Unstable Identity—An Analysis Of Images In Ravelstein Upon Unreliable Narration

Saul Bellow is a Jewish American writer,and Bellow's Ravelstein published in 2000,which depicted Abe Ravelstein as a professor,a scholar as well as a political philosopher through Chick's narration.In other cultures,Ravelstein suffers from the fate of being marginalized.When he keeps seeking his position and is gradually far away from traditional culture.Near the end of his life,Ravelstein realizes that if Jews want to get rid of the fate of being marginalized,they must go back to Jewish culture.This thesis analyzes Ravelstein based on the theory of unreliable narration to deepen the understanding of Jewish American.The thesis consists of three main parts.First of all,the thesis studies Chick's function as a narrator and a character in the novel.As a character,Chick is an "unreliable" person because of his character defects and moral flaws.Secondly,at the same time,the transference between limited personage's visual angle and omniscient personage's visual angle take places many times in the novel.In this way,the narration of Chick is swing between the reliable narration and the unreliable narration.As a character,Chick is Ravelstein's good friend,colleague as well as neighbor.Chick admires Ravelstein's talent on academic research and politics.As a narrator,Chick gets rid of the positive value of Ravelstein.Meanwhile,Chick exaggerates Ravelstein's shortcomings and bad habits.The multiple functions of Chick lead to the contradiction of the delineation of Ravelstein.Then this thesis analyzes the multiple images of Ravelstein to show the living status of Jewish Americans.On the one hand,as an American,Ravelstein keeps in mind the Jewish culture and tradition,but he fails to establish cultural identity.On the other hand,as a Jew,Ravelstein is deeply influenced by American dominate culture.So he pursues worldly enjoyments and excess spending.Finally the thesis comes to the conclusion:Upon unreliable narration,Ravelstein presents multiple cultural issue of identity,which shows his unstable identity.The novel shows the author's ponder and anxiety about Jews' unstable identity.