Quest And Upholding Of Pastoral Ideals

American Pastoral is a realistic novel in contemporary America and one of the masterpieces of Jewish American writer Philip Roth.This novel has attracted much attention from domestic and foreign researchers.Most scholars discuss from the perspective of the theme,tragedy of protagonists,identity and writing techniques.But few researchers decide to study this novel through pastoral theory.This thesis analyzes the existence of the Jewish family from prosperity to decline,and discusses the psychological changes and emotional transitions of Levov’s family members(Levov,Dawn and Merry)when they are pursuing the American pastoral ideals.It also gets inspiration from their pastoral ideal disillusion,and tries to explore some strategies to uphold the pastoral ideals in America from the aspects of the external environment and psychological defects.In American Pastoral,Levov’s family members go through three stages in pursuit of pastoral ideals: “pastoral impulse”,“protesting the established order”,and “return to the established order”.Accordingly,those figures have three psychological changes: pursuit,transgression and loss.By drawing on the plight of the figures,Roth warns readers that they must face up to the existence of those people with special identities.Through the whole analysis,it is found that those pastoral figures will have very complex psychological changes in quest for pastoral ideals.From initial self-confidence to short-lived satisfaction to deep loss,each of them deeply feels the difficulty of realizing the ideal.Therefore,it is particularly important to find some strategies to uphold pastoral ideals.Firstly,for those figures with special identities,they should find a balance of“ethnic-Americans’ hyphenated” identity.Secondly,they should seek for an attitude of true self-presence,and dare to undertake the responsibility for choices that they have made.In this way,the pastoral ideals could be protected instead of destroyed by reality.