The Meaning Of Memory: A Study Of Memory Theme In Saul Bellow's Short Stories

Saul Bellow,a contemporary American Jewish writer,inherited the cultural tradition of Jewish memory and attached great importance to memory.His works run through writing memory.Memory theme is an important part of his novels.Through the emphasis and writing of memory,Bellow,on the one hand,reflects the chaotic and turbulent American real society.On the other hand,it also conveys the unremitting exploration of the modern people to get rid of the plight of survival and the spiritual crisis.This thesis attempts to take Bellow’s short stories as the research object.Through detailed text analysis,this paper tries to explore the meaning of memory in the salvation of individuals,families and nationalities,and to see how Bellow has revealed and ponder about the living conditions of American society and the Jews.This paper is divided into three parts: introduction,body and conclusion.The introduction first introduces Bellow’s life experience and the main literary achievements,then combs and evaluates the present situation of Bellow’s research at home and abroad,and finally points out the reasons for the topic,the research idea and the significance of this thesis.The text part is divided into three chapters.First chapter: The redemption of memory and self soul.In the first chapter,take“Something to Remember Me By”,“Mosby’s Memoirs” and “Him with His Foot in His Mouth” as examples,discuss the significance of memory in the redemption of modern souls.In Bellow’s view,the memory value and examination is an important way of self-salvation of the soul.In these novels,he allows the heroes to examine themselves in the memories of past experiences,and to obtain new self-cognition and spiritual rebirth through three ways of confession of personal life fault,reflection on the meaning of life and criticism of human apathy.Second chapter: Memory and the maintenance of family ethics.The second chapter takes “Cousins” and “The Old System” as two examples to discuss the importance of memory in family relationship maintenance.In Bellow’s view,memory is an important link to maintain family relations.In these novels,he first showed the family crisis caused by the loss of tradition and family memory,such as the disintegration of family ethics,the estrangement of family relations,the indifference of family feelings,and so on.Secondly,Bellow showed the reconstruction of family order and relationship caused by the recovery of tradition and family memory.Third chapter: The construction of memory and identity.In the third chapter,take“The Bellarosa Connection” as an example,discuss the construction significance of memory in identity.In Bellow’s view,memory is also an important basis for nationalidentity.In the novel,he takes the American Jews as an examination.On the one hand,he shows the Americanization caused by the loss of national tradition and historical memory.On the other hand,through the return of the national cultural memory of the massacre and other ethnic cultures,he shows the tortuous process of constructing the national identity of the American Jews,reflecting Bellow’s criticism and anxiety of the reality of the widespread alienation of the American Jews,and the desire and call for inheriting cultural memory and adhering to national identity.The epilogue points out the characteristics and significance of Bellow’s novels’ memory writing,and makes a brief comparison with other writers’ similarities and differences.