Philip Roth's American Pastoral

1455 Words3 Pages

American Pastoral written by Philip Roth is a novel that revolves around the character Seymour “Swede” Levov, a prosperous Jewish American business man and a former high school star athlete from New Jersey. During the 1960s the Swede’s pastoral life is thrown into havoc when his daughter Merry, a teenage war protester is the main suspect in the bombing of a post office in which the town’s doctor, an innocent bystander, is killed. Through a variety of literary devices, Roth makes the point that in the end, no matter how much effort goes into keeping things orderly and upright, chaos eventually overtakes everything. Roth uses a series of flashbacks in order to convey a sense of chaos. Flashbacks are set within flashbacks and "the central plot- what happens to the Swede [and his family]- is set among smaller... subplots or partial plots- [what happens to the Swede's brother, their parents, and the narrator]" (). The novel begins at a 45th high school reunion attended by the narrator, Nathan Zuckerman. At this reunion in 1995, Zuckerman meets one of his old classmates Jerry Levov, who tells him about his recently deceased older brother Swede Levov. Jerry informs Zuckerman about the Swede's traumatic life after his daughter's involvement in the Vietnam anti war movement and the rest of the novel is compiled of Zuckerman's posthumous recreation of the Swede's life. As Zuckerman gets into the Swede's story, it appears as if everything is from the point of view of the Swede, whether it's reading about his thoughts as he watches an action, his emotions as he recounts an event or his tortured mind as he flashes back and re lives an event. These flashbacks and transitions from the reunion to the scenes in the Swede's life to the Swedes t... ... middle of paper ... ...ut his daughter unmade it for him. Through the use of these literary devices, Roth proves how in the end, no matter how much effort is put in to keep an orderly life, chaos will eventually overtake everything. The life of the Levovs in this novel is used as a projection of what chaos is in real life. It is messy and unexpected. American Pastoral is an exaggeration of what happens in real life. The purpose of the novel is not to make it’s readers disillusioned and fearful of the unexpected. Roth is reaching out to his readers saying that yes, there is chaos and uncertainty in life. The unexpected is in store for everyone, but that is reality, life does not make sense. Works Cited Roth, Philip. American Pastoral. New York: Vintage International, 1997. Print Milne, Mark, ed. Novels for Students Volume 25. Michigan: Thomson Gale Corporation, 2007. Print.

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