Abstract: Since middle of the 16th century, Spanish picaresque novel has a profound impact on development of the western novels. Saul Bellow is one of the most famous American novelists. On the one hand, he inherits characterization of the traditional picaresque novel. On the other hand, deeply rooted in the traditional Jewish cultural, influenced by rapid economic expansion of America and with a high sense of social responsibility and historical mission, Saul Bellow creates a new image of tramp in his novel. This paper is based on his representative novel— Seize the Day. The first part mainly introduces the picaresque novel, the author and the book Seize the Day. The second part is the theoretical concept of the character and characterization. And the third part analyzes the theme of the novel. And the fourth part discusses the major strategies of characterization, Irony and Psychological Study, and other strategies of characterization. The last part is the Conclusion.

This paper means to make a tentative study of author’s characterization in the novel so that we can find out his unique writing styles. Through the study of the novel, we can figure out how the author makes the new image of the tramps, as well as the writing intention behind those images.

Key words: picaresque novel; character; characterization; theme; strategies

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Picaresque Novel’s Origin and its Development-1

1.2 Saul Bellow and His Career-2

1.3 A General Introduction of Seize the Day-3

2. Character and Characterization-4

2.1 Theories of Character and Characterization-4

2.2 Classification of the Character in Seize the Day-4

3. Thematic Analysis of Seize the Day-5

3.1 Theme 1: Quest for the Warmth of Family-5

3.2 Theme 2：Quest for the True Self-6

3.3 Theme 3: Quest for the Meaning of Life-7

3.4 Core value：Love-9

4. Strategies of the Characterization in Seize the Day-9

4.1 Irony-9

4.1.1 Verbal Irony-10

4.1.2 Situational Irony-11

4.2 Psychological Study of the Protagonist’s Failure-12

4.2.1 Conflict with His Father-12

4.2.2 Failure of the Marriage-14

4.2.3 Relationship with Dr.Tamkin-15

4.3 Other Strategies of Characterization-17

4.3.1 Portrait Description-17

4.3.2 Language Description-18

5.Conclusion-19

References-20