Quest For A Spiritual Home--Criticism On Henderson The Rain King

As one of the best writers in postwar America, Saul Bellow has won numerous honors including the most influential award—the Nobel Prize. Bellow is good at portraying the life" and spiritual problems of the intellectuals in modern society and their quest for a way to solve the spiritual crisis. The realistic depiction of the protagonists' psychological activities discloses the spiritual crisis under the enormous material prosperity in American society. His deep-rooted Jewish origin, profound knowledge and keen perception of the American society form a unique Bellovian style, which is the combination of his abundant sympathy, serious contemplation and comic satire. Modern man's existential dilemma is truly depicted in Bellow's works including Henderson the Rain King. Bellow's insightful probing of alienation and modern man's spiritual crisis is clearly shown in this novel.Henderson the Rain King is a story about modern man's quest for a spiritual home. In order to find a remedy for his spiritual crisis, Henderson goes deep into Africa. After a series of adventures, he finally accomplishes his spiritual transformation. Modern man's anxiety over death and existential crisis distinctly emerges through Henderson's mental suffering and through his journey to a place unknown. Bellow's unique characterization and his use of the quest-myth archetype make this novel a great success. But the most impressive thing is Henderson's inner voice / want, I want. By choosing a place unknown to him, Bellow provides more spaces for his imagination and creativity. This thesis sets out to discover the meaning of Henderson's questby exploring the quest-myth origin of the novel and the functions of the images and metaphors in the process of Henderson's quest.The development of this study follows the process of Henderson's quest. The introduction part presents a brief account of the social and historical background of the novel, and the brief critical history about it. Besides the introduction and conclusion parts, this thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter concentrates on the recurrence of the quest-myth archetype in this novel, and gives an archetypal approach to the theme, the structure and the hero. The second chapter is devoted to digging out the implied meaning of Henderson's journey to Africa by analyzing the process of his travel. Alienation, which exists in modern society and in Henderson's relations with others, has also contaminated the remote places in Africa. Henderson's quest, therefore, is universalized. The third chapter focuses on the images and metaphors that help promote the development of the protagonist's spiritual quest and the completion of the quest myth.This thesis starts for a further study from the perspective of the quest-myth theme in Henderson the Rain King and tries to achieve a better understanding of the novel through his journey in Africa and through the process of spiritual transformation.