Analysis On The Tragedy Of Seymour Levov In Philip Roth's American Pastoral

Philip Roth is considered to be one of the most prolific cotemporary Jewish American writers. His work American Pastoral is the first novel of his American Trilogy. It was finished in 1997 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998. The novel mainly talks about a Jewish immigrant Seymour Levov and the lives of the four generations of his family in America. As a result of the great differences of each generation, the four generations have gone through totally different life experience in America. It is through this work that Philip Roth has presented us with a panorama of the living state of Jewish immigrants in America.As one of the masterpieces of his works, American Pastoral has aroused great attention since its publication. The research on it at broad begins much earlier than at home. The scholars at broad mainly focus their attention on the recognition of identity and the writing skill of the work. The research at home is embodied in several master thesis and journal articles. Most of them center on the theme of American dream in the novel. Based on the research situation at home or abroad, this thesis will make a comprehensive analysis on the novel American Pastoral, mainly studying the personal, social and historical reasons that lead to the hero's tragedy.This thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter one firstly makes a brief introduction about Philip Roth and his literary career. Then it focuses on the introduction of the novel American Pastoral and its research condition at home and abroad. Finally, it states its research method and perspective. Based on textual analysis and some important tragedy theories, this thesis makes analysis on the reasons of the hero's tragedy from different perspectives.Chapter two mainly talks about the concrete representations of the Seymour Levov's tragedy and makes research on the personal reasons that lead to the hero's tragedy. The rebel of daughter, the decline of business and the betrayal of wife all belong to the hero's tragic experience. The character defect is one important aspect of personal reason of his tragedy. His irresolution and evasiveness always play an important role in his way of doing things. Besides this, the great hamartia that Seymour Levov has committed is another important personal reason of his tragedy. His wrong way of dealing with his daughter's Electra complex and communicating with his daughter are two serious mistakes that he has made.Chapter three focuses on the social reasons of the hero's tragedy. Just as Hegel once has pointed out, tragedy involves a situation in which two rights or values are in sharp conflict; this chapter makes analysis on the severe conflicts that exist in Seymour Levov's family. In the first part, it focuses on the social reason that leads to the conflicts and in the second part it studies the concrete conflicts of this family. The great change of the society is the major factor that leads to the severe conflicts of the family members. The different understandings on American dream and different faiths in religion are two major conflicts that exist in the family.Chapter four deals with the historical reasons of the hero's tragedy. The counterculture movement of the 1960s and Vietnam War are two major historical events that lead to Seymour Levov's tragedy.Chapter five serves as the conclusion of this thesis. By analyzing the reason that leads to the tragedy of the hero Seymour Levov, it easily finds out that Seymour Levov's tragedy is a joint effect of personal, social and historical factors. It can be said that Seymour Levov's suffering is a personal tragedy, a social tragedy and a historical tragedy.