| Henderson the Rain King is regarded by many critics as the most active book of the American Jewish writer Saul Bellow's distinguished works. In this marvelous novel, Bellow portrays a complex protagonist, Eugene Henderson, who gives up an affluent cozy modern life and struggles in a quest for the meaning and essence of life through his physical and spiritual journey in ancient uncivilized Africa. Some critics declare that most of Bellow's central characters are pursuers, harried and pursued by their own limitless unease. Before leaving on his journey, Henderson is also caught in the familiar existential dilemma of Bellow's heroes: yearning for order and meaning in his life, he finds only chaos and meaninglessness. However he is a strong man who keeps trying to find a foothold during his wandering in the tottering world. Eventually, it is a successful journey with a profound ending. Bellow has said that Henderson is the character who is the most similar to himself and he even comments on Henderson as "the absurd seeker of high qualities". Based upon previous studies, this thesis further analyses Henderson's material and mental trip in Africa and his crucial process of "escape — quest — return" which plays an important role in his change.The Introduction offers a brief review of previous criticism on this novel, the analysis of which raises issues that this dissertation attempts to address.Chapter One analyses the reasons why Henderson wants to escape from his former life and what he intends to avoid. Briefly, he wants to escape from the anguish of mind, from modern society, and from the fear of death. Feeling alienated and restless, and keeping a tense relationship with his family and with his neighbors, he imprisons himself spiritually.Moreover, the interior voice of "/ want, I want" makes him crazy and distracted. This chapter focuses on the analysis of the reasons which make Henderson take his trip to Africa. Furthermore, it discusses the spiritual barrenness and bewilderment of modern people.Based on the discussion in the previous chapter, Chapter Two continues to examine the progress of Henderson's quest in the remote and uncivilized Africa, which is not only a simple material trip, but also a spiritual salvation and regeneration. He intends to quest for the answers to the basic and eternal questions of human beings about life, death, existence, value, reality, etc. During his stay with the two tribes in Africa, the Arnewi and the Wariri, Henderson gradually gets to know the real aim and meaning of life. Also on this journey, Bellow expresses his philosophical idea on life through the conversations between King Dahfu and Henderson, from which we can see that Bellow is influenced by existentialists, such as Heidegger, Sartre and Camus.Chapter Three studies Henderson's return to reality and return to American society. Through the farce of the rain praying ritual of the Wariri, Henderson comes to realize his reality both physically and mentally. In his opinion, reality lies in the essential comprehension of life. By means of Bakhtin's theory on carnivalization, the thesis analyses the rain praying ceremony and the following Rain King crowning ritual in detail so as to expose their profound hidden meanings. The meaning of "Rain King", Henderson's title, is also explained at the end of this chapter.The last part is the conclusion of the thesis. Not only does it summarize the main relevant criticisms previously done by other critics, and review the main arguments in this thesis, but it also discusses Saul Bellow's writing features. Set in the contemporary backgrounds and settings, Bellow's works express his deep thought on modern people. As far as... |
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