On Saul Bellow's Moral Values In Humboldt's Gift

Saul Bellow is one of the greatest authors in the twentieth century. His novel Humboldt's Gift was published in 1975. It became one of the most important works in American literature. Since the publication of this novel, its popularity has not diminished. This novel is very concerned about the moral confusion of this era. Bellow often said that the artists should aim for morality. Moral issue is the core of his works. In Bellow's another novel, Mr Sammler's Planet, he expressed such idea through Mr. Sammler:"If people have no moral life, only for their own interests, then the pain will never end."This thesis attempts to explore Saul Bellow's moral values by using the method of ethical literary criticism.In the introduction part, it introduces Saul Bellow's life and his literary and artistic achievements briefly; it also makes a review on the content of Humboldt's Gift, and points out the purpose of the thesis. In the first part of the thesis, it introduces the theoretical approach of ethical literary criticism, so that we can have a general understanding about it. In the second part of the thesis, it analyzes the sources of Saul Bellow's moral values. On one hand, it is connected with the author's life experiences inextricably; on the other hand, it is also determined by the social background and historical conditions in his life. The third part of the thesis has a detailed analysis of the moral confusion phenomena appearing in the novel. The fourth part is a major part of the thesis. It explores two ways to achieve the moral recovery for the hero in this novel. The trip of Coney Island is the love recovery trip for the hero; it let him find the pure love which has been lost for a long time. The trip of Corpus Christi is his spiritual journey which makes him see through the meaning of life, and it is a spiritual rebellion to the overwhelming materialism of American society. The last part makes a conclusion on the thesis. We can see that Bellow's moral values are affirmative, positive, and optimistic. He looks forward to rebuilding the moral order between man and man, man and society with a compromise of love. Bellow shows that people in crisis are possible to be reborn. He insists that human's nature is good.