American Pastoral

by

Philip Roth

Harry Character Analysis

Harry is a cutter at Newark Maid. He’s one of the factory’s oldest employees, having worked there when the Swede was just a boy learning the ropes of the business he would one day inherit. The Swede introduces Harry to Rita Cohen as she tours the factory. In an awkward scene, he fondly recalls being a boy and learning how to cut leather from Harry—seemingly oblivious to the injustice of the Swede’s ability to rise the ranks due to his status as Lou Levov’s son, while Harry’s many years of service go unappreciated (at least financially).

Harry Quotes in American Pastoral

The American Pastoral quotes below are all either spoken by Harry or refer to Harry. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Heroes, Legends, and Myth-Making  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

“[…] Harry’s father cut it and his mom sewed it, and they went over to the circus and gave the gloves to the tall man, and the whole family got free seats, and a big story about Harry’s dad ran in the Newark News the next day.”

Harry corrected him. “The Star-Eagle.”

“Right, before it merged with the Ledger.”

“Wonderful,” the girl said, laughing. “Your father must have been very skilled.”

“Couldn’t speak a word of English,” Harry told her.

“He couldn’t? Well, that just goes to show, you don’t have to know English,” she said, “to cut a perfect pair of gloves for a man nine feet tall.”

Harry didn’t laugh but the Swede did, laughed and put his arm around her.

Related Characters: Seymour “The Swede” Levov (speaker), Rita Cohen (speaker), Harry (speaker), Merry Levov, Lou Levov
Related Symbols: Gloves
Page Number: 128-129
Explanation and Analysis:
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American Pastoral PDF

Harry Quotes in American Pastoral

The American Pastoral quotes below are all either spoken by Harry or refer to Harry. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Heroes, Legends, and Myth-Making  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

“[…] Harry’s father cut it and his mom sewed it, and they went over to the circus and gave the gloves to the tall man, and the whole family got free seats, and a big story about Harry’s dad ran in the Newark News the next day.”

Harry corrected him. “The Star-Eagle.”

“Right, before it merged with the Ledger.”

“Wonderful,” the girl said, laughing. “Your father must have been very skilled.”

“Couldn’t speak a word of English,” Harry told her.

“He couldn’t? Well, that just goes to show, you don’t have to know English,” she said, “to cut a perfect pair of gloves for a man nine feet tall.”

Harry didn’t laugh but the Swede did, laughed and put his arm around her.

Related Characters: Seymour “The Swede” Levov (speaker), Rita Cohen (speaker), Harry (speaker), Merry Levov, Lou Levov
Related Symbols: Gloves
Page Number: 128-129
Explanation and Analysis: