A Complicated Personality in Seize The Day By Saul Bellow

Faruk Kalay

Abstract


Saul Bellow, a distinctive prominent writer in American literature, is frequently concerned with the themes of Jewish culture, and alienation. In Bellow’s novel Seize the Day, Tommy Adler “the maladroit, suffering middle-aged hero of the book, is the pathetic heir in post-war fiction to the failure of the American Dream” (Richmond 15). Tommy abandons his family and endeavors to emulate his father. However, his father’s perfectionism and preference for avoidance of his son lead to the protagonist’s physical and psychological alienation. Furthermore, the resemblance of their lifestyles and attitudes indicates that their consciousness, sub-conscious, and psychologies follow the same routine. This study will therefore argue the novel’s psychoanalytic characteristics.

Keywords: Mind Structure, Personality, Psychoanalysis, Saul Bellow, Seize the Day, Tommy Adler, Wilhelm Adler


Full Text:

PDF

References


Alhadeff, B. (1977). The Divided Self: A Laingian Interpretation of Seize the Day. Studies in American Jewish Literature 3/1, 16-20

Allen, B. (2001) The Adventures of Saul Bellow. Hudson Review, 54/1, 77–87.

Bailey, J. M. (1973). The Qualified Affirmation of Saul Bellow’s Recent Work. Journal of American Studies, 7/1, 67–76.

Bancroft, M. (1984). Recommended: Saul Bellow. English Journal, 73/4, 77–78.

Bellow, S. (2001). Seize the Day. London: Penguin Books.

Bouson, J. B. (1989). The Empathic Reader: A Study of the Narcissistic Character and the Drama of the Self. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press.

Cheuse, A. (2006). A Tribute to Saul Bellow. World Literature Today 80/3. 19.

Clements, C. C. Jr. (1973). A Flag of Many Colors: American Ethnic Writing and Ethnic Studies. College English, 34/4. 531–536.

Fishman, E. (1983). Saul Bellow’s ‘Likely Stories.’ Journal of Politics 45/3. 615–634.

Freedman, R. (1960). Saul Bellow: The Illusion of Environment. Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature, 1/1, 50–65.

Goldman, M. (1981). Humboldt’s Gift and the Case of the Split Protagonist. Modern Language Studies, 11/2, 3–16.

Jacobs, R. D. (1977). ‘Truths on the Side of Life’: Saul Bellow, Nobel Prize 1976. World Literature Today, 51/2, 194–197.

Klein, M. (1962). A Discipline of Nobility: Saul Bellow’s Fiction. Kenyon Review, 24/2, 203–26.

Kulshrestha, C. (1972). A Conversation with Saul Bellow. Chicago Review, 23/ 4, 7–15.

Leroux, J.F. (2008). Exhausting Ennui: Bellow, Dostoevsky, and the Literature of Boredom. College Literature 35/1, 1–15.

Meyers, J. (2009). Bluebeard Bellow. Kenyon Review, New Series, 31/2, 160–186.

Opdahl, K. M. (1979). ‘Strange Things, Savage Things’: Saul Bellow’s Hidden Theme. Iowa Review, 10/4, 1–15.

Richmond, L. J. (1973). The Maladroit, the Medico, and the Magician: Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day. Twentieth Century Literature, 19/1, 15–26.

Rodrigues, E. L. (1971). Bellow’s Africa. American Literature, 43/2. 242–256.

Roudané, M. C. & Bellow S. (1984). An Interview with Saul Bellow. Contemporary Literature, 25/3, 265–280.

Siegel, B.& Bellow S. (1978). Artists and Opportunists in Saul Bellow’s ‘Humboldt’s Gift.’ Contemporary Literature 19/2. 143–164.

Solotaroff, T. (1959). Philip Roth and the Jewish Moralists. Chicago Review 13/4, 87–99.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2010-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

Advances in Language and Literary Studies

You may require to add the 'aiac.org.au' domain to your e-mail 'safe list’ If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox'. Otherwise, you may check your 'Spam mail' or 'junk mail' folders.