A Tentative Study Of Herzog's Tragedy

Saul Bellow (1915 — 2005), the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976, stands out as one of the giants among American novelists of the middle decade of the twentieth century. Herzog is Bellow's sixth novel and is regarded as one of his most accomplished novels. In the novel, Bellow represents a tragedy of a middle-aged Jewish intellectual, Moses Elkhanah Herzog and the process that how Herzog finds a way out of his predicaments. Though Herzog suffers misfortunes as other tragic heroes in the traditional tragedies, different with those tragic heroes who meet destruction at the end of the stories, from the beginning, with flashback, Bellow reflects Herzog's miserable past according to the protagonist's recollections and mental letters, moreover, what Bellow emphasizes in the novel is how Herzog finds a way out of his tragedy through self-examination.With Herzog's memories and reflections, Bellow reveals that Herzog's dilemma is a common one to modern men. Through the process that Herzog attempts to find a way out and get a balance in his heart, Bellow implies that suffering is a way for people to become better. And there is a hope in tragedy. Thus, in this thesis, our attention will be directed to the study of Herzog's tragedy based on the theory of tragedy.The thesis consists of five parts. The introductory part offers a brief review of the previous criticism of the novel with the methods adopted in the research and the general structure of the thesis included. In Chapter One, with the failure of Herzog's second marriage as a main clue, his misfortunes in social contact and career are represented. In this chapter, how Herzog transforms from his predicaments and finds a balance in his heart is also discussed. Then, in Chapter Two, the factors causing the protagonist's tragic life are studied. Those factors are explored from twoaspects: internal factors, such as, the flaws in Herzog's character, including narcissism, masochism, isolation;and the external factors, that is, influences of social environment and Jewish culture on Herzog. Chapter Three makes a comparative study of Herzog and other tragic stories. In this chapter, the uniqueness of the creation of the image and the innovation of the artistic presentation of Herzog are analyzed. Conclusion part reflects Bellow's optimistic attitude to life and his hope for the future of human being.