Making Positive Choice While Living Amid Absurdity

Saul Bellow demonstrates many existentialist ideas in his works, and is sometimes considered an existentialist writer. Herzog is Bellow's major novel from the 1960s. In 1965, because of the success of this novel, Bellow was awarded the International Literary Prize, becoming the first American who received the prize. And Herzog is often considered a major work leading to Bellow's winning the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature. In Herzog, the protagonist of Moses E. Herzog is seen as more an existentialist thinker than an introverted professor.Existentialism is a philosophy concerning human existence and about defining the meaning of one's life through his/her free will and choice. Man decides who and what he is throughout life as he makes choices based on his beliefs and experiences. Existentialism stresses that one's judgment and free-will choice are the determining factors in the formation of their essence and way of life.It is intended that this dissertation analyzes the novel of Herzog with major existentialist beliefs, ranging from the concept of absurdity to that of responsibility. Herzog lives amid absurdity and thus feels isolated and distressed. Nonetheless, he has the freedom to make choice. With the sense of responsibility and after experiencing certain incidents, at the end of the novel the protagonist makes the positive choice of optimistically reuniting with other people.