Bellow Novels 1944-1953: Dangling Man/The Victim/The Adventures of Augie March

Saul Bellow In The Library Of America

Saul Bellow (1915 -- 2005) was born in Canada but was smuggled into the United States at the age of 9 by his bootlegging father. He spent his youth on the poorer Jewish streets of Chicago. Much of Bellow's writing is autobiographical in character and combines his rough-and-tumble early city life with his great erudition and thoughtfulness. Among much other recognition, Bellow received three National Book Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, and the Nobel Prize in 1976.

The Library of America has published two volumes of Bellow's novels, the first of which includes the three novels written between 1944 and 1953 and the second of which includes three novels written between 1956 -- 1964, including "Seize the Day", "Henderson the Rain King", and "Herzog". I am reviewing the earlier volume here which includes "Dangling Man", "The Victim", and "The Adventures of Augie March."

When he became famous, Bellow distanced himself from his first two novels, describing "Dangling Man" as his M.A. thesis and "The Victim" as his Ph.D. But these novels are worth reading in themselves and in showing how Bellow both developed the themes in these early works while also breaking away from them. The two early books are studies of alienation and loneliness in an urban environment, pitting the "outsider" against the broader "society." They are heavily influenced by Dostoevsky and by existentialism. In "Augie March" Bellow emphasizes humanism, exuberance, and the ability each person has in determining the course of his or her life.

"Dangling Man" (1944) is a short novel told in the form of the diary entries of its protagonist, Joseph. The novel sold poorly but marked the beginning of Bellow's high reputation with literary critics. It tells the story of a young man waiting for induction into the service. The induction has been deferred because of draft board mistakes and because of Joseph's status as a Canadian. During the time Joseph is left "dangling" he loses his job and is supported by his wife Iva. Although Iva encourages her husband to use the time given to him to further his strong interests in reading and writing, Joseph is unable to do so. He stays alone in his room for long periods, quarrels with his wife, family, and friends, and carries on an affair. Joseph seems to accept the necessity of the war effort and wants to come to terms with American society and its commercialism. Yet he remains an outsider. When the call to induction comes finally, Joseph responds with alacrity and relief, leaving behind a possibly failing relationship with his wife. The novel speaks to me about the difficulties of individual freedom and of being alone with oneself.

In "The Victim" (1947), Bellow examines loneliness and alienation in New York City following WW II. This novel again sold poorly, but it was made into a play which ran off-Broadway for a brief time in 1952. The protagonist is a Jewish man, Asa Leventhal, who works as an editor and is estranged from his family. His wife is out of town during a hot summer, leaving Asa alone. Leventhal is increasingly bothered and stalked by an old acquaintance, Allbee, who believes Leventhal was responsible for getting him fired and for his descent into poverty when Leventhal allegedly retaliated for Allbee's anti-Semitic remarks. Besides his increasing difficulties with Allbee, Leventhal becomes involved in the life of his Catholic and Italian sister-in-law whose young son is dying. "The Victim" is a story of guilt and paranoia with considerable emphasis on the strength of anti-Semitism in post-war America. The novel is tightly if formulaically constructed.

In the sprawling, exuberant picaresque novel "The Adventures of Augie March" (1953) Bellow found his own voice and received the first of this three National Book Awards. The book is told in the voice of its narrator, Augie, and it spans Augie's early life in Depression-era Chicago to Augie's mid-life following WW II. Much of the book involves Augie's relationship with his older brother, Simon, who is first in his high school class, marries into a wealthy family, and becomes highly successful. But Augie must find his own way. His family also includes an old woman who lives with the family and who functions as its "grandmother" or matriarch, a weak mother who was abandoned early by her husband and who Augie never sees, and a feeble-minded brother, George.

At the outset of his story, Augie proclaims himself "an American, Chicago born", and he reflects that the story of his wanderings and experiences will illustrate the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus's dictum that "character is fate." Augie has a series of long and rollicking adventures, legitimate and illegitimate, beginning with his work for a scheming Chicago insurance man and swindler named Einhorn. Later, he helps his brother Simon who has become the owner of a coal-yard. Augie meets and has affairs with many women of varied social backgrounds. He studies and reads voraciously but never finishes college. Augie's wanderings take him to Mexico in the company of an eccentric wealthy woman, with whom he is in love, for whom Augie trains an eagle in an futile effort to catch lizards. During WW II, Augie enlists in the Merchant Marine and, when his ship is torpedoed, he spends days adrift in the mid-Atlantic with a crazy scientist. Ultimately, Augie marries one of his flames, an actress named Stella, and seems to learn something of the nature of love. His life still remains an adventure and an unfinished project.

A small incident illustrates the humanistic character of Augie March and the hope it offers for the individual. Late in the book, in post-War Italy, Augie meets an impoverished Italian woman who offers to show him sites for a fee. Augie says he does not want a guide, because "people" come to him all the time; and he offers the woman a small sum. The woman responds" "People! But I am not other people. You should realize that. I am.... This is happening to me." (p. 974) Throughout this book, Bellow offers a vision of the individual and his or her value. Augie's life, in large scale, and the Italian woman whom I have discussed in small scale, show that people can fight and succeed and make something of life that they want. The book is a melange consisting of a vision of America and its promise, of taking and making one's opportunities in life, and of the value of literature and thought in making life worth living. "Augie March" is a diffuse wordy book full of both street-toughness and long philosophical reflections. If not the great American novel, it remains an extraordinary book.

This LOA edition includes sparse notes to the texts prepared by James Wood together with a useful chronology. It offers an excellent way to read the early works of a great American novelist.

Robin Friedman