American Pastoral

Over dinner—which also includes the Salzmans and the Umanoffs—the Swede stews over the fact that Sheila Salzman, Merry’s former speech therapist, hid Merry after the bombing and never told him about it. Barry Umanoff has introduced him to an attorney who argues that Merry could get anywhere from seven years to “practically nothing” if she turns herself in. Barry’s wife, Marcia, a difficult contrarian, views Dawn as little more than a pageant contestant, and Dawn loathes her for it. She believes Marcia harbored Merry after the bombing, but the Swede knows it isn’t true. In fact, he knows it was Sheila. For the first four months after the bombing, he and Sheila were lovers.

Over dinner, they discuss politics and culture, Lou Levov bemoaning the demise of Newark, the glove industry, and common decency. They discuss the popularity (and morality) of the adult film Deep Throat. Lou sees it as a harbinger of moral decline. Others see it merely as a sign of a less repressive culture. These discussions continue, but the Swede is consumed with thoughts of Merry, half-starved and living in filth; of his wife and Orcutt “dry-hump[ing] over the sink” (358); and of Sheila, his ex-mistress, who harbored his fugitive daughter and never told him.