American Pastoral Literature and Writing Quotes

Zuckerman's identity is first revealed to the readers in this moment. This is also the first encounter between Zuckerman and the Swede in decades.

Zuckerman meets the Swede to find out something juicy, interesting, and tragic. It's right there under his nose, but he doesn't see it. He has no idea about Merry, even though he later thinks the Swede thought that he knew all about it.

Zuckerman isn't just out to poke around in the Swede's head for fiction-worthy gems, but also to make a record of something that could be important. We can see this side of Zuckerman in all the careful details of the times and the places where the action plays out.