On The Alienation Of Human Nature In Humboldt’ S Gift

Saul Bellow is one of the most influential American Jewish writers, and he isconsidered to be another literary master after Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner.He was awarded the Nobel Prize by the Swedish Academy, due to his humanunderstanding and exquisite analysis of the contemporary culture in his works, which isnot only the confirmation of his talent in writing but also the praise for his contribution tothe society. Almost all Bellow’s works focus on the modern man’s existence and fate, andshow deep concern for human being’s living conditions and their spiritual crisis in orderto help them get out of the dilemma and start a new life.Humboldt’s Gift is one of Bellow’s masterpieces which attracts the public a lot andwins the Pulitzer Prize in1976. In the novel, the protagonist, Citrine, in the form ofmonologue, gives an account of the mental and physical sufferings that the artistsespecially the American Jewish writers undergo in the money-oriented modern society,which makes them become alienated. Their alienation includes the feeling of anxiety, ofpuzzlement, of loneliness as well as powerlessness. As a writer with Jewish background,Bellow absolutely pays more attention on the Jewish intellectuals and makes effort tohelp them get rid of alienation and accomplish spiritual salvation.The thesis is made up of three parts: the introduction, the main body, and theconclusion.The first part offers a brief introduction of the purpose and meaning of this thesisand the status of the research on Saul Bellow at home and abroad, according to which thetheme of this paper is set up.The main body contains four chapters. Chapter I give a detailed introduction aboutthe start and development of the theory of alienation so as to fully understand it, whichcan provide a ground for further analysis of the novel.Chapter Ⅱ shows the alienation of the two artists in Humboldt’s Gift. Theiralienation can be reflected on their powerlessness over life and literature creations.Living in the distorted world, they feel that life is meaningless and they feel lonely evenbecome self-estranged. Von Humboldt Fleisher, one of the heroes in the novel was afamous American poet in the1930s whose poems were full of innocence and romance.He was highly praised by many celebrities of that time. But when it came to the late forties, his poems became something outdated due to the prevalence of materialism in thesociety. But Humboldt who intended to change the distorted society by using theory ofPlato spirit and love, which turns out to be in vain, was forgotten by people gradually.Humboldt became alienated, feeling lonely, and addicted to women and booze, andfinally died in desperation. Charlie Citrine, the narrator and real hero of the novel, was asuccessful artist, a writer of Broadway plays, which won him a big fortune and fame.However, this kind of material affluence didn’t bring him pleasure, but the feeling ofmeaninglessness and loss of being. And then he fell into sexual affairs with many women.At last, his source of creation died out, and he sinks into spiritual crisis.Chapter Ⅲ focuses on the deep root of such alienation. In money-pursuingAmerican society, which was lacking in spiritual concern, both Humboldt and Citrineappeared to be alienated and lost their true beings. They both once got success but bothsuffer from failure. One died in poverty, and the other was deserted by relatives andfriends. On one hand, they fell into crazy pursuit of material things, but on the other hand,they found that their spiritual needs couldn’t be satisfied in the world where materialismand utilitarianism were prevailing. What was worse, they had difficulty in dealing withthe things in real life. So they tried hard to build a world of their own in order to escapefrom the reality. The root of their alienation mainly lies in their deep attachment toJewishness. They want to melt completely into American society, while at the same timethey always recall the Jewish identity. This contradiction in their heart arise the feeling ofmarginality. Although they have dreams, they are marginalized and neglected evenforgotten. On the other hand, the alienation comes from the influence of the disorderedsociety. With the fast development of industry, the moral value becomes distorted. Whatfill the world are cheat, fraud and distrust to each other. Faced with a world like this,Humboldt and Citrine are inevitably influenced. Puzzlement over death is another rootfor the alienation. Due to his fear of death, Citrine never attends a funeral, and alwaysfalls into deep thinking about death.Chapter Ⅳ is a discussion about the salvation of human nature. On the one hand,Citrine restores his long lost love for others through the journey to get Humboldt’s legacy.And Citrine reburied Humboldt and his mother with the money earned from themanuscript left by Humboldt. And he used rest of the money to help Humboldt’s poor uncle. On the other hand, the protagonists finally got the spiritual salvation through theirbrave struggle with the irrational world and their deep thinking about human nature.The last part concludes and summarizes the whole thesis and point out its realisticsignificance. As a writer with high responsibilities, Bellow responded the call of the timefalling into deep thinking over the existing condition of human beings. What Humboldt’sGift reflects is not only the spiritual crisis and social problems that Jewish Americansfaced but also the modern people’s existence dilemma and crisis in the moderncivilization. At the same time, through his work, Bellow also intends to instruct thealienated modern men to embark on the road of moral salvation.