Alienation And Authenticity

Saul Bellow is a famous American novelist of the 20th century after Hemingway,Faulkner,and Fitzgerald.In 1976,Bellow became the first American Jewish writer who won the Nobel Literature Prize.The creation of novels could accompany the whole life of Saul Bellow.In other words,the novel is the autobiography in higher form and the epitome of his life experience.As a serious writer,Bellow always ponders on many serious problems,such as society,history,nation,spirit and soul.All these questions record and represent the shift of modern people's state in the society after WWII.The present author plans to take the existentialist Martin Heidegger 's ideas such as"Authenticity","Sorge",and "Being-Towards-Death".Meanwhile,through the analysis of three Bellow's novels,Dangling Men,Humboldt's Gift,Ravelestein,the present author plans to search for the transformation of modern people's existential state.Along the development,the author will respectively argue the transformation of the character's existential state in the youth,middle-age and late years.For example,his first novel Dangling Men,Bellow is indicated in painting and describing the dangling state of modern people.Joseph lives in inauthenticity.His authenticity is concealed and lost in the "they-self".Then,in Bellow's best work Humboldt's Gift,it pains the condition of middle-aged man.Humboldt's death suddenly awakens Citrine 's authenticity.Citrine starts to be aware of his thrownness in the world,which constitutes the main structure of "care" in Heideggerian philosophy.Lastly,Bellow's final novel Ravelstein,Ravelstein and Chick faces up with death,the biggest and non-related possibility.Ravelstein realizes the return to his own authenticity through his death.To sum up,Bellow's works gradually reflect the shift of modern men's state through the Bellow's trace of work and thought.Since WWII,modern man's state is closely connected with alienation.At the beginning,the young Joseph's authenticity is concealed by his inauthenticity.Later on,Humboldt's death awakens the middle-aged Citrine's authenticity.At the later year,Ravlestein realizes his return to authenticity by being-towards-death.