Rebelling Toward Remedy: Patriarchy and Animal (Mis)Treatment in Roth’s American Trilogy

Abstract: This paper argues that characters within Philip Roth’s American trilogy— American Pastoral (1997), I Married a Communist (1998), and The Human Stain (2000)—systemically “other” and exploit humans and nonhuman animals alike, often through the perspectives and behavior of male characters. Roth’s female characters (or characters aligned with traditional femininity) are most visibly subjected to this exploitation, chiefly American Pastoral ’s Merry Levov and The Human Stain’ s Faunia Farley. Consequently, the rebellious acts of these women gesture toward and invite earnest consideration of Nature and humans’ entanglement with it, often seen in the human regard for nonhuman animals. While not strictly permissive of moralistic violence, Merry’s and Faunia’s actions should be interpreted as symbolic of the necessity in considering the perspectives and positionality of those who have historically been—and still are—“othered” by systemic patriarchy, even and especially across species divides. By interrogating the multi-layered novels in this way, this essay affords readers distance and space to consider our actions in the real world, as well as how we must strive toward equity and justice alike.