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Saul Bellow's protagonists, though varying in age, background, career and interests, share a common problem: they suffer from an inability to enter wholeheartedly into society and personal relationships as a result of a detachment from reality in one respect or another. Many of Bellow's novels and short stories chart their progress from alienation towards eventual enlightenment and integration into their milieu, often aided by a character who, while in no way a role model, acts as a 'reality-instructor' who can show the protagonist what is distancing him from the real world. The protagonists' isolation stems from their awareness of existential problems with which they are initially unable to come to terms and which affect their ability to function on a day-to-day basis. At the start of the novel Herzog, Moses Herzog, an academic who has just undergone his second divorce, has withdrawn from his usual routine and finds an outlet for his thoughts in writing letters to "everyone under the sun" including the dead. Through Herzog's philosophical preoccupations and the complex interactions of his everyday life, Bellow illustrates the paradox that fear of a meaningless existence and the resulting denial of life may, ironically, be the very root of the futility felt. By allowing himself to hope, even without the certainties he craves, Herzog is finally able to communicate and even find joy in life. This does not imply that optimism is a simple answer to the ongoing challenge of personal, social and political problems. Rather, it shows that failure to interact with others and face the realities of life leads to the certainty of disillusion, whereas a focus on positive action provides a sense of purpose. The redeeming quality of life is, ironically, the very one feared by Bellow's protagonists: the fact that the future is unknown, which in itself conversely offers the possibility of hope. In this respect should be mentioned the spontaneous humour of the novels, which acts as a reminder of the light-hearted absurdity of life that balances the sombre side. To understand and better juxtapose with reality the behaviors of Bellow's characters, the construct of psychological alienation is reviewed and incorporated as an integrating framework.
Keywords: Bellow, Herzog, Alienation, Coping, Optimism.
INTRODUCTION
When we first meet Saul Bellow's protagonists...