The Victimization Of Protagonists In Henderson The Rain King

As one of the most important works of Saul Bellow, although Henderson, the Rain King, does not contain the Jewish protagonists, the Jewishness still can be found in the work. The male protagonists in the novel contain the elements of victimhood like that of Jewish. This paper explores the spiritual and physical victimization reflected mainly on the two important protagonists-Henderson and Dahfu in order to have a more profound understanding of the theme of salvation in it.Chapter one analyzes the spiritual victimization of the male protagonists under"waste land"with the detailed exploration of the two protagonists respectively. Chapter two focus on the physical victimization of Henderson in America and Africa and that of Dahfu in the power struggle in his own tribe. Chapter three makes a comprehensive review of the victimization in the novel to highlight the contribution it has in the achievement of the theme of salvation of the two protagonists.Be the exploration of victimization in the novel done in this paper, Bellovian victimhood is actually not only limited to Henderson and Dahfu, but can be enlarged to a larger group of modern American people, which reflects the social reality at that time. The victimization research done in the novel also helps readers to grasp the general characteristics of Saul Bellow's other writings and open a wider angel in understanding Henderson, the Rain King.