Modernist Vision And Approaches

Saul Bellow is viewed by most critics as a writer who evinces both realist and modernist inclinations. However, through a close examination of his Mr. Sammler's Planet,"which occupies a unique place in Bellow's literary career"(Pifer 2), we will see that Saul Bellow is a proponent of high modernism.The alienated individual, the chaotic world and the spiritual quest are typical modernist themes and a careful reading of Mr. Sammler's Planet proves that this novel is also centered round these three themes. Artur Sammler, the protagonist of Mr. Sammler's Planet, a former Warsaw correspondent in London who survived the Holocaust, a Jewish immigrant in New York, a senior citizen living under the roof of his in-law niece, feels increasingly alienated from the American youth culture at the end of the 1960's. To Sammler, the USA at the time is a scene of commotion, where rebellion, violence, madness and absurdity abound; and where the youth either indulge themselves in sex or are obsessed with fantastic illusions. The chaotic external environment seems to threaten the very existence of Mr. Sammler. However, the alienated individual, in spite of his confusion and frustration, never quits his spiritual pilgrimage in a heroic attempt to reach the unattainable"truth"and order in life.Apart from themes, the stream-of-consciousness technique, irony and ambiguity, the use of symbols, the frequent shifts of narrative voice and the juxtaposition of the past and the present are all prominent features of Bellow's craftsmanship in his Mr. Sammler's Planet. And these are nothing but modernist narrative devices.As for his assumed realist traits, it is argued that although historical"facts"do find ample expression in the book, they are fragmented by the protagonist's anachronistic consciousness. That is the very reason why Saul Bellow is seen as a modernist rather than a realist as far as Mr. Sammler's Planet is concerned.