An Analysis Of The Narrative Technique Of Humboldt’s Gift

Humboldt’s Gift is one of the most excellent works of the American novelist SaulBellow. From the point of narrative style, many commenters think this novel belongs tomonologue or autobiography. Since1975that the novel was published, it attracts wideattention in the literary circle home and abroad, and it won the Pulitzer Prize in1976. Atthe same year, Saul Bellow won the Nobel Prize, which strengths the important positionof Humboldt’s Gift among Saul Bellow’s works. The novel describes the destiny of twoAmerican writers who are from different periods: Humboldt and Citrine, and proclaimsthe damage of mental civilization from material world deeply through their differentexperience. In this work, Bellow shows his concern---the status of the artist in themodern technocratic-business world. Therefore, it is important how to analyze the twocharacters as artists in the novel from an appropriate angle or aspect. Further analysissuggests that it is feasible that the analysis of main characters as artists can be realizedthrough using the novel narrative theory so as to reveal their status in the modern society.This essay consists of three parts: introduction, the main body and the conclusion.In the introduction of the essay, the writer mainly introduces the theory of the essay:Novel narratology. Besides, writer also introduce the main idea of the novel Humboldt’sGift, the main information of the novelist Saul Bellow and the research information forSaul Bellow home and abroad.The main body consists of three chapters.The first chapter analyses the narrative sound of the novel. In the novel Humboldt’sGift, Saul Bellow mainly takes advantage of the symbolism and stream of consciousnessin order to add color to the language. Both of them make the common language becomelive and deep. Symbolism is one of the most important techniques of expressions in thetwentieth century modernism literary. Stream of consciousness is one of novel contentelements. It can help to reflect perceptual life and psychological phenomenon of thetheme. In the novel Humboldt’s Gift, Saul Bellow mainly uses the first person to narratethe story. The means of the first person is a exquisite means in literary. The advantage ofthe first person is that it can add to the personal experience of narrator, and the aim andthe effect are changeable. That is to say, by using the first person, the protagonist canmodel himself or herself through his or her own language and behavior. At the same time, the first person can help readers to observe the protagonist easily. The novel seemsnatural, kind and real. By using the first person, the narrator can avoid intervening intoreaders directly or operating readers and the readers can know about the protagonist bythemselves. So the readers can follow the protagonist’s experience, follow theprotagonist’s contradiction, follow the protagonist’s puzzle. But the first person has itsown disadvantage, the readers can only know about the things happened in the sight ofthe protagonist and realized the fact only through the protagonist. In order to make up thelimitation of the first person, Saul Bellow also uses the third person in the novel. Whenthe narrator is not present, the third person can help readers know something happenedabove the sight of the protagonist. Besides, in the novel, there appears anotherperspective, that is the second person: You. The advantage of the second person canshorten the distance between the narrator and readers, and it can arouse the readers’sympathy about the pain of protagonist. When readers read the novel, they may feel justlike they are with the narrator.The second chapter deals with the narrative time of the novel. Saul Bellow takesadvantage of two kinds of means to narrate the novel: the physical time sequence and thepsychological time sequence. The construction of the novel is traditional construction.The open wire has clear time sequence and has clear clue. At the same time, a feature ofthe novel is the disorder of the time sequence. From the deeper construction, readers canfind the leap of the time. At the beginning of the novel, Saul Bellow uses the physicaltime sequence in order to let readers understand the whole story outside. And the readerscan tell the time of the story by themselves. However, there is also a deep clue in thenovel, which is the story between Citrine and Humboldt. The failure and success betweenCitrine and Humboldt appeared in the memory of Citrine through fragments, that is tosay, these fragments are in the past of the past. These memories mainly exist in the firsteighteen chapters in the novel. And these memories have no time sequence just exist inCitrine’s sub consciousness which show his anxiety. Besides, Saul Bellow alternatessome short story which also appears as the memory of Citrine. The style of theconnection of the physical time and the psychological time shows a common trend in thetwentieth century literary creation: the connection of modernism and realism. When the writer analyses the character inner world, he wants to show the real experience ofcharacter, in order to show the social source which causes the character’s tragedy.The third chapter deals with the novel’s narrative features. This thesis mainlyanalyses two features of the novel: one is the combination of modernism and realism; theother is the contrast. Saul Bellow connects the modernism and realism togethersuccessfully; he is an American modern novelist who is between modernism and realism.He inherits the advantages of literary, at the same time; he absorbs the advantage ofmodernism literary. Saul Bellow connects the traditional technique and modern techniquetogether in order to form his own style. He reflects the real life essence through realismso as to show the mental crisis in the material wealth America. Meanwhile, he is affectedby the modernism literary concept and techniques, when he explores the human innerheart and describes the absurd world, he uses modernism. In fact, Humboldt’s Gift isdifferent from other realism works. It has some obvious features of the twentieth centuryrealism literary. In art, this novel shows the connection of the modernism and realism.Besides, in the novel, Saul Bellow uses the combination of contrast and satire. Thecontrast in the novel reflects the contradiction the wealthy material and empty mental inAmerican modern society. Through contrast in the novel, the psychological repulsion ofpeople who are from all levels of the society is satirized. These features strength thewriter’s creative purpose.The last part is conclusion. In the conclusion, the writer’s creative purpose is clearer:the relationship between artists and society and how to adjust the relationship should bepaid more attention; the function and position of artists in the modern society is aquestion that people should think deeply.