Henderson the Rain King (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: Saul Bellow
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Mock-heroic
- Time of Work: Late 1950’s
- 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
Places Discussed
Wariri village. Domain of King Dahfu of the imaginary East African Wariri people. More lush than neighboring areas, the Wariri land also boasts a few of the modern amenities that Henderson associates with “civilization”: firearms, books, and Western furniture. Bellow often shows the village as a place of confinement; Henderson and his African guide are held captive when they first arrive, as they are again after Dahfu’s death, and Dahfu himself seems a prisoner in his own palace, chained by the obligations of his throne.
An atmosphere of death and...
[The entire page is 1344 words long]
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