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American Pastoral - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Merry's divinity may be within Jainism if that is true, Jainism takes away all temptations. It renounces temptation and forces you to live without. The author may have felt that the temptations they feel like the parent issues, mental illness, homosexual tendencies, even pedophilic thoughts were temptations that they couldn't give into. Jainism is more of a penance for your sins. Merry being a Jain is a punishment she is inflicting on herself since she is a murderer. The author may feel that what she is doing is rightful because he relates to her in some way.
      - Merry claims to be a Jain but Rita claims that Merry is divine. The reader is never told anymore outside of that. It is unknown of Merry is seen as divine within Jainism or anything else. At this time in history, a lot of young adults were joining cults and communes, etc. and this may have just been added as a way to give more of that curiosity. It may also represent how the older generations did not know or understand anything within the cults that was going on.
- - - - It represents the Swede and how perfect his life looked until he threw the picture out of anger towards Shelia and the glass broke. The glass was the way that people view the American Dream but without the glass is what the American Dream actually is.
  - - - Merry is meant to represent America's youth because the author feels that the youth of America is destroying the American Dream. The riots, Dawn's affair, etc. are all blamed on Merry even though, she had nothing to do with those things. It is seen as a butterfly effect that Merry had on the Swede's life. The author goes so far as to call Merry pure chaos. Merry's anger and naivete are the biggest parts of her personality that destroy the Swede's life. Therefore, these are the two things that the author thinks are most wrong with America's youth. Also, the author kind hints that he feels that part of this blame could be based on children raised without religion since Merry had two religions. The author felt that she technically did not have any.
  - - - The Newark Factory is meant to represent the American Dream physically outside of the Swede. The Newark Factory is also meant to represent all manufacturing and the future of it in the US. The Newark Factory being started from nothing by the Swede's father shows how it was passed on from one generation and how it started as the American Dream. It also helps show more symbolism when Lou is telling the Swede to close the Newark factory and only work from the foreign factories. This shows how the original generation who really kick-started the American Dream and how they no longer believe in it because of where society is going. The Swede wanted to keep the Newark factory in the US but only because he felt that Merry would have been upset with him for taking away the jobs from his mostly black staff.
    - - These riots were a response to the racism in the town of Newark. After these riots, Newark was no longer a good town and was filled with gang violence and crime. These riots really represent a tipping point especially for the Swede. The Swede sat in the Newark factory with his manager for the four days of the riots. The Newark factory did experience some property damage but not like the rest of the town. This is a big reflection of how the discourse in America at this time especially around race and class.
      - The political issues arose after the affluent and middle class Irish catholic and Jewish people moved to Newark. They soon established the community in Newark very quickly which created low housing prices, lots of jobs, and good quality of life. This brought in a lot of poor/working class black people. However, the black people who moved to Newark still struggled to find jobs and experienced racism from other aspects of the town. This created discourse and caused the riots as well. After the riots, many of the affluent Irish catholic and Jewish people left Newark.
- - - - The majority of the book is the Swede's thoughts and how he goes through life.
    - - Skip is the author of the book. He is the narrator of the first part of the book. He also writes in 2nd person POV for the first portion of the book.
- - - - Patti
        
        Merry's grade school friend.
      - Bunice
        
        Blind. Homeless woman. Merry is her caretaker for a time.
      - Edgar Bartley
        
        Told the press that he dated Merry for a year before the bombing.
      - Daughter of The Swede and Dawn Levov. Granddaughter of Grandmother Dwyer, Lou and Sylvia Levov. Communist. Bomber. Murdered 4 people. Jainist. Born into a Jewish/Irish Catholic family. Obsession with Audrey Hepburn. Relationship to Rita Cohen? Unknown. Hid with the Salzman family for 3 days. Had a stutter. Disliked her mother. Seen as a smart child. Often had obsessions. Moved around the US and the US virgin Islands but was born and lived in Newark.
    - - Jerry Levov
        
        Doctor. Brother of the Swede. Son of Lou and Sylvia Levov. Been previously married(x2). Father to unknown.
      - Sylvia Levov
        
        Married to Lou Levov. Mother to the Swede and Jerry Levov.
      - Vicky(manager)
        
        Manages the Newark Factory.
      - Father of the Swede and Jerry Levov. Founder of the Newark Glove Factory. Married to Sylvia Levov. Jewish. Democrat.
    - - Grandmother Dwyer
        
        Mother of Dawn Dwyer. Grandmother to Merry Levov.
      - The Count
        
        Dawn's prize bull.
      - Married to the Swede. Mother of Merry Levov. Miss New Jersey. Been in a mental hospital. Received a face lift. Bill Orcutt's mistress. Ran a cattle business. Irish Catholic.
    - - Marcia Umanoff
        
        Married to Bill Umanoff. Professor. Communist. Insufferable. Jealous. Superiority Complex.
      - Married to Marcia Umanoff. Friend of the Swede. Kind.
    - - Communist Professor. The Swede's halluncination
    - - Claims to know Merry and manipulates the Swede. Tries to seduce the Swede. Receives $10,000 from the Swede. Send the Swede mail, visits, and calls him over the span of 5 years. Claims Merry is divine. Merry claims to not know her.
    - - Jessie Orcutt
        
        Married to Bill Orcutt,. A drunk.
      - Bucky Robinson
        
        A fan of the Swede. Attends the occasional neighborhood football game.
      - Architect. The Swede's Neighbor. Artist. "Old Money" in Newark. Dawn's lover. Married to Jessie Orcutt.
    - - Shelly Salzman
        
        Married to Shelia Salzman. Helped Harbor Merry for 3 days after the first bombing. Moral and Kind.
      - Married to Shelly Salzman. Lived in Newark. Merry's Speech Therapist. The Swede's Mistress. Harbored Merry for 3 days after the first bombing.
  - - - An old friend of Skip.
    - - A man who knows Skip but Skip doesn't remember him.
    - - A romantic friend of Skip. Cries at the reunion
- - - - Ruining America
        
        This is obviously a big theme. America's youth(Merry) is ruining the American Dream(The Swede/The Swede's Life).
      - Broken Parents
        
        This is a smaller theme but I think that it is really pertinent to the author. The author kind of uses the Swede and Dawn as the perfect parents and yet, Merry still hated them. There are other examples as well but the author seems to have a lot of commentary on parental relationships
    - - There are a few other themes that were not as clear in the plot. There are themes like commenting on military service, social norms, etc.
    - - Acceptance of Beauty
        
        Dawn does not accept her beauty but craves it. It does not do her mental health anything good.
- - - - The book is focused on the American Dream. The author comments on it and spends majority of the book getting the same point across and that is that the American Dream is being ruined by America's youth. While this is the main focus, there are other items discussed within the American Dream such as racism and generational prejudice. Merry(the youth) is villainized throughout the book and is blamed for all the bad things that happen to the Swede(American Dream). Dawn even becomes villainized later in the story but the Swede always stays the hero. The only times he could become villainized the author attempts to explain the Swede's wrongs and make him seem like the victim once again.
    - - Throughout the entire book, it is pointed out that the Swede is Jewish. This is likely pointed out because of the antisemitism that is continually prevalent in the US, no matter the time period. There are other mentions of race and religious prejudice. Another section has an argument between Lou and Dawn when they discuss how Merry will be raised. They discuss how she will be raised whether it will be mainly Jewish or Irish Catholic. The other main mention of race is when the Newark factory is the focus. The majority of the workers are black or other minorities and the racial prejudice they face in Newark.
    - - The Vietnam War was a big thing that was included in Merry's story. The protests for the war were basically Merry's whole personality for most of the book. I think a big thing that the author was trying to say was that the American Dream will not be the same after this war if the government continues the way it is. It is a way to ridicule the government by stating that the government is ruining the American Dream because the government is causing the anger and downfall of America's youth with their actions. Most of the parts of the book referring to the government and the war is just a way to ridicule the government and be able to state how the youth of America will turn out if they keep having to live through unnecessary war and conflict.
    - - These trials were not mentioned until the last part of the book at the dinner party. Lou and Sylvia Levov are in town and staying at the Swede's house. The author used the Watergate trials as a way to have more political talk about Lou Levov and Merry. The Watergate trials brought up memories of Merry and a conversation between Merry and Lou was brought up once again. It was where Lou and Merry agree about their political views but both Merry and Lou refuse to believe that they agree with each other. It illustrates how each generation could be stuck in their own ideals when the majority of their views are agreeable.
    - - Manufacturing in the US and foreign manufacturing are both commented on by the author. The Newark Factory being driven out of the US shows what is happening to manufacturing in America. The quality is lower and it costs more to make these items in the US than in foreign countries. This is causing a job shortage which is being translated into racism in the workforce, etc. Manufacturing is changing and leaving the US. It started in the US during the industrial revolution when the American Dream really began to become something important to people and now it is no longer profitable to keep it in the US.
    - - A big thing that was really prevalent to me was the parental relationships. This entire book is about how a child ruined a good man's life. The author wanted to comment on parents likely because of his own parent issues but also how important parents are to the US. Each generation blames the other for the problems that the US, no matter what it is. Parents are what shape the future and the author wanted to show that. The author wanted to show how parents can shape their kids purposely and indirectly. For example, Merry trying to compete with her attractive, "perfect" parents became a bomber. Another example would be Jerry having anger issues toward his father or Dawn being ashamed of her beauty because her father didn't want her to do the beauty pageants which she only did to help him.
    - - The author is using the American Dream to discuss generational legacies and the pressure that it applies to the children of these parents. The Swede enjoys his life and working at the glove factory but he was pressured into that life by his father. The Swede had other dreams and even though, he is happy with his life. Jerry even says that the Swede was pressured by their father. The Swede has only made a few decisions for himself. Lou Levov's will and personality is so loud that it became all encompassing in everyone's life around him. The Swede and Sylvia Levov bent to his will but Jerry Levov didn't. This is meant to be a big reason why Jerry actually has a life of his own and has his own will.