Philip Roth displays numerous cases of betrayal in his “American trilogy”: Seymour’s betrayal to his father; the mutual betrayal between Seymour and his wife; the daughter’s betrayal to Seymour and his wife; Coleman Silk’s betrayal to his mother and his wife; the mutual betrayal between Ira Ringold and Eve Frame; the betrayal of a paramour, friends and former neighbours to Ira Ringold, etc. Meanwhile, Roth reveals the causes and effects of the betrayal in the trilogy. Through the stage of betrayal, Roth shows a clear picture of American social life.
Abbott, P. (2007). “‘Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan’: Democratic Theory, Populism, and Philip Roth’s ‘American Trilogy’”. Canadian Review of American Studies, 37, 431-452.
Maslan, M. (2005). The Faking of the Americans: Passing, Trauma, and National Identity in Philip Roth’s Human Stain. Modern Language Quarterly, 66, 365-389. http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00267929-66-3-365
Rankine, P. D. (2005). Passing as Tragedy: Philip Roth’s The Human Stain, the Oedipus Myth, and the Self-Made Man. Critique, 47, 101-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/crit.47.1.101-112
Shih, C. L. (2012). No Place to Fix Identity: Philip Roth’s American Pastoral. The Explicator, 70, 187-190.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00144940.2012.699905
