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Barry Umanoff
Vicky is the forelady at Newark Maid. She has worked at the factory for years and is among the Levovs’ most loyal employees. Lou Levov recalls throwing Vicky’s sons graduation parties before they went off to college. Vicky, a Black woman, stood by the Swede at the factory to hold down the fort during 1967 Newark Riots, during which many businesses were destroyed—and many civilian protesters were injured and even killed due to the violent response by the law enforcement officers brought in to halt the riots. Her stance on the riots and the racial politics of the 1960s isn’t entirely clear. While she admonishes members of Newark’s Black community who participated in the riots, she also condemns law enforcement’s violent response to the uprising.
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Vicky Character Timeline in American Pastoral
The timeline below shows where the character Vicky appears in American Pastoral. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
...leather cutting and glove making, praising the Swede and his business. Only after the forewoman, Vicky, presents Rita with the gloves and then shuts the door does Rita turn to the...
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The Swede tells Angela Davis about how Vicky, the Black forelady with two college-graduate sons, was the only one to stay with him...
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When Vicky goes down to the armed National Guardsmen with hot coffee, she urges them not to...
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...warnings, and he “treated them like human beings.” He even threw a graduation party for Vicky’s twins. And now he’s being made the fool. When his friends say “they ought to...
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Chapter 6
...instead focusing on her rape. The Swede flashes back to waiting out the riots with Vicky in the factory. They watched police aim at a woman who appeared in a window...
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