Power Structures and the Fate of the Self: Inequity in Philip Roth’s Later Fictions

This paper examines how Philip Roth critically explores the intersection of institutional violence, individual identity, and social inequality in his later novels – American Pastoral (1997), The Human Stain (2000), and Indignation (2008). This article focuses on the institutional problems like education, politics and media as well as their effect on the individuals in the society, especially Black people. The middle aged or the aged protagonists Roth faces the problems like marginalization, and rumor as they struggle with the institutional power. Through close textual analysis, the paper argues that, Roth, in his novels, portrays institutional violence transcending physical or legal aggression to include symbolic and structural harms, such as institutional neglect, erosion of reputation, racial bias, and public disgrace. This study also contextualizes Roth’s narratives within the broader American socio-political framework, highlighting his critique of a progressive societal polarization and social inequity. Through his narrative, the writer reveals the vulnerability of self-identity amid institutional power, exemplifying the powerless state of individuals, distorted, or subjected to irreversible judgment. Roth cleverly dramatizes the outcome of social inequality and institutional neglect through multiple characters in his novels. This study finally contends how Roth’s later novels highlight the failure of American liberalism to uphold individual freedom in an age of dogmatic morality and increasing administrative intrusion.