Henderson the Rain King (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Saul Bellow
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Long fiction, Picaresque fiction
- Subjects: 1950’s, Self-discovery, Africa or Africans, Courage, Gods or goddesses, Identity, Millionaires, Priests, Animals, dangerous, Rain
- Locales: Africa, France, Connecticut
Henderson the Rain King is a mad, antic fantasy, perhaps the most comic of Bellow's novels. Rich, world-weary Eugene Henderson, like the heroes of myth, seeks escape from the burden of the world and embarks on a journey to unknown lands in search of meaning and peace. The unknown land is Africa, and Henderson arrives there in poverty of spirit, having, like lshmael in Herman Melville's Moby Dick (1851), the need to find purpose in his life. Henderson is a kind of Tommy Wilhelm in reverse, except that Henderson, a graduate of an Ivy League university, has a broader...
[The entire page is 916 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
