| Dangling Man is Saul Bellow's first novel. Compared to his other longer novels, this one was not receiving the same critical attentions. However, as the first novel of the author, Dangling Man is worthy of study in that it lays the foundation for the author's later works. In Bellow's fictions, the main characters always have heroic potential and are struggling with the negative forces of society. And often these characters are Jewish and have a sense of alienation and otherness. Joseph in Dangling Man is one among these characters.This thesis intends to approach this novel from the perspective of context analysis to discuss the theme of Dangling Man with an emphasis on the principal character Joseph. Alienation and conflict are pervasive through this novel. The journal form of this novel supplies the readers with the detailed record of the inner world of this protagonist. Joseph seems to have nowhere to find peace. As a Jewish immigrant in America during World Warâ…¡, he experiences constant inner conflicts and finds it difficult to accommodate himself with the outside world, having problems getting along with his family members, his friends and his acquaintances. All these conflicts are correlated and have a deeper cultural cause. Joseph's alienation during the war time is caused by the flaws in the individual's character as well as the defects of the modern society. The analysis of this alienation has certain illuminations on today's world in which people find it more and more difficult to find a sense of belonging. |
