O sentimento religioso em textos de Saul Bellow

Abstract

This study attempts to show the religious feeling that permeates the fictional universe of Saul Bellow. To this end, four expressive novels by Bellow were selected for more detailed analysis. This choice enables us to observe different forms of opening for the field of the transcendental, since each of Bellow’s protagonists does this in a particular way, or, more precisely, according to their circumstances, to their experiences, to their thoughts, and also to their intuitions. It happens that these characters invariably undertake a journey in search of self-knowledge. As to the analysis of these texts, it is carried out around two central themes. The first is that of death, or mortality, undoubtedly the most fundamental theme in the literary works of Bellow. The second is that of the spirit, or soul, which is also fundamental and generally linked or subordinated to the theme of death. To substantiate this analysis, we have used bibliographical references of Bellow and comments by literary critics on his writing, which are appropriate resources for this work which attempts to come to grips with the complex and intractable inspiration of Bellow.