Philip Roth's American Pastoral

American Pastoral, published in 1997, is a book written by Philip Roth. Later in 2016, it was adapted into a film directed by Ewan McGregor. In general, the plot is centralized around the main characters Swede Levov and Merry Lovov. Both, the book and film, focus on this father-daughter relationship. The similarities are apparent within the setting and historical context. However, there are differences between the two mediums that caused detrimental effects to the overall interpretation of the book to the film. The post-modernism style of Philip Roth’s writing in American Pastoral has constructed multiple complexities in the book, however; Ewan McGregor obliterated the stylistic elements and the overall intention that is evident in the interpretation

Other literary elements such as theme, setting, and tone are affected as well. One theme evident in the book is the notion of the American dream. Swede is consistently trying to be all-American. This is where there is the complexity of Swede’s character deciphering between his private and public image. There are several examples from the text that demonstrate the concepts surrounding Swede’s personal goal to be perceived through this image. Philip Roth writes, “Hate America? Why, he lived in America the way he lived inside his own skin. All the pleasures of his youngest years were American pleasures, all that success and happiness had been American” (Roth 206). This quote is being told from Swede, but it shows how much he loved America and being American. He served in the military, helped his father own a successful business, and lived in a house in the

Philip Roth purposely wrote about sex within his books and this was apparent and occurred multiple times throughout the text. There were scenes within the film that reflected sexual references, but not overall to reflect the time period or grasp the deterioration of typical American morals. In the book, there is a gathering at Swede’s house where his family and friends are discussing the film Deep Throat (1972) and how it has become mainstream. Lou Levov is nearly appalled by the discussion and in the text, readers are able to feel his nostalgia and disappointed in where America is headed. Whether it was purposely neglected out of the film or not, the film did not depict a sexual revolution, only scenes that involved sexual advances from characters. This leads to the conclusion that the book was able to represent cultural and historical accuracy more clearly than the