Journal of Literature and Art Studies | 2021
Narrator, Anti-hero and Tragedy: A Comparative Reading of American Pastoral and Lord Jim
Abstract
American novelist Philip Roth demonstrated admiration for and intimacy with Joseph Conrad’s works. Testimonies abound of Roth’s direct and oblique references to Conrad’s novels. A close and comparative reading of Roth’s American Pastoral and Conrad’s Lord Jim reveals the intertextuality between the two novels in three aspects: narrative techniques, characterization and the protagonist’s tragedy. By incorporating Conrad’s Lord Jim into the fabric of American Pastoral through intertextuality, Roth rewrites Jim’s story in a new historical and social context, throwing new light on the canonical work and revealing the dilemma and tragedy of American Jewish immigrants in their pursuit of American Dream.