The Bending Of A Thinking Reed

The thesis is an approach to some of Saul Bellow's thoughts on alienation in his novel Herzog.Roughly speaking, the previous analytic criticisms of Herzog's alienation have been carried on from two points of view: Herzog's Jewish background and upbringing and Herzog as a middle-class intellectual. Based on those analyses, the author of this thesis will analyze Herzog's alienated sufferings from psychoanalytical perspective, delve further into the reasons of Herzog's alienation from philosophical angle and point out Herzog's reaction towards alienation.This thesis mainly consists of five parts. Part one introduces the content and some background knowledge of the novel and the main points which will be illustrated in this paper. Part two reveals the manifesto of Herzog's alienation by first revealing his obsession with the masochistic action of writing painful and dissecting letters and then by highlighting his masochistic desires for two antagonists, his wife Madeleine and his love Ramona. Masochism is a kind of symptom of alienation which is embodied in people's words and activities . From a frustrated idealism Moses Herzog derives pessimistic feelings, and from that pessimistic feelings derives his self-denial and masochism. Part two also delves into Herzog's loyalty to the past and his love for destructively chaotic thoughts. In the novel, the author has described how Herzog, the protagnist's sense of crisis is triggered by his second wife's betrayal and his dramatic experiences in five days in the two cities, New York and Chicago. All of those are unfolded by Herzog in his recallings after he returns to Ludeyville, his house in countryside. Penetrating the narration of the external happenings are sudden recollections and chaotic consciousness: his childhood experiences in Napoleon Street, his two marriages, his sex love and his mental derangement caused by Madeleine's adultery with his "best friend" Gersbach. >And moreover, most of his memories and thoughts are interrupted by his unmailed letters written either in his mind or on the paper. Part three analyzes the reasons why Herzog, as a professor as well as a Jewish son, has been deeply alienated by three events: the collapse of his spiritual support ?humanism, the separation between him and others and between, his inner heart and the outside world caused by the prevailing relativism of value, and at last the crisis of self-concept due to the loss of histrue self . Humanism is the base on which intellectuals such as Herzog have been living. It is a collection of cultural concepts and ethical standards by which Herzog expects to search for the meaning of life. However, Herzog comes to realize that it has become a term of the past era. In reality, people's concepts about too many things have changed. And relief from the pursuit of absolutes makes people's life pleasant after the introduction of the flexible value standards. In relativism, being open and pluralistc is advocated. At the same time, the mutual pursuit and standards among people decrease , which can only result in separation: separation among people, among families and among beliefs. In isolated situation, Herzog suffers a lot amidst outside pressure and inside chaos. Facing reality, he feels lost and perplexed. Part four points out that new hope arises in Herzog's heart. Despite his suffering and his alienated situation, Herzog is not willing to accept a passive solution or to go further and further along the way to despair. Instead, a prevailing sense of responsibility and undying love for humanity motivates Herzog to return to nature and to think about the direction of future life with a calmed mind.From the above analyses, this thesis finally draws the conclusion in part five that though Saul Bellow has expressed his despise for alienation he does not mean to escape it. What he appeals for is a constructive attutude towards it-just as Herzog has achieved a calm mind at last. Thus, instead of denying mankinds' possibility for salvation , Bellow's description of the alienated He...