Places Discussed
Wariri village
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 danger hangs about the village, emphasized by Bellow’s repeated use of the color red. The Wariri people have a fearsome reputation, yet Henderson finds the inhabitants attractive and their traditional garb stylish. The opulence and pageantry of Wariri culture contrasts with the pervasiveness of death in the village, exemplified by the corpse with which Henderson wrestles his first night there and the fondness of the Wariri for ornaments made of human bone. This weaving together of death and life underscores one of Bellow’s favorite themes: In order to live fully, human beings must come to terms with their own mortality.
Dahfu’s palace
Dahfu’s palace. Home of the Wariri monarch, a place where human and animal, intellectual and sensual converge. Dahfu keeps lions in one part of his palace and a harem in another. He and Henderson discuss philosophy, yet Dahfu must live (and die) by the most elemental facts. Henderson at first envies Dahfu his exotic luxuries, but soon learns that they, like his own wealth, are accompanied by heavy burdens. Both characters, too, are displaced people: just as Dahfu once renounced his medical studies in Syria to assume his place as the Wariri king, so must Henderson renounce his Western arrogance in order to emulate the equipoise he admires in Dahfu.
The palace can be taken both as a literal location—one in which Henderson’s friendship with the king deepens and where, under Dahfu’s guidance, he faces some of his starkest fears—and as an allegory of Henderson’s inner self, with the harem symbolizing his many raging lusts and the lions, in contrast, his dormant potential for nobility and serenity. The subterranean location of the lions’ den is significant: In order to earn the freedom of his soul, Henderson must first descend into an allegorical Hell. Interestingly, Henderson’s and Dahfu’s friendship comes to its climax on a tower, outdoors, in direct antithesis to the palace’s enclosed underground lions’ den.
Bush
Bush. Wild areas surrounding the Arnewi and Wariri villages. Bellow repeatedly uses fire imagery to hint at the evanescence of life in this harsh setting, and at the way the land makes permeable the boundaries between matter and energy. Henderson’s greatest fears are death and chaos, and thus he must learn to accept decay and disorder before he can live with the ease and mastery he desires. Henderson finally confronts death unflinchingly as Dahfu dies trying to catch a lion that his people believe contains the soul of his father. It is fitting that Dahfu’s death and Henderson’s redemptive attempt to save him occur in the bush, beyond the reach of both Western and African culture, at the “changing point between matter and light.”
Earlier in the novel, Dahfu explains that people’s surroundings influence their mentality and physical appearance. While Henderson at first finds this philosophy bizarre and depressing, he later, while in the bush, realizes that Dahfu is correct, connecting the African king’s ideas with Albert Einstein’s equation of matter and energy. Henderson, then, is changed by his time in Africa, especially the time he spends around the...
(This entire section contains 1078 words.)
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unselfish, noble Dahfu and his lions. Near the end of the novel, for example, Henderson begins to display a generosity that is, for once, unmotivated by expectation of reward. His adoption of Dahfu’s lion cub ensures that he will take a part of Africa back to his home in the United States and thereby bring a healing element of the bush and its wildness into his domesticated, suburban American life even as he preserves the memory of his lost friend.
Arnewi village
Arnewi village. First stop on Henderson’s journey in East Africa. In ironic allusion to the Old Testament’s Book of Exodus and the wasteland motif from the Grail mythos, Bellow depicts the village afflicted both by drought and a plague of frogs infesting its water supply. Henderson’s attempt to become a hero by killing the frogs ends in disaster that leaves the parched village worse off than before, mirroring Henderson’s arid, unsatisfied soul.
*Newfoundland
*Newfoundland. Eastern Canadian province in which Henderson’s plane makes a refueling stop on the last leg of his return trip to the United States. The contrast between the African bush and Newfoundland’s “gray Arctic silence” could not be more pronounced and serves to underscore the changes Henderson has undergone. Energized by the cold and by his sense of carrying on Dahfu’s lineage, Henderson runs and leaps like the lions that for the Wariri symbolize the sovereignty of the soul.
*Connecticut
*Connecticut. Henderson’s New England home at the beginning of the novel. There he raises pigs, to the consternation of his neighbors. His house’s disorder and his unkempt appearance indicate his alienation from the world and from himself. Feeling unhappy and confined at home, Henderson indulges in displays of temper; during one of these tantrums an elderly female neighbor dies of a heart attack, and his guilt over her death, as well as his dismay at seeing that her house is as cluttered as his, shocks Henderson out of his inertia and prompts him to travel to Africa. He realizes that he, too, will die one day, and that he must make some kind of peace with the world.
*France
*France. Country in which Henderson lived for a time as a child; it is also the country where he lives with his first wife and begins the affair that will become his second marriage. As he tours France in adulthood, Henderson’s memories of his cultured, accomplished parents fuel his feelings of inadequacy and discontent, and he quarrels with his lover, Lily. At the height of his misery he visits an aquarium and is both mesmerized and horrified by the sight of an octopus, the seeming embodiment of the randomness and death that terrify him.
Literary Techniques
Similar to many of Bellow's finest novels, Henderson subtly utilizes traditional narrative techniques. However, innovation isn't the author's primary rhetorical strength. This novel, much like The Adventures of Augie March, is a twist on the picaresque novel—a story that follows the adventures of a rogue or rascal, told through related satirical or comedic scenes. Typically, the picaro, or picaresque hero, gains insight into his nature, origins, and life role through his escapades. This is certainly true in Bellow's take on the genre. Henderson presents himself as a larger-than-life, humorous character in America and during his early adventures in Africa. As he reveals early in the novel, "living proof of something of the highest importance has been communicated to me so I am obliged to communicate it." Bellow's use of a picaro who comes to understand his place and purpose in life, along with the comedic vision that permeates much of his fiction, is enhanced by his nuanced variation on the first-person retrospective central narration.
The initial four chapters of Henderson seem to jump erratically between events in Henderson's American life, lacking the typical connections readers might expect. This disjointed narrative effectively serves Bellow's thematic intentions. Readers who continue to the African journey starting in chapter five will encounter a more linear storyline, interspersed with flashbacks. These flashbacks become significant as Henderson merges his present and past experiences, such as recalling his troublesome encounter with a French dentist after his dental bridge breaks in the Wariri village. These flashbacks serve dual purposes: they allow him to assess his current circumstances in light of past events and compel him to reconsider his previous interpretations of those events.
The structure of the novel mirrors its content, capturing the hero's conflicting experiences and forcing him to continually rethink his past. Bellow’s technique involves observing Henderson reinvent himself through the reexamination of his memories. An example of this occurs in the final chapter, which recounts the airplane journey back to America. During this journey, while caring for a Persian child, Henderson reflects on the traumatic summer of his brother Dick's drowning, his father's anger, his own escape to Canada, and his ride on a roller coaster with an old bear named Smolak. By recovering these memories, he reevaluates them and focuses on the bonds of fear and love between a self-loathing boy and a decrepit bear. This awareness allows him to declare a central truth to his transformation and the novel: that all his life's gains were due to love.
The first four chapters, however, appear intentionally disordered in sequence and transitions. This may be attributed to the composition process, as these chapters were initially published as a novella and serialized before the remaining chapters were completed. Nevertheless, Bellow, described by his biographer as an "obsessive reviser," would likely have reworked these chapters if he didn't believe their style served his thematic goals. He occasionally draws the reader’s attention to the "disorderly rush" of events that his narrator tries to sift through. This chaotic narrative style, resembling a stream-of-consciousness approach, aligns well with Bellow's theme. Before his African journey, Henderson’s problem is his lack of control over his life, which stems from his lack of perspective. Thus, the abrupt transitions and unresolved narrative sequences, along with Henderson’s confessions of his inability to establish sequence, are part of Bellow's strategy to immerse the reader in Henderson’s confused state before his journey toward purpose and sanity. As Henderson begins to understand his role in the larger scheme of things, he gains a sense of proportion, leading the narrative to smooth out into a more traditional episodic plot.
As is common in much of Bellow's fiction, the plot elevates certain objects to hold symbolic meanings beyond their literal ones. The recurring octopus, linked with Henderson's constant thoughts of death, has been discussed earlier, and many other animals also serve figurative purposes. Throughout different stages of his life, Henderson interacts with bears, pigs, frogs, a cat, the Arnewi cattle, a lioness, and two lions. Each group of animals reflects some aspect of Henderson's own identity. He tells his wife that the pigs have become "a part of me," and he even hears himself grunting like one while in Africa. Dahfu encourages him to "become the lion" during his therapy with Atti, a directive he follows indirectly by renaming himself "Leo" and insisting on bringing the lion cub "Dahfu" back to America.
Additionally, Bellow infuses the narrative with references to both classical and modern music. Henderson plays pieces by Mozart, Handel, and other composers on the violin in a frustrated attempt to connect with his deceased parents, aiming to reassure himself of human immortality and seek reconciliation. In one of the novel's humorous variations on a serious moment, he sings an oratorio from Handel's Messiah when the Arnewi queen inquires about his identity. He incorporates Mozart into his roaring from the den beneath the palace as he "becomes the lion." On the flight home, he sings from the Messiah to a young stewardess. In each instance, the musical references, like the frequent allusions to poetry, missionaries, and African anthropology (subjects Bellow studied in graduate school), enrich and add layers to the self-conceptions his protagonist is exploring.
Ideas for Group Discussions
Discussions about Henderson the Rain King often center on the protagonist and Bellow's techniques for guiding readers' perceptions of him. The initial questions delve into this topic, while the subsequent ones explore other facets of the novel. 1. Why do you think Bellow, whose other novels are deeply rooted in Jewish-American culture, chooses Handel's Messiah as Henderson's "subtext"?
2. How would you classify Henderson: as a hero, an antihero, a comic figure, or a character more typical of popular rather than "serious" literature? Explain your reasoning.
3. Does Henderson's apparent neglect or indifference toward his children undermine his role as the hero of this story?
4. What are your thoughts on Henderson's conflicted roles as a son? Consider both his estrangement from his father and his use of the violin to communicate with him.
5. Do you believe the reconciliation with Lily will endure? Why or why not?
6. Would you trust a medical doctor whom you knew as well as you know Henderson?
7. Outline the elements of the political conspiracy within the Wariri tribe. How do these conspiracies connect to the theme of Euro-American colonialism?
8. Is Willatale truly wise, or is she merely stating the obvious? Does Henderson's appreciation of her wisdom stem from the substance of her words or his eagerness to hear what he wants to hear?
9. How does Bellow lead us to interpret Dahfu, undoubtedly another significant character in Henderson the Rain King? Is he a genius, an original thinker, a life force that has become reckless, or a madman? Can a literary character embody multiple of these traits?
Literary Precedents
An essential aspect of Bellow's humor in Henderson the Rain King lies in his delicate blend of allusion and parody. Many critics have noted that the protagonist's military demeanor, his determination to travel to Africa, his assertion of a soldier's honor, and even his initials seem to evoke Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway, a prominent writer from the generation before Bellow, often wrote about existential encounters where the hero (always male) discovers meaning through courageous actions, maintaining integrity despite overwhelming odds. Writing in MidAmerica (1988), scholar David Anderson highlights several other parallels between Hemingway's final African safari in 1953, which garnered worldwide attention due to an airplane crash where Hemingway was feared lost, and events in Bellow's novel. Another episode in the novel may directly reference Hemingway's work. In his autobiographical The Green Hills of Africa (1935), Hemingway describes the Masai tribe, who obtain protein by mixing cattle blood, carefully drawn from living animals, with milk from the same cattle. It is plausible that Bellow, an avid reader aiming to critique the egocentrism of Hemingway's hero (whose quest for integrity leads to greater alienation, while Bellow emphasizes human solidarity), had the Masai tribe in mind when he created the endearing Arnewi.
Cartoonist Edgar Rice Burroughs contributed to decades of popular culture with his creations, leading to commercially successful films and television series where a European interacts with African peoples, often as a ruler, leader, or savior. Bellow parodies the colonialist assumptions found in the Tarzan comic strips (in one series, Tarzan becomes the king of an African tribe by a feat of strength, similar to how Henderson becomes the rain king by lifting the heaviest Wariri statue). Bellow's bumbling hero makes incorrect assumptions about the cultural and technological sophistication of the Wariri and fails to connect Arnewi cultural practices with the tribal wisdom previously discussed in this essay. Henderson's journey to authenticity is not about learning courage but about accepting his own and others' profound imperfections and interconnectedness.
Since the release of James Atlas's Bellow: A Biography in 2000, significant documentary evidence has verified that Saul Bellow extensively studied African anthropology at Northwestern University. This likely influenced the creation of Henderson the Rain King. One of Bellow's mentors, Melville J. Herskovits, was working on The Myth of the Negro Past during Bellow's time with him. Bellow's undergraduate thesis focused on an Eskimo tribe that chose starvation over eating foods forbidden by their gods, similar to how the Arnewi refuse to drink water containing living animals. In his 1981 work, Eusebio Rodrigues presents a detailed argument that Bellow used information from Sir Richard Burton's A Mission to Gelele the King of Dahomey, John Roscoe's The Souls of Central Africa, and Herskovits's The Cattle Complex in West Africa to shape Henderson's journey, particularly the brief episode with the Arnewi. Joni Adamson Clarke, writing in the Saul Bellow Journal in 1991, suggests an intriguing, though perhaps less convincing, theory that Bellow incorporated the Trickster figure from African folklore into the character of Henderson.
So far, this essay has explored major American literature, popular culture, anthropology, and esoteric philosophy as contexts for Henderson. However, perhaps the most significant parallel is with one of the greatest novels from the end of the Colonial period, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (1899). It can be argued that Henderson the Rain King serves as a modern, postcolonial response to Conrad's bleak tale of an extraordinary man, Kurtz, who descends into savagery during his time in the Congo, succumbing to megalomania as the natives deify him. In contrast, Henderson is not an extraordinary man; he lacks Kurtz's evident talents in journalism, oratory, trading, and philanthropy. Instead, he is a fortunate man whose success has not provided him with a sense of self-worth. Upon arriving at the Arnewi village, he behaves as if he has assumed the role of an exceptional person, absurdly performing a manual of arms for the grieving villagers and believing there "must be something that only I can do." As discussed, his sense of being exceptional stems from his association with Euro-American culture, drawing another parallel with Kurtz.
Henderson's attempt to rescue the Arnewi ends disastrously, leaving him ostracized rather than honored, as he fails to grasp the connection between their religion and value system. His experience with the Wariri starkly contrasts Kurtz's journey in the Congo. Instead of being celebrated, Henderson is captured, interrogated, and confined in a hut with a corpse. Unlike Kurtz, who was revered due to his European background, Henderson is deceived into a precarious position within Dahfu's cabinet because of his physical strength, demonstrated by lifting the former rain king and the ceremonial goddess Mummah. Consequently, he is ensnared in a role fraught with complexities, revealed only shortly before his friend Dahfu's death. Dahfu had conspired with the Wariri to trick Henderson into a ceremonial role meant to succeed the king. Henderson ultimately realizes, too late to act, that the Bunam and his faction have set him up as a puppet king, intending to strangle him once they confirm he lacks the necessary potency for Wariri royalty.
Despite this, Bellow's aim is not to mock or parody Conrad's colonial narrative but to reject its underlying messages. It is through the Wariri's deceit and manipulation that Henderson discovers his potential for spiritual and personal growth. His journey in Africa teaches him humility and love, contrasting with the arrogance and brutality that emerged from Kurtz's psyche. Consequently, Henderson may indeed return as a transformed individual, with the determination to choose his path and dedicate himself to service. In essence, Henderson the Rain King could be seen as a "Heart of Light," for Bellow's adventurous hero sheds his cultural arrogance when he is made to undress and run the course to bring the rain. Through this process, he learns to value his own culture by appreciating others.
Adaptations
Henderson the Rain King, influenced by numerous and varied literary and cultural sources, has been transformed into an opera titled Lily. Leon Kirchner composed its score in 1977, which only covers the first third of the novel. This adaptation of Bellow's story places significant emphasis on the woman with whom Henderson joyfully learns to express his love, recognizing how central his affection for her is to his life. Kirchner, influenced by the Vietnam War and contemporary issues surrounding American imperialism in developing nations, highlights Henderson's failure with the Arnewi rather than the novel's focus on his recovery process in the Wariri village.