论文部分内容阅读
Abstract: This paper focuses on two aspects of romantic ideas in American novelist Saul Bellow’s novel Henderson the Rain King, trying to figure out how the author expresses his romanticism in the novel so that we can gain better insight into it.
Key words: romantic ideas spiritual salvation pursuit primitive land
一、Romanticism
The term refers to the literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and early 19th century.The Romantic Movement typically asserts the unique nature of the individual, the privileged status of imagination and fancy, the value of spontaneity over “artifice” and “convention,” the human need for emotional outlets, the rejection of industrial society, corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and an escape from the spiritual destruction of urban life. Their writings are often set in rural or Gothic settings and they show an obsessive concern with “innocent” characters---children, young lovers and animals.This paper is intended to probe into the romantic ideas in Henderson the Rain King to reveal how he discovered how primitive Africa turned him into a happy man as well as the mentioning of the children and the animals that are often included in Romantic works.
二、2 aspects of Romantic ideas in the story
1.Henderson’s pursuit of primitive land
As is aforementioned, Romanticists asserted that the rejection of industrial society, corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and an escape from the spiritual destruction of urban life should be human beings’ main concern. As to him, he chose to travel to Africa to find solutions to his life chaos and the unquenchable inner voice.
In my opinion, he intended to choose Africa as the place to fulfill his spiritual void and his quest for the true meaning in life probably because African continent was a primitive land devoid of the corruption of industrialization and corruption. It symbolized the innocence and purity without the trespassing of modern civilization.
(1)His trip to Arnewi
Upon arriving at the interior of the land with his friend Charlie, he was immediately attracted to the primitive environment, which had an immediate soothing effect on his restless mind:“I didn’t feel the pressure in the chest,nor hear any voice within.At that time,it was silent”(ibid:43).
But when the exotic attraction had subsided, he became restless again and he knew that neither sightseeing nor photograph-taking was the solution to quieting his inner voice. Besides,he was critical of all the new and modern equipment that they had brought from America. It seemed to him that all these products from the civilized society were futile to tackling his pursuit of true meaning of life, so he chose to run away from them. Determined to discard such trappings of modern civilization as Charlie’s fancy equipment and even the jeep, Henderson asked for his African guide Romilayu, to lead him to some places off the beaten track, as if this was the prerequisite to facing his basic spiritual issues. With the guide’s help, he visited two tribes, the Arnewi and the Wariri,where he got the experiences which changed him thoroughly.
When he first reached the Arnewi, he found that “it is a place certainly at baking heat”(ibid:47).Remote, barren, and with a serious lack of water, it turned out to be a place with few indications of life. Although he had left the modern world, he was still bound with industrial civilization unconsciously.At the first sight of the Arnewi tribesmen, he used his Austrian lighter to set on fire to a bush, just in order to know the Arnewi people’s “reaction to it” (ibid:48).Even when he threw away his gun, his helmet, his lighter and all such stuff,the essence and spirit of modernity still existed in his mind without his awareness of that.And that was the reason why he used his self-made bomb,an indication of modern technology, to get rid of the harmful frogs in the cistern.
His failure in eradicating the frogs was the evidence that modern technology had a harmful effect on the primitive land and that author’s intention was quite clear that civilization might bring destruction to the human society. From the event, we can see that when he entered the ancient tribe of the Arnewi, he began to change from a person who imprisoned himself spiritually and refused to relate to others to a man who paid attention to the people around him. It was a turning point for him because he found aiding other people could make him happier.
When he was compelled to wrestle with Itelo, he won the latter and made friends with the whole tribe, which made him forget about his society-phobia: “This is really a sweet bunch of Africans, I love them” (ibid: 71). Later he was introduced to Queen Willatale. Though he was unable to answer who he was when asked, he still felt the queen“put (his) soul at ease”(ibid:81).
The land and the innocent people there helped him find out what he wanted and what he was lacking, that is, his pursuit of the land, was the reflection of his pursuit of the spiritual contentment.
(2)His trip to Wariri
His next stop was the Wariri tribe, a much more hostile territory. But it was during his stay in this tribe with King Dahfu that he completed his spiritual questing search. After a few disquieting and even frightening experiences, he got to have a long talk with the king. Contrasted by the king’s serenity, Henderson was conscious of his own spiritual problem. He called himself a Becomer and, the king a Be-er and he wanted to stop Becoming and to Be. Thus, while watching the ceremony, he wanted to try lifting one of the stone gods, Mummah , the rain goddess, because he saw it as a challenge to himself and as a way of taking one more step towards understanding himself and the true meaning of life: “Everyone born was to carry his life to a certain depth…I’m beginning to see my depth” (ibid: 191).
Once he became the rain king, he was willing to participate in various duties because he believed that his ordeals may help him discover the truth in life, from which we can see his desire and his efforts to transform and become a better man. During their later communication, King Dahfu instructed him in the way of life by rendering him to behave and roar like Atti, Dahfu’s lioness, which he had never experienced in America and the primitive way enabled him to awake his inner human longing. Though he was not able to achieve complete calmness, he had changed enough to realize that he had a turning point in his life.
Then he took two decisive steps. Firstly, he sent Romilayu away to avoid getting him involved in the coming trouble that was about to occur between Dahfu and his tribe. Secondly, he wrote a letter to his wife Lily, expressing his love for her and more importantly, laid out his plans for his future.
What was previously a self-centered man turned out to be a person showing concern for others and having a definite goal in his life. After his trip to Africa, his personalities and spirit were purified.
2.The mentioning of children and animals
Romantic writings are often set in rural or Gothic settings and they show an obsessive concern with “innocent” characters---children and animals, which helps to achieve the theme in this story---his quest for spirit and meaningful life.
At the beginning of the story, children were mentioned by Henderson, though in a very casual way as if there were animals in the farm. “There are Edward, Ricey, Alice, and two more---Christ, I’ve got plenty of children.God help whole bunch of them.” (ibid: 4).After Francis and he were divorced, she had one of the kids with her in Switzerland. He can’t understand why a mother waned to have a child with her. He did not show much concern about his children and his family. But toward the end of his journey, he seemed to realize how important his kids to him. He not only admitted his love for Lily but also his concern toward his children and expressed his wish to see Alice, which indicated that he had turned from an indifferent patriarch into a loving husband and father.
Fathering an orphan at the novel’s conclusion also served as a stark contrast to his selfish refusal of letting his daughter adopting an orphan at the beginning of the novel. He made a very loving gesture by holding the kid close to his chest.By giving his love to an unknown child, he realized that it was love for other people and the nature that was his remedy for his spiritual void, “like medicine applied”(ibid:340).When he went to Arneri tribe, where he began his quest for true self, he was sorry to make a girl crying.
Animals were romantic references in the novel as well.At the beginning of the story,pigs were raised by him to show his spiritual emptiness.Pigs carry the symbolic meaning of stupidity, indicating his immaturity in the spirit. What is more, People in Arnewi treated cattle as part of their family. “These people love their cattle like brothers and sisters, like children”(ibid:56).As we know cattle always symbolize tenderness, meekness,obedience and so on. The use of the symbol reflects the features of the tribe to some degree, which accounted partly for his desire to help them. The frogs were mentioned to do harm to the tribesmen and killing them was the first thing he wanted to do for others, which illustrated another change in his spirit.Lastly,there is the mentioning of a lion when he went to Wariri tribe. King Dahfu was sent to find a lion, which was supposedly the reincarnation of the late king and was a symbol of bravery. The lion hunt failed and the lion wounded the king. When Henderson learned shortly before Dahfu’s death that he was the next person to in the line of succession for the throne he was frightened and fled back to his home in America, which added to the humor of the whole story and was the marking point of the end to his quest in Africa.
三、Conclusion
The two aspects of Romantic ideas clearly demonstrate how the protagonist regained his true self when suffering from the spiritual emptiness in an era of material affluence. He was restless but he did not allow himself to indulge himself in the consuming wrath that was prevalent in his life. He embarked on his journey to the primitive Africa on his own initiative to change himself and his life, and he succeeded in turning himself into a better man.
[References]
[1]Bellow，S.Henderson the Rain King.London: Penguin Books,1965.
[2]劉炳善.英国文学简史[M].郑州：河南人民出版社,2006.
[3]赵红英.英国文学简史学习指南[M].北京：中国传媒大学出版社，2006.
（作者单位：福建福州大学外国语学院 福建福州市）
Key words: romantic ideas spiritual salvation pursuit primitive land
一、Romanticism
The term refers to the literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and early 19th century.The Romantic Movement typically asserts the unique nature of the individual, the privileged status of imagination and fancy, the value of spontaneity over “artifice” and “convention,” the human need for emotional outlets, the rejection of industrial society, corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and an escape from the spiritual destruction of urban life. Their writings are often set in rural or Gothic settings and they show an obsessive concern with “innocent” characters---children, young lovers and animals.This paper is intended to probe into the romantic ideas in Henderson the Rain King to reveal how he discovered how primitive Africa turned him into a happy man as well as the mentioning of the children and the animals that are often included in Romantic works.
二、2 aspects of Romantic ideas in the story
1.Henderson’s pursuit of primitive land
As is aforementioned, Romanticists asserted that the rejection of industrial society, corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and an escape from the spiritual destruction of urban life should be human beings’ main concern. As to him, he chose to travel to Africa to find solutions to his life chaos and the unquenchable inner voice.
In my opinion, he intended to choose Africa as the place to fulfill his spiritual void and his quest for the true meaning in life probably because African continent was a primitive land devoid of the corruption of industrialization and corruption. It symbolized the innocence and purity without the trespassing of modern civilization.
(1)His trip to Arnewi
Upon arriving at the interior of the land with his friend Charlie, he was immediately attracted to the primitive environment, which had an immediate soothing effect on his restless mind:“I didn’t feel the pressure in the chest,nor hear any voice within.At that time,it was silent”(ibid:43).
But when the exotic attraction had subsided, he became restless again and he knew that neither sightseeing nor photograph-taking was the solution to quieting his inner voice. Besides,he was critical of all the new and modern equipment that they had brought from America. It seemed to him that all these products from the civilized society were futile to tackling his pursuit of true meaning of life, so he chose to run away from them. Determined to discard such trappings of modern civilization as Charlie’s fancy equipment and even the jeep, Henderson asked for his African guide Romilayu, to lead him to some places off the beaten track, as if this was the prerequisite to facing his basic spiritual issues. With the guide’s help, he visited two tribes, the Arnewi and the Wariri,where he got the experiences which changed him thoroughly.
When he first reached the Arnewi, he found that “it is a place certainly at baking heat”(ibid:47).Remote, barren, and with a serious lack of water, it turned out to be a place with few indications of life. Although he had left the modern world, he was still bound with industrial civilization unconsciously.At the first sight of the Arnewi tribesmen, he used his Austrian lighter to set on fire to a bush, just in order to know the Arnewi people’s “reaction to it” (ibid:48).Even when he threw away his gun, his helmet, his lighter and all such stuff,the essence and spirit of modernity still existed in his mind without his awareness of that.And that was the reason why he used his self-made bomb,an indication of modern technology, to get rid of the harmful frogs in the cistern.
His failure in eradicating the frogs was the evidence that modern technology had a harmful effect on the primitive land and that author’s intention was quite clear that civilization might bring destruction to the human society. From the event, we can see that when he entered the ancient tribe of the Arnewi, he began to change from a person who imprisoned himself spiritually and refused to relate to others to a man who paid attention to the people around him. It was a turning point for him because he found aiding other people could make him happier.
When he was compelled to wrestle with Itelo, he won the latter and made friends with the whole tribe, which made him forget about his society-phobia: “This is really a sweet bunch of Africans, I love them” (ibid: 71). Later he was introduced to Queen Willatale. Though he was unable to answer who he was when asked, he still felt the queen“put (his) soul at ease”(ibid:81).
The land and the innocent people there helped him find out what he wanted and what he was lacking, that is, his pursuit of the land, was the reflection of his pursuit of the spiritual contentment.
(2)His trip to Wariri
His next stop was the Wariri tribe, a much more hostile territory. But it was during his stay in this tribe with King Dahfu that he completed his spiritual questing search. After a few disquieting and even frightening experiences, he got to have a long talk with the king. Contrasted by the king’s serenity, Henderson was conscious of his own spiritual problem. He called himself a Becomer and, the king a Be-er and he wanted to stop Becoming and to Be. Thus, while watching the ceremony, he wanted to try lifting one of the stone gods, Mummah , the rain goddess, because he saw it as a challenge to himself and as a way of taking one more step towards understanding himself and the true meaning of life: “Everyone born was to carry his life to a certain depth…I’m beginning to see my depth” (ibid: 191).
Once he became the rain king, he was willing to participate in various duties because he believed that his ordeals may help him discover the truth in life, from which we can see his desire and his efforts to transform and become a better man. During their later communication, King Dahfu instructed him in the way of life by rendering him to behave and roar like Atti, Dahfu’s lioness, which he had never experienced in America and the primitive way enabled him to awake his inner human longing. Though he was not able to achieve complete calmness, he had changed enough to realize that he had a turning point in his life.
Then he took two decisive steps. Firstly, he sent Romilayu away to avoid getting him involved in the coming trouble that was about to occur between Dahfu and his tribe. Secondly, he wrote a letter to his wife Lily, expressing his love for her and more importantly, laid out his plans for his future.
What was previously a self-centered man turned out to be a person showing concern for others and having a definite goal in his life. After his trip to Africa, his personalities and spirit were purified.
2.The mentioning of children and animals
Romantic writings are often set in rural or Gothic settings and they show an obsessive concern with “innocent” characters---children and animals, which helps to achieve the theme in this story---his quest for spirit and meaningful life.
At the beginning of the story, children were mentioned by Henderson, though in a very casual way as if there were animals in the farm. “There are Edward, Ricey, Alice, and two more---Christ, I’ve got plenty of children.God help whole bunch of them.” (ibid: 4).After Francis and he were divorced, she had one of the kids with her in Switzerland. He can’t understand why a mother waned to have a child with her. He did not show much concern about his children and his family. But toward the end of his journey, he seemed to realize how important his kids to him. He not only admitted his love for Lily but also his concern toward his children and expressed his wish to see Alice, which indicated that he had turned from an indifferent patriarch into a loving husband and father.
Fathering an orphan at the novel’s conclusion also served as a stark contrast to his selfish refusal of letting his daughter adopting an orphan at the beginning of the novel. He made a very loving gesture by holding the kid close to his chest.By giving his love to an unknown child, he realized that it was love for other people and the nature that was his remedy for his spiritual void, “like medicine applied”(ibid:340).When he went to Arneri tribe, where he began his quest for true self, he was sorry to make a girl crying.
Animals were romantic references in the novel as well.At the beginning of the story,pigs were raised by him to show his spiritual emptiness.Pigs carry the symbolic meaning of stupidity, indicating his immaturity in the spirit. What is more, People in Arnewi treated cattle as part of their family. “These people love their cattle like brothers and sisters, like children”(ibid:56).As we know cattle always symbolize tenderness, meekness,obedience and so on. The use of the symbol reflects the features of the tribe to some degree, which accounted partly for his desire to help them. The frogs were mentioned to do harm to the tribesmen and killing them was the first thing he wanted to do for others, which illustrated another change in his spirit.Lastly,there is the mentioning of a lion when he went to Wariri tribe. King Dahfu was sent to find a lion, which was supposedly the reincarnation of the late king and was a symbol of bravery. The lion hunt failed and the lion wounded the king. When Henderson learned shortly before Dahfu’s death that he was the next person to in the line of succession for the throne he was frightened and fled back to his home in America, which added to the humor of the whole story and was the marking point of the end to his quest in Africa.
三、Conclusion
The two aspects of Romantic ideas clearly demonstrate how the protagonist regained his true self when suffering from the spiritual emptiness in an era of material affluence. He was restless but he did not allow himself to indulge himself in the consuming wrath that was prevalent in his life. He embarked on his journey to the primitive Africa on his own initiative to change himself and his life, and he succeeded in turning himself into a better man.
[References]
[1]Bellow，S.Henderson the Rain King.London: Penguin Books,1965.
[2]劉炳善.英国文学简史[M].郑州：河南人民出版社,2006.
[3]赵红英.英国文学简史学习指南[M].北京：中国传媒大学出版社，2006.
（作者单位：福建福州大学外国语学院 福建福州市）