American Pastoral

The Swede receives a visit from Rita Cohen, who identifies herself as a Wharton student doing research on the leather industry. Her charm and curiosity about his business remind him of Merry before her “repugnance.” He gives her a tour of the factory, explaining the glove-making process from start to finish. Four months after the bombing and lost in grief, the Swede begins to see Rita as a proxy, a surrogate to fill the hole in his heart left by Merry’s absence. At the end of the tour, he presents Rita with a custom-made pair of gloves. Rita breaks her cover and reveals herself as an associate of Merry’s, saying, “She wants her Audrey Hepburn scrapbook” (132).

The Swede meets Rita at the airport to deliver the scrapbook, making sure he’s not being followed. Over the next several weeks, he delivers to Rita other items of Merry’s, but she refuses to divulge any information about his daughter, saying only, “She thinks you ought to be shot” (133), and that she accuses him of exploiting his workers. The Swede demands to know where Merry is, but Rita throws all Merry’s dissatisfactions in his face—how awful her childhood was and how she could never live up to the expectations of the “beauty queen and the captain of the football team” (135-36).