The attack on the farm that resulted in the rape of his daughter and his near-immolation seeps into every part of his life, even into his work as he unconsciously writes the character of Byron's daughter Allegra in her work. A character she had no intention of incorporating, Allegra's voice shouts "Why did you leave me?" Come and get me!". , strangely parallel to the voice of the nightmare-Lucy, and therefore he is no longer able to ignore his pain. In American Pastoral the reader begins to criticize the Swede's strength, his fatal flaw is that he is too thoughtful. An example of this is when Merry asks Swede to kiss her like he kisses his mother and after an initial refusal, his father kisses her passionately on the mouth. This transgression is highlighted as a crucial factor debated in the Swede's mind as to whether or not it is the cause of the subsequent pain suffered, "he wondered whether the parents' strange misstep was not a liability of the collapse for which he would pay for the rest of his life". This becomes the center of his mental hell, in which he agonizes over how he could have "hurt" Merry. The aftermath of the kiss leads the Swede to become more wary of his emotions and affection towards Merry. This solitary behavior adds to the Swede's fragmented mentality. Both novels place great significance on their settings and historical pain. Although American Pastoral was written in 1997, the setting of a 1960s America torn by internal turmoil resulting from the ongoing war in Vietnam. Significantly, although never directly mentioned in the novel, the American people's mourning of President Kennedy following his assassination is mirrored by the role of the protagonist, Lou "the Swede" Levov. Roth's biography...... half of the document...... ief, it is only David Lurie who reaches the final stage of grief in the Kübler-Ross model: acceptance. The Swede, in contrast, is known as "plagued by shame, uncertainty and pain for the rest of his life". David's recovery from having "his pleasure in life been quenched" and feeling "his interest in the world fading from him drop by drop", while although it does not fade away immediately, he is granted salvation by giving up his previous wrongs, mirroring Coetzee's vision of post-apartheid South Africa. He loses his oppressive identities as a seducer, absent father, and self-centeredness, all represented by giving up his adopted dog to be put down to save him from any further suffering. In this way he renounces his suffering and is able to escape the pain process without slipping into melancholy like the Swede.Big. Ruddy. Happy.’