Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Proposal
Proposal
post world war second America gave up to the voilence and disorder of the
1960’s. In particular the story is about a jewish character called Swede Levov,
devoted husband and father whose only goal is to live a tranquil, pastoral life
in rural Old Rimrock, New Jersey. But his ideallic life is shattered forever, by
his revellious 14 yeasr old daughter Merry, who plants a bomb at local post
Statement of Problem
Philip Roth has tried to show a jewish businessman’s unsucessful life by his
daughter’s revillion work. Being a welll established businessman, and the main
character Swede Levov can’t feel happy. Here we can know that his ideallic
life is shattered by his sixteen year old daughter Merry. Obviously Merry is
prosperity, civic order and domestic bliss. Roth’s protagonist Swede Levov a
leagendry athlete at his Newark High School, who grows up in the bombing
post war years and marrys a former Miss New Jeresy, inherits his father’s
glove factory and move’s into a stone house in the idyllic hamlet of Old
Rimrock. And than one day in 1968, Swede’s beautiful American luck deserts
Hypothesis
The protagonist of the novel, Swede Levov’s, life is shattered for ever. Swede
is an innocent character who is punished only for his good deeds. His daugther
has destroyed his property and peaceful life. In the novel Merry plays vital
role to distrupt her father goal. Her activites in the post war American society
is proved to be the act of terrorism that’s neither respected by the state nor by
her family members. She not only destroys her life but even poisons her
Objectives
The primary objective of the study is to bring discourse of communism with the
hazemonic representation of the fourteen years girl Marry in the text American
Limitation of Study
This project makes the significant use of a tool of discourse described Micheal
Foucault who clearly says it’s the power that determines the position.
Significance of study
The first impulse is the optimistic strain, self reliance, predicated upon belief in
hard work and progress that is Swede. The second impulse embodied in Merry
Review of Literature
Roth deftly waves social critism into this compelling story for an entire
generation blindsided by the great upheavels of the 1960s.
Critic Charles Megrath belives “ Roth describes post war American life that
have had the greatest impact on my generation.” Political impact has been
Mark Shechner points out that Roth has failed the need to establish his
credential by taking his stand on cultural myths to which he calls ethical jew
hood. The belief that the jewish character is one that places a premium of
Another critic Louis Menad takes American Pastoral as a novel about a good
man punished for his virtues. Swede becomes victim of 1960s revolution.
Timothy Parrish argues, Roth reconsidering his earlier affirmation of the post
modern over a Jewish identity gives the last word to Levov, representing the
Leo Marx notes that there is a difference between the rustic who lives the
simple life of a shephard and the modern man who adopts the traping of thec”
Jay L. Halio analyzes the novel as Merry’s protest aganist the vietnam war
works cited
McGrath, Charles. “Zuckerman’s Alter Brain”. New York Times (7 May 2008):8-
10.
Shechner, Mark. “Jewish Writer”. Harvard Guide to Contemporary American
Louis, Menand. “The irony and The Ecstasy: Philip Roth and the Jewish
Atlantics,”
Rev. of American Pastoral. The New Yorker (19 May 1997) 90-94
Parrish, Timothy. “The End of Identity: Philip Roth’s American Pastoral”. Shofar
Marx, Leo. The Machine and the Garden: Technology and the pastoral ideal in
America.