On The Representation Of The American Dream In Philip Roth's American Trilogy

Philip Roth's American Trilogy, which is composed of American Pastoral (1997), I Married a Communist (1998) and The Human Stain (2000), demonstrates the prolific and distinguished American novelist's undiminished vigor and creativity. As a systematic and coherent unit, the thematic trilogy presents a panorama scene of contemporary American society.The thesis intends to examine and explore the series of novels from the perspective of the American dream, and elaborates on the three diverse forms of the national myth and various factors that lead to the disillusionment. Textual analysis and methods of comparison and contrast are applied in the discussion of the trilogy. Political, social and cultural background of postwar American society is employed to highlight the protagonists'identity loss in the pursuit of the American dream.As an eternal motif in American literature, the American dream is brought by Philip Roth to his American Trilogy to depict contemporary American dream and the disillusionment. Literary critics have been focusing on Roth's novels and the American Trilogy from various aspects, whereas the perspective of the American dream has never been applied in the analysis of the American Trilogy.With the review of the evolution of the American dream as the cornerstone of the thesis, the three different American dreams are portrayed in the first part. Seymour Levov in American Pastoral longs for a pastoral American dream; in I Marries a Communist, Ira Ringold's dream is an equitable and progressive American society; Coleman Silk in The Human Stain dreams to have an ordinary American life free from racial discrimination. Despite strenuous efforts, they are unable to take control of their own destiny to remake themselves. The aspirations of individuals are overwhelmed in the torrents of the American history. Seymour's pastoral dream is lost in the social turbulence of the 1960s; Ira's vision of social justice can never be realized in the era of McCarthyism in the 1950s; political correctness in the 1990s tears down Coleman's lifelong effort to elude racial prejudice. Apart from historical factors, it is undeniable that personal defects partially contribute to the disillusionment and personal tragedies.The American Trilogy truthfully delineates the living state of contemporary Americans and their psychological unconsciousness. It also provokes the reflection on people's sentimental yearning for the American dream and their inability to face up to the collapse of their ideal. The American dream holds out empty promises which lead to people's disorientation about dream and the reality, and therefore, the thesis makes an effort to clarify that, in the pursuit of the national myth, it is ridiculous that people who have lost their original identity intend to create a new self for them.Based on detailed textual analysis, the thesis tries to illustrate Roth's skepticism about the American dream and his instinctive insight into American consciousness and the degeneration of the national spirit. Moreover, the thesis hopes to demonstrate Roth's artistry in weaving together in his American Trilogy, the three protagonists' personal life and the broad social context of a country. Finally, the thesis wishes to make its due contribution to the better understanding of Philip Roth's American Trilogy and his deep concern about the predicament of modern people.