Bellow’s Dangling Man And Seize The Day

This thesis is an analysis of urban Jews in Dangling Man and Seize the Day by Saul Bellow, the renowned American Jewish writer and the winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature. It discusses mainly urban Jews’ predicaments in the city. On the basis of a theoretical review of the city images in literature and the urban experiences in Jewish literature, this thesis conducts a detailed interpretation of the fictional text. The city, as the dominating force, is the cause of urban Jews’ realistic predicament. Chicago in Dangling Man is presented as an estranging city where Joseph is estranged from the external world and is forced to retreat to his small world; New York in Seize the Day is presented as a fallen city whose prosperity has been tempting young urban Jews like Wilhelm, but at the same time makes them fall into desperation with its indifference, chaos and madness. Not only does the city strongly affect urban Jews’ real life, but it also influences their mind. These mental influences bring about urban Jews’ spiritual predicament. In Joseph’s case, he suffers from endless loneliness as a sensitive Jewish intellectual. His loneliness is a result of his estrangement from the external world, a result of the estranging Chicago; In Wilhelm’s case, he suffers from a painful frustration as a Jewish schlemiel. His frustration originates from his failed pursuit of the American Dream and his alienated family relationships, both are results of the fallen city’s influences on urban Jews’ mind. Urban Jews’ realistic and spiritual predicaments further lead to their survival predicament. It is this fundamental challenge that raises a question to them:how should urban Jews live? Both the two novels end with the retreat from the city, which may reveal Bellow’s attempt to answer this question. But both endings are ambiguous:what will happen after their retreat is unknown. The protagonists’future is uncertain:although Joseph cheers for the moment, he is still likely to end up with a tragedy; although Wilhelm has the vision of a tranquil country life, it can be easily interrupted by troubles from the city. Fundamentally a simple retreat from the city cannot solve urban Jews’ survival predicament fundamentally. The protagonists’ uncertain future indicates Bellow’s failed attempt to answer the question of "how to live" in both novels.