fixation on Anna-Marie’s bare legs points to his sexual awakening—a traditional trope of coming-of-age narratives—while also emphasizing Anna-Marie as different than the women and girls in his community.

Zippy Rosen is Hoodie’s oldest sister and the only source of support in his family for much of The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen. She is described as being “late-teens-ish” with “dark and deep-set” eyes (23) and “braided hair” (23, 20). Blum positions Zippy as a parental figure for Hoodie and their younger sisters, highlighting her intelligence and quietly rebellious nature. Hoodie describes his siblings as “planets orbiting around Zippy, our sun” (20). Most of Hoodie’s interactions with Zippy are at the kitchen table, a focal point in their home that reflects Zippy’s importance in the household and in Hoodie’s life. When Rabbi Moritz emails the Rosens to inform them that Hoodie is failing classes, Zippy takes charge of the situation. Although “the email had certainly been sent to my parents,” Zippy is the one who “took care of those kinds of things, fielding the school emails and phone calls from her table office” (22).

Throughout the novel, Hoodie is impressed with and jealous of his sister’s intelligence, repeatedly referring to her as “basically omniscient.” While Hoodie is struggling in his math and Gemara classes, he notes that “math and scripture were [Zippy’s] things” (23). Hoodie compares his own abilities in relation to his sister’s, claiming that “she could quote obscure religious commentary, or create computer-assisted designs by expending the same mental energy it took me to, say, put on socks” (23). Although Hoodie believes that he’s constantly found wanting when compared to Zippy, reflects the weight of expectations he feels from his parents and their community. However, Zippy herself acts as a deeply encouraging presence in his life, consistently vocal that he is capable of more than he thinks.

Despite her prominent role in the family and success in school, Zippy has a rebellious streak that she hides from nearly everyone but Hoodie. When the community places Hoodie in cherem for his relationship with Anna-Marie, Zippy insists that she will never abandon him, promising that “if you call me, if you need a place to stay, I’ll always be there for you” (155). Later, when Hoodie spies her “praying with Dad’s tefillin” (156), a practice strictly forbidden to Orthodox Jewish women, Zippy brushes aside his concerns, explaining that “Jewish law has been up for debate for thousands of years, and it will stay that way” (156). Zippy’s attitude toward Jewish law encourages Hoodie to find his own path within the Orthodox Jewish community, underscoring The Importance of Argumentation and Debate in Jewish Culture.