An Existential Analysis Of Herzog

Saul Bellow is one of the greatest writers in the United States. He becomes “aspokesman for the contemporary American literature” in the wake of Hemingwayand Faulkner. He is also the most powerful American Jewish writer. In his lifetime,he won numerous awards, and he is so far the only novelist who won the NationalBook Award three times. The Nobel Prize in literature was awarded to him in1976“for the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that arecombined in his work.”Saul Bellow devoted his lifetime to reveal the western capitalist social conflicts.His works depict all kinds of social problems and the spiritual crisis of westernsociety from different perspectives and demonstrate the confusion and bewildermentof those who can’t find the existential meaning in the real world.Saw Bellow’s masterpiece is Herzog. In the book, he covers a lot of socialproblems, and it is the milestone in Saul Bellow’s writing career. The novel hascolorful contents, profound meaning, deep analysis, and diversified narrative skill,vividly characterizing a middle-class intellectual whose anguish and confusion,pursuit and exploration in the modern society. Some critics have argued that Herzogcomprehensively and profoundly reveals various social problems in thecontemporary American society.The publication of the novel received wide attention and resonance. There are alot of comments on this work from the perspective of existentialism, but very fewcomments has a deep and detailed analysis from the existential point of view. Thus,this thesis will try to analyze the novel in details from the perspective ofexistentialism. Through analyzing the alienation and restoration of Herzog and thatof his wife Madeline and their friends and relatives, the thesis aims to explore thepredicament and confusion of modern man, and try to find a solution to overcometheir confusion and find their meaning of existence.This thesis consists of three parts: introduction, main body and conclusionThe first part is introduction, mainly introducing the motive, meaning, andresearch method of this thesis.The second part is the main body, consisting of three chapters: The first chapter is the summary of literary criticism, it introduces SaulBellow’s life and career and writing characteristics and artistic features, theimportance and criticism of Herzog, the basic ideas of existentialism, and Bellow’srelationship with existentialism.The second chapter analyzes the existential meaning reflected in Herzog’sexperience. This chapter is divided into three parts: The first part is the reason whyHerzog will drop into a spiritual dilemma. After World War II, although on thesurface the U.S. is prosperous, people feel spiritual confusion and cannot find themeaning of existence. Herzog is in a spiritual crisis because of the contradictionsbetween the inner world and outer reality，and his crisis is universal. This part fullyembodies Kierkegaard’s existential theory of “The world is absurd, life ismeaningless.” The second part is the analysis of the existentialism embodied inHerzog’s alienation experience. Because Herzog expect sincere relationships withothers, he is confused about what to do and drop into alienated state in a societydominated by materialism and hedonism. To get rid of the alienated state, he carrieson a painful struggle. His struggle reflects the theory of Kierkegaard’s three stages oflife realms and Sartre’s theory of freedom of choice. The third part analyzes theexistential meaning embodied in the experience of Herzog’s restoration. Under theinfluence of affection and love, Herzog achieves restoration after a spiritualwandering, eventually obtains a peaceful mind，to start a new life and find the truemeaning of existence. This part fully embodies Sartre’s theory of freedom of choiceThe third chapter analyzes the existentialism embodied in the experience ofMadeleine and other Jewish Americans. In this chapter, Marx’s theory of alienationand Sartre’s theory of absurdity, despair, and freedom of choice will be used as thetheoretical basis. This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part analyzes theexistential meaning embodied in the experience of Madeleine’s alienation andregression. Due to miserable childhood and unhappy marriage, she also drops intoalienation. However, she not only pursues her master degree but also divorcesHerzog, finally leading a happy life. Her experiences fully embody Sartre’s theory offreedom of choice. The second part analyzes the existentialism embodied in theexperience of other Jewish American’s alienation and restoration. Herzog’s relatives and friends also have a very tragic childhood and experiences due to their Jewishbackground. They generally feel the world is absurd, and life is painful, andmeaningless. However, they do not surrender and find the meaning of existence aftera struggling between the inner world and outer reality. The third part analyzes theexistentialism embodied in modern man’s alienation experience. Because Herzog’sexperience is actually a microcosm of modern man’s experience. It reveals theessence of human existence and finds a way out for us through rethinking the crisisof modern civilization.The last part is conclusion. It restates the theme of Herzog. That is we can makepositive choice in spite of “The world is absurd, life is painful, and meaningless.”And it also emphasizes the special significance of Herzog and its status in literature.