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Family
One of Tolstoy's most famous quotes is that "Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
It's safe to say that American Pastoral's Levov clan is one of a kind—these guys are massively unhappy. When Merry Levov bombs her hometown post office and then disappears, her family is in a state of crisis. Working from a few clues and the strength of his imagination, novelist Nathan Zuckerman reconstructs the tragedy and explores its (huge) impact on the family.
Although he doesn't realize it until after the bombing, the Swede allows his duty to his father to unduly influence his actions.
Merry is a symbol of every parent's worst nightmare.
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