Recasting The Oracle Of Soul-an Interpretation Of American Pastoral From The Perspective Of Myth-archetypal Criticism

Following Saul Bellow and Bernard Malamud, Philip Roth has become one of the most important and influential American Jewish writers. Roth’s works have enjoyed a great reputation among the contemporary American readers for his deep concerns on sufferings of both the Jewish immigrants and the whole American society. Moreover, his in-depth exploration to the universal problems puzzling contemporary people makes him exert a profound influence on American literature. With American Pastoral, the first of his American Trilogy, Philip Roth did not only win the Pulitzer Prize in 1998 but also had reached close to the summit of the “Great American Novel”. Since its publication, American Pastoral has attracted large amounts of critical attentions. Critics mainly study the novel from such perspectives as the Jewish identity, the death of American Dream, the underlying reasons resulting in the tragedy of the Jewish family and so on. This thesis attempts to interpret this novel from the perspective of myth-archetypal criticism.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one makes a brief introduction to Philip Roth and his American Pastoral, mainly focusing on Roth’s distinctive themes and writing skills, then presents the literature review and finally puts the emphasis on the definition of archetype and the development of myth-archetypal criticism.Chapter two mainly dwells on the analysis of archetypal motifs in the novel with the focus on quest motif and the motif of “father and son”. With the help of mythic displacement, Roth not only presents the various kinds of quests in different times for different generations but also sharply points out the conflicts and predicaments during the process of their quest.Chapter three mainly presents the two kinds of archetypal images recurring in the novel. Through the apocalyptic images, readers can see heavenly and glorious pastoral scenes which the protagonist has yearned for his whole life time; through the demonic images, what people find is the desperate pain and suffering: personal melancholy, abnormal sexual relationships and huge social destructive force.Chapter four elaborates on the archetypal structure of the novel, mainly discussing the mythos of comedy and tragedy. The combination of comic narrative elements and tragic narrative elements plays an important role in making the fragmentary plots to better form an integrative structure.Finally the thesis comes to its conclusion that the employment of diverse archetypes in American Pastoral not only indicates Roth’s ingenious artistic creation but also greatly deepens the themes and the universal meanings. An interpretation of American Pastoral from the perspective of myth-archetypal criticism is helpful for people to obtain more spiritual solace and enlightenment because all love and hate, the quests and confusions, hopes and hopelessness, comedy and tragedy have existed from the birth of human beings. Facing the desperate desire for quick success and instant benefits, it is necessary for people to hold courage and calmness.