Tommy Wilhelm's Alienation And De-alienation In Seize The Day

Saul Bellow is a prominent Jewish writer in the contemporary American literary circle. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976 for his humanistic understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture. Seize the Day was published in 1956, and is now viewed as Bellow's finest achievement by some critics.Seize the Day presents a several-hour experience of a middle-aged man who has lost his job, is estranged from his wife and children, and deserted by his father. Based on the theories of alienation and de-alienation, this thesis aims at a better understanding of Seize the Day and Bellovian fable by analyzing the protagonist-Tommy Wilhelm's alienation and his successful efforts to get rid of it. This thesis is composed of an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion.The introduction presents the literary review about Bellow's works, especially Seize the Day both in China and abroad, the main content and the structure of this thesis.Chapter One introduces Bellow's life, Seize the Day, Bellovian fable and some factors that attribute to it. It also includes a discussion of the two core theories of alienation and de-alienation which will be applied in this thesis.Chapter Two is a detailed analysis of Tommy Wilhelm's alienation from New York City, from people, and from himself respectively. The piercing revelation of Tommy Wilhelm's alienation is a distinguishing feature of Seize the Day. Through the analysis of a suffering alienatee, this chapter presents a Bellovian dangling man's alienation.Chapter Three discusses Tommy Wilhelm's ways to achieve de-alienation. Bellow believes in the greatness of human spirits;and his protagonists can usually get rebirth in defeats and tears. Tommy Wilhelm is such a figure. He finally plucks courage to live and achieves a betterunderstanding of the meaning of life on the confrontation of death.The last part is the conclusion. With a novel perspective of alienation and de-alienation, this thesis is a reaffirmation that Bellow has enormous power in observing contemporary world as well as perpetual faith in men.