Interpretation Of Herzog’s Anxiety And Solutions From The Perspective Of Cognitive Dissonance

Saul Bellow(1915-2005),a renowned Jewish-American writer,is widely regarded as one of the leading figures after Hemingway and Faulkner in contemporary American literature.In 1964,Herzog,one of Bellow’s most important representative works,was published.Through subtle psychological descriptions and unique narrative techniques,Bellow vividly represents Herzog’s struggle and reconciliation with the modern world.By virtue of his“human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture”,Bellow was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973.Between the lines,Herzog’s anxiety is represented incisively.As tremendous the anxiety he is confronted with,Herzog never loosens his grip in the hope of life,but spares no efforts to establish himself in the modern American society.Based on the theory of cognitive dissonance,this thesis makes a systematic and in-depth interpretation of Herzog’s anxiety.The main part of this thesis is consisted of five chapters.The first chapter generally focuses on the literary achievements of Saul Bellow,the main plot of Herzog,the status of the novel,the review of Herzog’s research at home and abroad,and then summarizes the originality as well as the basic structure of the thesis.The second chapter introduces American psychologist,Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory,Herzog’s anxiety symptoms and presentation under cognitive dissonance.Herzog’s excessive anxiety is manifested in three aspects: ceaseless writing of letters,travelling around restlessly and illusory instincts for violence and suicide,The third chapter analyzes the causes of Herzog’s anxiety out of the cognitive dissonance,and draws the conclusion that the causes of Herzog’s anxiety lie in a series of dissonance in the aspects of value identification,moral ideas,religious beliefs and behavior patterns,including the dissonance in value-orientations,in basic perception of interpersonal relationship and in perception of self.First,American mainstream values characterized by individualism and materialism are incompatible with Herzog’s traditional moral-orientation value.Second,under the influence of different outlook on values,different perceptions of interpersonal relationship are induced accordingly.In modern American society,people turn out to be selfish and indifferent,and there is in want of love and trust between them.While for Herzog,people ought to hold the belief of giving and dedication;they are encouraged to respect and love each other,as well as build close and harmonious interpersonal relationships.The dissonance in perception of values and of interpersonal relationship triggers the perception of self.People around Herzog take him for a scholar caught in his own trap,an irresponsible husband and father,an absolute lunatic.However,Herzog himself is convinced that he is a hero to save humankind,a responsible husband and careful father,a rare good man.The three aspects of dissonance are in progressive relationship,which throw Herzog into the dilemma of anxiety.The fourth chapter introduces Herzog’s countermeasures to relieve cognitive dissonance and anxiety.First,he gradually accepts the social reality,the individual materialism and egoism of modern mainstream cultural values,coming to pay more attention to reality,and alleviating the dissonance in different values;Second,he chooses to be more sociable and practical,returning to community,and managing to seek a harmonious love pattern,thus easing the tension of interpersonal conflicts.Finally,he realizes the smallness of the individual and accepted the humble individual existence,which indeed alleviates the dissonance in self-cognition.With Herzog’s cognitive coordination,he finally gains the feeling of “free” and gets rid of excessive anxiety,returns to a peaceful life.Human suffering,in essence,is not caused by some behaviors or traumatic experiences,but by cognitive dissonance.Therefore,only by cognition coordination,can a man change,modify and even reconstruct self-cognition so as to reduce psychological as well as mental stress further.In the end of this chapter,Bellow’s strategies to cope with anxiety are accepted,for that they present Bellow’s great efforts to establish himself in the crack between the outside world and his inner world,instead of being featured by capitulationism.In conclusion,this thesis puts Herzog’s anxiety in the framework of the theory of cognitive dissonance,trying to interpret anxiety from the perspective of social psychology and explaining clearly the causes of Herzog’s anxiety and his strategies to reduce anxiety,which might as well provide a good antidotes for modern people to get rid of anxiety.