A Study Of Benn’s Tragedy In More Die Of Heartbreak: A Multiple Perspective

The American Jewish writer Saul Bellow is regarded as the successor to WilliamFaulkner, Ernest Hemingway and Francis Scott Fitzgerald. As a vigorous andproductive writer, Bellow publishes another outstanding novel More Die of Heartbreakin his old age. Just like Bellow’s other novels, while it depicts the tragedy of a scholar,it also criticizes the hero Benn’s personal character as well as the modern society. Bennis a world famous botanist, and often goes to other countries to give lectures. He hasmade great achievements in plant study and received many respects from people in hiscircle. However, the romantic Benn leads a tragic life after he gets married to Matildawith great beauty. For he has found that his marriage has been filled with all kinds oftricks and traps, and that their love and marriage have become a product of utility.Matilda’s marriage to him is not from her love but because the marriage can bring herprestige, fortune and position. After learning the truth, Benn felt that his wholeexistence had collapsed in the modern society, from which he escaped to theuninhabited Arctic Pole with snowflakes and ice all of the year for his bryophytes study.The recent research on the novel mainly focuses on three aspects: American culturalcrisis, female images and characters psychoanalysis. The thesis explores and presentsthe social and personal reasons that form the tragedy of the hero from a multipleperspective.Part One gives a brief introduction of Saul Bellow and the tragedy of the hero inMore Die of Heartbreak, and then the significance of the study is introduced.Part Two and Three mainly explore the social factors contributing to Benn’s tragedy.Part Two makes use of related theory of consumer culture to analyze Benn’s tragedy.The America’s economy develops at a fast pace and appears in a state of unprecedentedprosperity in1920s on which consumer society and consumer culture are born. Americahas become one of the real consumer societies since that time. And the lifestyle ofconsumerism is typically represented by that of America, where the consumers areimmersed in consumption and the purpose of their consumption is not to meet theeffective demands, but to satisfy the stimulated consumption desires. In other words,what people consume is not the utility value of the commodities but what they embody.Under such circumstances, it is much easier for them to find out some special andsuperior group they belong to. However, people’s spiritual garden has been collapsing gradually while their material desire has swollen and been satisfied. Their crazy pursuitof the sex is regarded as a good way to continue their life and prove their existence.Living in such a society, the world-famous botanist is treated not only as a symbol butalso as a sexual partner to be chased madly by the modern people with great sexualdesire but without love.Part Three mainly applies the related theory of pragmatism to investigating anothersocial factor leading to Benn’s tragedy. The past puritan thoughts give birth topragmatism, and the old pragmatism has been transformed into modern people’s endlesscruelty and selfishness, who have been seeking for wealth, prestige and social statuscrazily. There are no sympathy and love between people but the competition, the hatred,the jealousy and the war for their own benefits. And then Benn, a loyal follower oftraditional values becomes a weapon used by people who fight with each other.Part Four focuses on the analysis of Benn’s personal character that results in histragedy. As a person following the traditional rules and values, Benn is a man of greatromance which is demonstrated in his pursuit of the dream woman, his longing for theplants and natural world and also his extreme hatred towards technology. As a result,Benn always stays in a state of loneliness and misery. At last, he has no choice butescape to the uninhabited Arctic Pole covered with snowflakes and ice all of the year forhis bryophytes study.And the last part demonstrates that Benn’s tragedy is not accidental. Living in sucha society, where the native-born pragmatism in America is the local people’s actionrules, where all of the products are endowed with symbols and values, and where thereexist barren spiritual soil and crazy sexual desire but no love, he is certain to have sharpconflicts between him and this world, and his tragic life is inevitable.