Genre
Historical Fiction
Setting and Context
Newark, New Jersey, the 1960's and 1970's
Narrator and Point of View
The book's narrator is Nathan Zuckerman
Tone and Mood
Contentious, Violent, Chaotic, Sad, Solemn, Radical, and Historical
Protagonist and Antagonist
Seymour "Swede" Levov vs. Merry Levov
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the film involves Seymour's struggle to keep his family held together in face of societal pressures (the Vietnam War, mainly) and his daughter is accused of bombing the local post office to protest the Vietnam War.
Climax
When Seymour finally sees his daughter after five years and she reveals that she did, in fact, bomb the post office and has killed a few more people
Foreshadowing
The line "Christ, you even gave him a mistress. Perfectly misjudged, Zuck. Absolutely off." foreshadows Seymour's affair with Sheila, a speech therapist.
Understatement
The extent of Merry's naivete and her lack of compassion is understated throughout much of the book
Allusions
To Milton's Paradise Lost, Sir Walter Scott, History (the Vietnam War, Prohibition-era, WWII, The Civil Rights Movement and MLK, etc.), Popular Culture, Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage, and Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto.
Imagery
Roth uses imagery quite frequently throughout American Pastoral. One instance is when Roth describes the baked ziti that Merry and Seymour eat together at a restaurant.
Paradox
Merry is raised in a seemingly loving home with decent parents, yet acts out in incredibly violent, heinous ways.
Parallelism
Merry's story and the story of the Weather Underground terrorist group are parallelled throughout much of the book (since she even becomes involved with them).
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Metonymy: Seymour and the United States
Personification
Newark itself is personified in the book.
