From Alienation To Restoration: A Thematic Study Of Saul Bellow's Seize The Day

Saul Bellow is a prominent Jewish writer in contemporary American literature. He is generally considered to be a literary giant as great as Hemingway or Faulkner. In his novels, Bellow continually devotes himself to exploring the contradiction between the essence of being and the living circumstances, which establishes his reputation as a great author with heightened sensitivity to the alienation of the Jews."For the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work", Bellow won the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature.Seize the Day is one of Bellow's best novels that reveal the Jews'predicament and destiny in the modern society. The protagonist, Tommy Wilhelm, is a middle-aged man, deprived of his job, separated from his wife and children, discarded by his father and cheated out of his money. The novel is about the experiences of the protagonist in a single day. Based on the theory of alienation, this thesis aims at exploring the protagonist's spiritual journey from alienation to restoration.This thesis is composed of an introduction, three body chapters and a conclusion.The first part, Introduction, summarizes Bellow's background and literary status and briefly introduces the main content of the novel, the critical reception home and abroad, and the Marxist alienation theory which the thesis is based on. Through the analysis of Tommy's alienation from the outside world, from the people around him and from himself, Chapter One presents Tommy as a typical Bellovian dangling man in harsh circumstances of living and spiritual crisis. Chapter Two analyzes the main causes for the protagonist's alienation: Tommy Wilhelm's emotional void, his Jewish status, the disillusionment of his American dream and the flaws in his character. Chapter Three discusses the factors that lead to the final restoration of the protagonist, which include Tommy's continuing quest for restoration, his dependence on Dr. Tamkin and his epiphany at the stranger's funeral. The last part probes the alienation and restoration of the human race in the modern society and examines the essence of being and the meaning of existence. It also reveals Bellow's humanistic concern about the fate of the mankind and sums up the thesis by reaffirming Bellow's subtle observation of the contemporary world and his eternal faith in men.