A Study Of The "Good" In Saul Bellow's Seize The Day

Saul Bellow is one of the most important American writers after Hemingway and Faulkner. He was rewarded the Nobel Prize in 1976. Bellow creates a lot of famous works during his lifetime, and Seize the Day is just a significant representative of them. Critics agree that it is a brilliant draft and is Bellow's most representative work in many ways. This work is meaningful and can arouse people's great thinking.Saul Bellow's heroes are always seeking an answer to this question: how does a good person survive in modern society? Seize the Day also focuses on this question. In this draft, Bellow creates Wilhelm—a man of Good, and a man who seeks Good in a money worship world. For many years, a lot of investigators have already discussed the optimism, humanitarianism, love and other spirits which are reflected from Wilhelm. There are also some others choosing the ethical critical method to analyze this work. However, they have not discussed this topic in detail deeply and clearly; most of their studies are just a glance. This dissertation will use the ethical comment to study the topic of"Good"in Seize the Day; to find out the source and representation of Wilhelm's Good as a modern tragedy character; to discuss the reasons for him to become a loser in a money worship world and the hope of Good revealed from this novelette. The dissertation will expose the embarrassment of Good and good people in a money worship world in which Good disappears bit by bit. And from the hero's spirit to hold his"Good"and his hope for it firmly when he is in an embarrassment, I conclude"Good"is an important topic in ethics, in Seize the Day the hero's Good is reflected by justness, humanity, happiness and treasuring life, honesty, filial, being considerate, self-respect, braveness, optimism, being open-minded, equality, toleration, mercy, kindness, sympathy, love, requital, forgiveness etc. Good is the power of human nature, with the human nature's immortality, it will also be lasting forever. Human beings had better hold their"Good"and correct their faults. With"Good"human beings and their society will be hopeful.This dissertation discusses the theme of"Good"in Seize the Day in six sections. The section of introduction mainly introduces the author, his life, works, creative thoughts, writing styles and motifs. Introduce Seize the Day, the comments on it, its content, writing styles and skills. It also briefly introduces the main embranchments of ethnics and their explanations to the"Good". The first chapter of the dissertation discusses the sources of Wilhelm's Good. This chapter analyzes them from the ethnics and its effects on Western thoughts, and Bellow's creative thoughts such as his Jewish ideas, humanitarianism and so on. Chapter Two discusses the representation of Wilhelm's Good. It mainly discusses it from Wilhelm's relationships with his father, wife, Tamkin and other characters of Seize the Day. Chapter Three discusses the reasons for Wilhelm to become a"loser"in a money worship world. It mainly inquires the reasons from the social factors and Bellow's opinions about them, the embarrassment of Wilhelm's Good in a money worship world, and his own shortcomings. Chapter Four discusses the hope of Good revealed in the draft. The dissertation analyzes it from Bellow's Jewish ideas, humanitarianism and optimism, and also searches for the hopes that are revealed from the content and the ending of the work. The last section is the conclusion. It summarizes the dissertation and sets forth the significance of it.