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Saul Bellow

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The philosophical classification of Saul Bellow's works

Summary:

Saul Bellow's works are often associated with existentialism. His novels frequently explore themes of individual identity, the search for meaning, and the complexities of human existence, reflecting existentialist concerns.

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Are Saul Bellow's works considered Existentialist?

Existentialism is defined by a focus on despair, angst, the significance -- or lack thereof -- of the small human in the large world, the unreality of the mind vs. matter, the line between real and unreal, and the concrete vs. the abstract, especially as it pertains to absurdism (Wikipedia). In literature, Franz Kafka and Phillip K. Dick both wrote in the Existentialist style.

Saul Bellow's books have been labeled Existentialist, especially his most famous book, Herzog, but Bellow was, at heart, an optimist, and so his works generally did not have the deep despair of true Existentialism. Herzog in particular is Existentialist only in its format; it is styled as a series of letters, written in the mind by the main character, who faces his demons with this "unreal" method instead of in reality. When he is shocked out of his inner turmoil by a very real...

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arrest, he is able to come to terms with his own issues. The story is not tragic or meaningless enough to be termed truly Existentialist, and Bellow's other books are similar;Henderson the Rain King is a comedic farce, and although the main character is somewhat Existentialist in his thinking, he too learns to accept himself and matures by the end.

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Realism is defined by a focus on "reality" as it can be expressed by our own perceptions, and by a focus on present-day, contemporary settings and events, instead of on the extraordinary (Wikipedia).

Saul Bellow's works are all set in the present-day during which he wrote them, and they all deal with regular people dealing with their own lives. His most adventurous novel, Henderson the Rain King, is still rooted in a rich heir's dissatisfaction with his own purpose, and his well-known existential novel, Herzog, still leads to a real-world conclusion stemming directly from the main character's actions.

While he specifically rejected the label of Realism, Bellow shows clear influence from the genre; his novels rarely addressed politics, instead focusing on people and their problems. In showing the intellectual side of common life, Bellow addressed larger themes while still digging into the roots of motive and action. Because of this focus, Bellow was able to straddle the line between Realism and Transcendentalism, which also had a great influence on his work; however, he tended more towards the realistic portrayal of people and emotion in interacting with each other, instead of their reaction to the world around them.

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Are Saul Bellow's works considered Naturalist?

Naturalism in literature is defined by a focus on realistic situations and scenarios, a lack of adventure or extraordinary events, the lives of simple people in a large world, and the darker or more tragic side of human living (Wikipedia).

Saul Bellow's works tend to focus on the intellectual pursuit of satisfaction, either in one's personal life or in regard to a specific quest. While he avoids many of the tropes of Romanticism -- a genre antithetical to Naturalism -- he is not so consumed with the suffering of living, instead showing the humanity of people in difficult situations. Some of his boos, such as Herzog, are overwhelmingly dark until the moment of epiphany; others, such as Henderson the Rain King, are deliberately light, almost joyous, in their treatment of human foible. Bellow is therefore not a strict naturalist; in fact, the Swedish Academy, in awarding Bellow the Nobel Prize for Literature 1976, "praised his early novels for breaking away from the harshness of naturalism and his later novels for their thought-provoking expansiveness" (faculty.atu.edu).

Strict Naturalism is harsh, as exemplified by J.D. Salinger and Emile Zola; Bellow shows compassion for his characters, and allows them a deeper humanity, and so as a whole his works cannot be placed into the Naturalist genre.

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