American Pastoral

Merry informs her father that she has become a Jain, a member of a religious sect known for its ascetic practices that seek to “do no harm” to the world (232), including microbial life in the air and water (she covers her nose and mouth and refuses to bathe). She leads him through a broken and neglected section of Newark to her home: a tiny, rented room in an old boarding house, a crumbling structure reeking of urine with no apparent heat. He is at a loss regarding how she got to this point given his patience and understanding: “He had done as well as any parent could have—he had listened and listened when it was all he could do not to get up from dinner and walk away” (240).

She tells him that she eats only vegetables, but even that destroys life. To achieve total purity of spirit, she cannot damage any life, the inevitable result of which is self-starvation. As she describes the Jain philosophy, the Swede notices that her stuttering has vanished. In its place is a calm, coherent Merry, but possessed of her old intelligence. He asks her if she blew up the post office; she admits she did, alone, without outside influence.