Existential Questions and Modern Society
Herzog delves into fundamental questions. How should we live our lives? Are traditional moral and religious values sustainable in a society driven by materialism? Can the concept of value be harmonized with reality? These questions resonated deeply with many Americans, leading Herzog to become Bellow's most successful bestseller.
The novel explores these themes through the struggles of Moses Elkanah Herzog. He articulates that "the question of ordinary human experience is the principal question of these modern centuries." Twice divorced, jobless, and in despair, he fights to endure. He observes countless people yearning for wisdom, clarity, and truth, yet failing to find them in today's world. Frustrated, they are drawn into collective organizations, losing their unique identities. Public life overwhelms the private sphere. America is vast and powerful, filled with overwhelming noise and distractions; how can an individual preserve their soul in such an environment? In the novel, traditional solutions—religion, education, personal relationships—seem to contribute to the problem rather than offer a remedy. As Bellow himself questioned, "How can one resist the controls of this vast society without turning into a nihilist, avoiding the absurdity of empty rebellion? . . . Are there other, more good-natured forms of resistance and free choice?"
Value and Human Existence
Despite substantial evidence suggesting otherwise, Herzog argues that science has not eradicated all value-based considerations. As a Jew, he firmly believes that the vastness of the universe does not diminish human worth, asserting that facts and values are interconnected. After enduring significant hardship, he ultimately arrives at his own core principles of truth, love, peace, abundance, utility, and harmony. In the beautiful concluding section set in the Berkshires, he attains the conviction that simply existing is valuable and "worthful."
Imprisonment and Freedom
Bellow remarked that "a significant theme of Herzog is the imprisonment of the individual in a shameful and impotent privacy." Throughout much of the novel, Herzog finds himself trapped, yearning to connect with others, primarily through unsent letters. However, when he finally liberates himself from his attachment to Madeleine, he gains a new insight that his intellectual "privilege" was merely another form of confinement. Overjoyed by his newfound freedom, he expresses his deepest belief to his friend, Lucas Asphalter: "I really believe that brotherhood is what makes a man human .... The real and essential question is one of our employment by other human beings and their employment by us. Without this true employment you never dread death, you cultivate it."
Rejection of Twentieth-Century Clichés
Herzog explores and dismisses numerous clichés prevalent in twentieth-century thought and literature, such as angst, alienation, and the concept of a wasteland. Despite being acutely aware of the modern world's evils, as he experiences them firsthand, Herzog persistently seeks a foundation of hope and happiness. He works hard to achieve his affirmations.
Search for Meaning
At the start of the novel, Herzog acknowledges that he is desperately seeking meaning and understanding of both his own troubled life and human existence overall. As he pens his letters, he embarks on this quest by engaging in dialogues with individuals who have influenced him, as well as philosophers and intellectuals whom he believes can provide guidance. Through this journey, he aspires to attain self-awareness and acceptance.
Anxiety
One of the discussions he delves into involves religion. As he seeks answers to his questions, he reflects on the Orthodox Jewish faith he was taught during childhood. When Madeleine decides to convert to Catholicism, Herzog is compelled to reevaluate his beliefs. Throughout this journey, he writes letters to philosophers who have addressed these topics. In a letter to Nietzsche, for instance, he examines the philosophy that "God is dead" but ultimately dismisses it, arguing that the philosopher’s concepts “are...
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no better than those of the Christianity [he] condemns.” By the novel's conclusion, he moves away from traditional theology and adopts humanism. Earl Rovit observes in his article on Bellow forAmerican Writers that Herzog, much like Bellow’s other characters, ultimately focuses on “defining what is viably human in modern life—what is creatively and morally possible for the displaced person that modern man feels himself to be.”
Throughout most of the novel, Herzog makes little headway in his quest for meaning. His confusion and recognition of the chaos defining his life result in a mental and spiritual paralysis that nearly leads to his collapse. His personal anxiety is intensified by historical realities. It is an "Age of Anxiety," where tensions simmer beneath America's prosperous exterior. Studies like John K. Galbraith's The Affluent Society highlighted that the rapid changes Americans were undergoing often left them bewildered and uneasy. David Riesman, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, along with Nathan Glazer, argued in The Lonely Crowd that Americans were pressured into conforming to social norms dictated by politicians, religious figures, and the media, which made it challenging for them to uphold individual values and beliefs. While this sometimes led to apparent unity and calm, it could also generate feelings of alienation and frustration, resulting in a sense of isolation within a crowd. Many of Herzog's letters express the frustrations stemming from living in his cultural era.
A historical element that troubled Herzog was the rise of the women's movement. A significant issue in his relationship with Madeleine is her desire to be appreciated for her intelligence rather than her domestic abilities. Herzog recalls that while they lived in the countryside, he grew frustrated when she neglected house cleaning, expecting her to fulfill her "duties" as a wife. He acknowledges that in response, Madeleine accused him of "criticizing her mind and forcing her back into housework," and being "disrespectful of her rights as a person."
Herzog struggles with anxiety related to sexuality, particularly due to Madeleine's assertiveness and independence, which often left him feeling sexually inadequate. These insecurities likely led him to engage in affairs with other women during their marriage. His anxiety intensifies upon discovering that his best friend, Valentine Gersbach, had an affair with Madeleine while she was still his wife.
His distress is further amplified by his inability to complete the second volume of his study on romanticism. Once celebrated as a distinguished scholar for his early accomplishments, Herzog now feels he has not fulfilled his academic or personal potential. This sense of failure contributes to the paralysis he experiences throughout much of the novel. Madeleine's rejection is a central source of his anguish, leading him to feel like he is "falling apart" after she requests a divorce. Learning about Madeleine's affair with Gersbach during their marriage deepens his despair. Acknowledging her betrayal stirs feelings of rivalry with Gersbach. These emotions drive Herzog to craft verbal depictions of Madeleine and Gersbach, justifying his animosity towards them. As he grapples with his feelings about the pair, he attempts to understand his own role in the situation.
Madeleine's rejection, combined with his sense of failure, prompts Herzog to view himself as a victim and indulge in self-pity. Rovit suggests that Herzog is "a victim of his own moral sense of right and wrong—his own accepted obligation to evaluate himself by standards that will inevitably find him lacking." Rovit observes that Herzog suffers "intensely and rehearse[s] [his] agonies at operatic volume for all to hear."
As the novel progresses, Herzog channels his feelings of victimization into intense anger towards Madeleine and Gersbach. This anger finds an outlet when he receives a letter from a former student, reporting that his daughter Junie was mistreated by the two. In response, Herzog, fueled by rage, heads to Chicago for a confrontation. He acknowledges his anger is "so great and deep, so murderous, bloody, positively rapturous, that his arms and fingers ache to strangle them." Armed with his father's loaded gun, Herzog goes to Madeleine's house, intending to shoot one or both of his adversaries. However, his anger is somewhat diminished when he witnesses a tender interaction between Gersbach and Junie, prompting him to reconsider the situation.
Peace
Herzog eventually achieves a sense of tranquility by letting go of his fixation on Madeleine. According to Rovit, by the novel's conclusion, Herzog has emerged from "the craters of the spirit," mocking "[his] defeats with a merciless irony, resolved to be prepared with a stronger defense against the next assault that is sure to come." In an article about Bellow for the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Daniel B. Marin suggests that Herzog's "final silence expresses his trust in the intuitions that motivate him, even though they lie ultimately beyond his understanding."
