Abstract: Saul Bellow, who enjoys high reputation around the world, is a great American writer with humanistic concern. He pays close attention to contemporary people’s fate. His works fully reflect his concern with American culture and more broadly with the human civilization as a whole. Of all of Bellow’s works, Seize the Day is one of the most influential. By vividly presenting the protagonist’s painful mental experience in one day, Bellow displays the current situation in America, where people are undergoing a grave spiritual crisis that arises from the lust of material success, and the existence of an individual who struggles to find significance in such a life. As a study on the theme of the novel, this paper analyzes the unpleasant realities that the protagonist lives in and tries to escape, and explores the roots of such a suffocating state of existence. It is hoped that this study enables us to better appreciate the author’s insightful understanding of major problems of the materialistic American society, his serious concern about the fate of the whole human society and the way to survive.    

Key words: Saul Bellow; Seize the Day; the theme of escape

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

  1.1 Saul Bellow and Seize the Day-1

  1.2 Theme of the Paper-3

2. A Review of Related Studies-3

  2.1 Studies Concerning Saul Bellow-4

  2.2 Studies Concerning Seize the Day-6

3. An Analysis of the Escape Attempts in Seize the Day-8

  3.1 Escape from External Forces-8

  3.2 Escape from Inner Self-13

4. A Discussion on the Meaning of Escape-16

  4.1 An Inescapable Fate of Human Beings-17

  4.2 Escape as a Way to Survive in a Materialist Society-18

5. Conclusion-19

References-20