An Analysis Of Saul Bellow’s Humboldt’s Gift From The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Cirticism

Saul Bellow is the greatest novelist of America after Hemingway and Faulkner.As a thoughtful writer with high responsibility and morality, Bellow has dedicatedhimself to concerning about the moral confusion of this era. He held that the artistsshould aim for morality. His sixth novel, Humboldt’s Gift, with its profoundimplications, has captured much critical attention since its publication. Numerousscholars have studied this work from different perspectives, such as existentialism,feminism and transcendentalism.Based on Ethical Literary Criticism, this thesis attempts to interpret the moraltragedies of Humboldt and Citrine from the three-dimensional ethical angle—familyethics, interpersonal ethics and social ethics, therefore reveals the suppression anddistortion of traditional ethics over human’s spirit. In this book, Saul Bellow conveyshis deep concern about the ethical construction as well as his broad humanisticfeelings.The thesis consists of three chapters plus an introduction and a conclusion.The introduction part starts with information of Saul Bellow’s life and his literarycreation, and proceeds to make a literature review about Humboldt’s Gift at home andabroad which is followed by an introduction of ethical literary criticism.The first chapter briefly analyzes the sources of Saul Bellow’s moral values. As aJewish descendant, Bellow is affected by the Jewish traditional culture, which isembodied in the consciousness of suffering and Jewish ethical orientation. Besides,Bellow also assimilates into American culture, and inherits the western humanistliterary tradition. The second chapter is the major part of the thesis. It makes adetailed analysis of Humboldt and Citrine’s moral tragedies from three-dimensionalethical angle—family ethics, interpersonal ethics and social ethics. From the analysis,we can clearly know what caused the tragedies of the two protagonists and why theymade such moral choices. The third chapter explores two ways out of the tragedies. For the protagonists, the trip to Coney Island is a trip for love. Having suffered inBellevue, Humboldt realized the danger of money and fame, leaving Citrine a gift.For the gift, Citrine went to Coney Island, and he found the pure love which he haslost for long. The later trip to Corpus Christi is a spiritual journey for Citrine. Whenhe went to see his sick brother, he perceived the true meaning of life, and found thepower to fight against the overwhelming materialism in American society. The lastchapter is the conclusion. Through extensive analysis, we can clearly know that thebook of Humboldt’s Gift, in fact, is the gift left by Saul Bellow to all mankind. Helooks forward to rebuilding the balance of the whole society with positive moral orderand interpersonal love. Bellow lets the readers see the ray of hope in the future life,and sets a moral mode for the readers in the world.