Saul Bellow
Henderson the Rain King
Saul Bellow was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976 for, among other things, the ability to give values a place side by side with facts in literature, unlike realism. The import of his work was seen as creating awareness that only the right values can give human kind freedom and responsibility, necessary foundations for building of faith in the future and a desire for action. Bellow's work was also recognized for its unique mixture of philosophy, cultural analysis and deep insights into human consciousness (The Nobel Foundation Web site).
Henderson the Rain King is an archetypical Bellow work bearing all the aforesaid characteristics. Henderson, the novel's principal character sets out on a journey ostensibly to Africa but primarily in search of himself. Bellow's portrayal of the unhappy, discontented middle-aged American millionaire has been widely interpreted as a caricature of Americans in the twentieth century: "...big, restless, wealthy, confused...resemblances in Henderson...literary heroes...turbulent, fleshy, sensual, gross.... He is the American Adam...verge of a breakdown, trying to recover some lost quality of himself...."(Markos, 109)
All is, however, not lost as Bellow shows Henderson as all too human with many redeeming qualities, self-realization being the most important: "No one has ever conveyed so well as Saul Bellow the anguish of a man who is capable of honestly contemplating his nature but incapable of changing it.... Henderson has acted like a slob again and again...but one never doubts that he has good...qualities...predicament seems tragic...." (Hicks, 100)
Tragedy...
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