Spiritual Crisis Of Intellectuals In Saul Bellow's Novels

Saul Bellow is one of the most important American novelists after World War II.Bellow filled the gap of American literary world after Hemingway and Faulkner with his unique creative perspective and style in his novels.He is a well-deserved master of fiction.With a high sense of social responsibility,he pays close attention to the living conditions of modern people,especially the spiritual dilemma of contemporary American intellectuals,which embodies profound humanistic concern.Bellow's novels especially focus on the profound analysis of intellectual spiritual crisis.This paper argues that the spiritual dilemma of modern people revealed by Bellow is a "spiritual crisis of rich society",which has an important relationship with the feverish pursuit of material life in contemporary American society.With the great development of science and technology and the wealth of material wealth,modern people indulge in material enjoyment.Utilitarianism has become the dominant principle in society.The pursuit of substance leads to the inferiority of spirit,and the emphasis on reason leads to the exile of sensibility,which leads to all kinds of spiritual puzzles of people.Intellectuals are keen experiencers of this dilemma.Their spiritual crisis has profound social causes.The first is the conflict between heterogeneous cultures.The intellectuals of Bellow's novels are mostly Jews.This kind of conflict is mainly embodied in the conflict between Jewish culture and American culture.In essence,it reflects the conflict of new and old values,and deeply reflects the American reality in the transitional period after World War II.Secondly,the stimulation of business culture.The prosperity of commerce,consumption dominated the whole society,these changes also give a huge impact on the hearts of people.Thirdly,the turbulent social situation.The rapid development of science and technology in the United States after World War II,the extreme material prosperity,on the other hand,the continuous cold war,cyclical economic crisis and so on,all represent a turbulent social environment.All these complicated social realities are the important reason why modern intellectuals fall into spiritual crisis.In addition,Bellow's attention to spiritual crisis is related to his unique personal experience as an intellectual.Bellow does not only analyze the state of crisis,he always actively explores the way out of the crisis in his works.Bellow's repeated exploration of the way out can be summed up in three aspects: firstly,to seek a way out from vagrancy;secondly,to seek spiritual comfort from nature and art;and thirdly,to seek new life from the experience of love.Bellow's novels deeply analyze the spiritual crisis of intellectuals and show their spiritual world.On this basis,Bellow reflects the perplexity of the whole human existence and the exploration of the way out.Bellow's novels enlighten us to pay close attention to the spiritual world of modern people and to reflect deeply on the current social,cultural,political and other aspects.