The Resilience of Moses Herzog:Saul Bellow and the Humanist Novel

The oeuvre of American writer Saul Bellow (1915-2005) is deeply humanist in its emphasis on human<br/>autonomy, growth and meaning. For Bellow, humans are self-interpreting beings with agency and the<br/>ability to shape their personalities. Bellow particularly emphasises human resilience: in his novels he<br/>shows us resilient individuals who make an effort to take their lives into their own hands, refusing to be<br/>passive victims of their circumstances and misfortunes. This view of man is most impressively expressed<br/>in Bellow’s best-known novel Herzog (1964). The protagonist Moses Herzog goes through a severe crisis<br/>and almost succumbs to his misery, but eventually emerges from his difficulties as a renewed and stronger<br/>person after a learning process of self-examination and reorientation. In this article, I discuss Bellow’s<br/>humanist ideas, the way they take shape in Herzog, and in particular the role of resilience in them.