Seymour "Swede" Levov from American Pastoral is Jewish, but he is tall and blonde as well. World War II has ended and and many have come to America to start over with their lives. They have all bought into the American Dream, and Swede isn't any different. He graduates from highschool, is a star athelete, marries an Irish Catholic school girl and joins the Marines. When they later have a daughter, Meredith, his life is perfect. And then it comes unravled. Their child, whom they nickname Merry, has learning and psycholgoical disorders that lead her to lead a very chaotic life, dragging her parents down with her. It is at this point in his life that Swede realizes that he has been living in a fantasy world.
