The Fall of the Ideal American in American Pastoral

It is not so much that Philip Roth disagrees with the concept of the American dream; he simply does not wish to buy into the myth of it all. In American Pastoral Roth laments the loss of innocence, as exemplified by both Seymour Levov, the protagonist, and Nathan Zuckerman, the narrator. Both grew up in an idyllic Jewish Newark neighborhood, both being the sons of Jewish parents. The separation of their commonality came at a young age, when Zuckerman began to idolize the golden boy of the neighborhood – Seymour “Swede” Levov, born blond haired and blue eyed, and representing everything that a young, Jewish boy would want in a local hero. It is through the narrator’s eyes that we see both the rise and fall of a Jewish family in America, from Lou Levov’s hard work and determination, to Swede’s idoloization, to the eventual downfall of the family with the third generation in Merry.

Their shared childhood was during the 1940s, “the war years” (1). The Swede’s father, Lou, was “one of those slum reared Jewish fathers whose … undereducated perspective goaded a whole generation of striving, college educated Jewish sons” (11). As is typical in the American dream, the father wishes more for his son, “the communal determination that … the children, should escape poverty, ignorance, disease, social injury” to “escape, above all, insignificance,” to “make something of yourselves!” (41). Located within that determination was Swede’s ability to become the star basketball player and athlete, to become a hero to the small town of Weequahic Jews, to eventually join the Marines and serve his country. He was the best and brightest of the town and, as pointed out by Zuckerman, he became “a magical name” (3).

The Swede’s continued his succe...

... middle of paper ...

...ture? Or was it simply the spirit of the times, the extreme polarity that most teens had against their parents during this turbulent time? These questions are not really answered in the book, which makes Roth’s American Pastoral such an engaging work.

There is no happy ending. There really cannot be. For the novel to make its point, the lack of resolution is necessary, both to the ascetic value, but more important, the actual point Philip Roth is attempting to make. America, with all of its complexities, myths, hardships, and triumbphs, needs to have the creation, acknowledgement, and loss of innocence. It needs to have heroes, but ones that are dirtied by reality and the travesties of normal living. It needs to have the fallen for others to feel uplifted.

Works Cited

Roth, Philip. American Pastoral. New York: Vintage International, 1997. N. pag. Print.