Paradise Is Still Ahead

For decades Saul Bellow has attracted criticism attention with the complexity his background and the intricacy of his works. One important topic under discussion is the affirmative and optimistic attitude on humanity and the modern life. Bellow himself is undoubtedly an affirmer and optimistic; he expresses in interviews, lectures and essays, and displayed in novels that, although the modern society is pervaded with evils and pains, the truth of life is not that hopeless. The truth of life is not that palpable; it lies deep under the overwhelming ugliness and weariness of daily life. And the duty of literature as an art does not lie in recording the ugliness and weariness, but in breaking away from the restriction of the modern philosophical tradition, which ends up denying the significance of humanity and the pursuit for happiness, and observing life independently, so that not only the ugliness and weariness, but the "true impressions" can be included, and through the balance maintained between the two, the complexity of life can be revealed, and the truth of life distinguishes.Amongst the readings concerning the attitude towards humanity and the modern life in Bellow's novels, the majority have deliberately followed the novel structure that Bellow has pointed out and formed a homogeneous understanding that his protagonists are gladiator like characters who wrestle with the prevalent apocalyptic worldview and achieve spiritual salvation. Meanwhile, some readings argue that Bellow's protagonists are not competent enough to fulfill his literary ideal, and therefore his novels are, contrary to his own optimism, pessimistic. However, both readings are not thorough enough. Indeed, Bellow's protagonists don't succeed in their quests for spiritual salvation. But, instead of denying Bellow's stress on humanity, their failure prove how difficult it is for intellectuals to claim the indispensability of humanistic virtues.In this thesis, the invalidity of the quests for spiritual salvation in two of Bellow'snovels, Dangling Man and Herzog, is proved. The quests are performed not only by the protagonists, the intellectuals, but their opposite characters as well; the cause of their failure is analyzed, that following the modern philosophical tradition, which denies the significance of humanity and the pursuit for happiness, people are at war with others and themselves. Most people hold various partial worldviews and are heading at the wrong direction; the intellectuals may have sensed the right direction, but their voice is too low. In such a way Saul Bellow convinces his readers that it is high time to re-examine the modern philosophical tradition and to re-claim the dignity of humanity.