本文是一篇英语论文，本文以卡伦·霍尼的神经症理论为基础,从原因,防御策略以及结果三个方面对威尔姆的焦虑进行解读,探究其内心世界,揭示其精神困境。
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction to Saul Bellow
As the fourth child of his family,Saul Bellow was born in 1915 in Racine,asuburb of Montreal,Canada.At the age of eight,Bellow contracted a respiratoryinfection,an experience that taught him self-reliance and a love of reading.Heattributed his decision to become a writer to the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin.In 1924,Bellow and his family moved to Chicago,a city that would end up becoming thebackdrop of many of his novels.For Bellow,Chicago is a better embodiment of theessence of America than New York.Even though he wanted to study literature duringcollege,he considered his English department anti-Jewish,so he turned toanthropology and sociology degrees,which impacted his writing.
As a writer of dual cultural background,the world described by Bellow is filledwith a strong humanistic spirit and Jewish national characteristics.He remains one ofthe forerunners in shedding a positive light on the Jewish-American heritage.Bellowis known for his novels which are featured with their protagonists who areintellectually curious,humorous,charming,a bit disillusioned,slightly neurotic,and atodds with the contemporary world.Therefore,his novels have survived for yearsbecause the universal theme still applies.Bellow cherished and embraced the religiousvalues of Judaism and Christianity,despising studies such as absurdism and nihilism.
1.2 Introduction to Seize the Day
Published in 1956,Seize the Day has been regarded as Bellow’s masterpiece anda sign of his mature writing skills,earning him the nomination for National BookAward.In 1966,Seize the Day was made into a film.It tells the tragedy of theprotagonist Tommy Wilhelm,a man who failed both in his career and marriage.Thereexists an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage between Wilhelm and his wife.As aresult,they kept a long-distance relationship.However,his wife had always refused to divorce him and had been asking him for high living expenses,which put him underintolerable pressure.What’s more,he lost his job and couldn’t even get the sympathyand help of his father.Holding the final hope of his life,he made an attempt to achievesuccess.However,his blind pursuit of success led him to be cheated out of theremaining$700 by Dr.Tamkin.In the end,he fell into a complete psychologicalbreakdown in the face of harsh reality.In the process of searching for Dr.Tamkin,heis pushed by the crowd to a stranger’s funeral and achieved epiphany.
As the representative work of Saul Bellow,Seize the Day has caught manycritics’attention since its publication in 1956.Up to now,scholars at home and abroadhave studied the work from different perspectives such as the theme of this novella,images of main characters,father-son relationship,psychological analysis as well asstudies of Jewishness.However,the study from the perspective of anxiety is inclinedto be neglected by the generality of critics.In the light of Horney’s theory of neurosis,this thesis tries to probe into the inner world of Tommy Wilhelm by analyzing thecause,his struggle against anxiety,and eventually reveal the spiritual dilemma ofcontemporary people,which served as a supplement to previous studies.
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Studies Abroad
The study of Seize the Day has been a focus in foreign academic circles.Basedon the research,studies abroad can be roughly divided into several categories:studiesof character image,thematic studies,studies of narratology,and studies ofpsychological analysis.
2.1.1 Studies of Character Image
From the perspective of character image,Ihab H.Hassan believes that thefunction of Bellow’s hero is to convince us that the reality of life is worth all theagonies of human existence.The protagonist suffered from his past errors and histerrible life,but he never gave in.This novella reaches its climax when the protagonistWilhelm sinking into infinite desperation.At the funeral of a Jewish stranger,he hadan Epiphany.The corpse of the stranger makes him contemplate the inevitable destinyshared by all people.Hassan believes that“Wilhelm rises above the finality of death ina vision of universal compassion”(36).
2.2 Studies at Home
Compared with the studies abroad,the domestic researches on Seize the Daystarted relatively late.Domestic studies of Seize the Day mainly includes studies offather-son relationship,thematic studies,psychological analysis,narratology as well ascultural studies.
2.2.1 Studies of Father-Son Relationship
The relationship between father and son has always been the focus of the critics.Zhang Jun and Wu Jianlan believe that this novella implies a dual father-sonrelationship.On one hand,Dr.Adler and Tommy Wilhelm are biologically related,and they represent God and Christ respectively.This relationship exemplifies thesocial function of Bellow’s desire to arouse mainstream American society’s concernfor the American Jewish community.On the other hand,the relationship between Dr.Tamkin and Wilhelm belongs to a spiritually father-son relationship,which fulfilledthe social function of Bellow’s desire for a return to Jewish ethics.Liu Xiyinganalyzed three types of father-son relationship implied in Bellow’s novella.She arguesthat the relationship between Dr.Adler and Tommy Wilhelm is biologically father-sonrelationship.The conflict between them implied the contradictory relationship betweentradition and assimilation in Jewish culture.In addition,she believes that Dr.Tampkinplays the role of Wilhelm’s spiritual father.Although Dr.Tamkin is a swindler,heoffers Wilhelm support and comfort.
CHAPTER III THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK..................................14
3.1 The Definition of Neurosis......................................14
3.2 Basic Anxiety and Basic Hostility................................16
CHAPTER IV CAUSES OF WILHELM’S BASIC ANXIETY.................................22
4.1 Family Environment.................................22
4.1.1 The Absence of Parental Love.............................22
4.1.2 The Failure of His Marriage.................................25
CHAPTER V WILHELM’S DEFENSIVE STRATEGIES.........................................36
5.1 Moving Toward People...................................36
5.1.1 Longing for Father’s Love..................................37
5.1.2 Yearning for Others’Approval................................39
CHAPTER VI CONSEQUENCES OF WILHELM’S UNSOLVEDCONFLICTS
6.1 Fear of Losing Equilibrium
As the basic conflict remains,the protective structures that neurotics establishwill further damage their relationships with themselves and others.New fears willensue.“The protective structure,for all its rigidity,is highly brittle and itself gives riseto new fears”(Horney,Inner 144).The protagonist Wilhelm’s fear primarily manifestsin his fear of losing equilibrium and fear of changing himself.
On the one hand,neurotics fear that its equilibrium will be disturbed.This fearoften manifests itself as a fear of insanity,primarily stemming from the repressedimpulses of the patient.“It appears then in vague,indefinite forms and can beprecipitated by any change in life’s routine”(Horney,Inner 147).At the beginning ofthis novella,Wilhelm’s behavior fully exhibited his fear of losing equilibrium.Although unemployed,Wilhelm enjoyed getting up early and maintained a routine.Hefelt very frightened when he realized there could be big trouble.“But he had realizedthat he could not keep this up much longer,and today he was afraid.He was awarethat his routine was about to break up...was due”(Bellow 4).Wilhelm’s fear stemmedfrom his extreme anxiety,which essentially manifested his losing equilibrium.
CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION
This thesis analyzed the protagonist Tommy Wilhelm’s internal conflicts andanxiety in the light of Karen Horney’s theory of neurosis,hoping to enrich the study ofthe character in the novella.Through analyzing the cause,defensive strategies,andconsequences of Wilhelm’s anxiety,this thesis probed into his complicated innerworld and eventually revealed his spiritual dilemma.
After a detailed interpretation of Wilhelm’s anxiety,it can be seen that twofactors mainly caused his basic anxiety.On the one hand,it is closely related to hisfamily environment.Due to his long-term lack of love and support,Wilhelm is filledwith hostility.Feeling alone and helpless in a hostile world,he developed anxiety.Inaddition,the failure of his marriage further aggravates his inner conflicts.On the otherhand,social environment is a significant factor leading to his neurotic personality.Themoney-oriented society left him with endless anxiety in a world defined by materialsuccess.More importantly,as a Jewish American,the clash of Jewish culture andmainstream American culture stuck him in an in-between dilemma,highlightingWilhelm’s anxiety in finding his position and sense of belonging in such a complexcultural context.Wilhelm’s predicament also reflects the spiritual dilemma ofcontemporary individuals.
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