Alienation And Restoration Of The Jewish American Intellectuals In Saul Bellow's Herzog

Saul Bellow's status in the post WW II period of America literature can be compared to that of Hemingway or Faulkner. He is the only writer who won three National Book Awards. Since his novel The Adventures of Angie March (1953), he has applied himself to explaining the contradiction of the essence of being and the existential circumstances, which establishes his reputation as a life-affirming author for his preeminent achievement. In his lifetime, he applies himself to the description of the intellectuals' alienation and gradually forms the special "Bellow style". In 1976, "for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work", he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.Herzog is Saul Bellow's magnum opus on the revelation of the intellectuals' predicament and their destiny in the modern society. In this novel, he makes a profound discussion on the Existentialism embodied in the alienation of Jewish American intellectuals, both male and female. The present thesis examines the alienation of the characters in Herzog with the thought of existentialism, through the analysis of the causes of spiritual alienation, and the approaches to restoration for the modern intellectuals, and human beings in general.The thesis falls into four parts:Part one is an introduction, including a brief introduction to Saul Bellow, his literary status and contribution, some critical receptions on his novel Herzog, and the significance of the thesis.Part two starts with the philosophical connotations of Existentialism and examines the existential theme in Bellow's novels. Combined with the main ideas of Existentialism, the paper expounds Bellow's special understanding of Existentialism and its application in his novel Herzog.Part three discusses the inevitable causes of the intellectuals' shift from alienation to restoration in the modern society through the examination and analysis on the two protagonists, Herzog and Madeleine, representatives of male and female intellectuals respectively.Part four extends the discussion to other intellectuals and ordinary people in the modem society. Well educated and privileged with a higher social status, intellectuals are more sensitive to the society. Meanwhile, they are an essential part of the society, and their predicament is an epitome of the modem men. By listing the social situation and the alienated behaviors of other intellectuals as well as ordinary people in Herzog's age, it educes the reasons for the predicaments of modem men.From microcosmic to macroscopic point of view, the conclusion of the thesis examines the crisis of modem civilization and the predicament of modem people. It further reveals the essence of existence, the value of life, the ultimate outlet, in order to express Bellow's intense concern for the whole human being in the modem world.