One of the most striking aspects of America as a dynamic country lies in its inhabitants as

subjects of extreme contrasts and abrupt changes having the polarities of open roads of immigration and
jealous islands of tradition, outgoing internationalism and defiant. Isolationism boisterous Competition
and self effacing cooperation. It is in these polarities of multi colored teeming cultural city background
with his (Bellow’s) endless of variety of characters and the confusion of values, they try to maintain an
idea of himself amidst there pressures of the objective world. The autonomous choice of maintaining ‘an
idea of himself’ the protagonists tend to depend on the critical changes in their familiar geographic and
economic vicissitudes. In such a scenario as an individual the protagonists Choice is to leave or turn in
the opposite direction if he chooses to do so. But in America most of the protagonists as migrants are not
learn or taught to choose to move or stay at one place like a sedentary man as his life style from the
perspectives of his family life. In most of the life styles pattern of these protagonists(The Adventures of
Augie March, Humboldt’s Gift, Herzog, Henderson the Rain King and The Victim) what appears to be
paradoxical in their choice of their private or individual decision their domestic family history provides
with opposite elements as a potential alternative.

An analysis on the basis of the historical perspective of their patterns of life naturally falls on the
background of their stay in the cities like Chicago, New York and African continent. Chicago as a
backdrop provides ample scope for Augie March’s Choice of living, after having had experiences in
many places, as portrayed by Bellow, in a check-board of ethnic neighborhood, a rest of small time
political and financial deals, still people manage to survive with a kind of dogged nobility. In Herzog too
Bellow projects this positive image of polarity giving ample scope for self defense against deeply feared
or serenly hoped for opposite extreme. In The Victim too, the two sets of truth that American are taught
to live as slogans “let us get the hell out of here” or let’s stay and keep the bastards out” practiced within
or without as a lofty law as a course of history with its principle advocating mercenary and Philistine
tendencies of American middle class living in Chicago And New York. Humbolt’s gift also exposes the
self contradictory traditions followed in American history. Henderson the Rain King extends the
polarities of self contradiction to the other ethnic racial ground Africa.

Most of them are the middle class “business people”. Criminality is a common feature. For
example Augie flirts with criminal behavior to himself but wind up in some kind of ambivalent
relationship with a criminal whom he detach morally but still aesthetically compelling. This world of
Bellow is a mad world. There is an element of paranoia. This surface out of too much self-absorption, too
much narcissism and too much mechanization. Almost all the protagonists mentioned above are self-
possessed monomaniacs. (A detailed psychological study on this score is found elaborated in the
respective chapter allotted to each of these novels selected for research). Herzog is a peculiar ‘reality
instructor’ who teaches with lesson that appears to be punishing us.

The next aspect about his Jewish character is that they are both ‘chosen’ and ‘rejected’ – once
again the clement of polarity of self-contradiction. It means they are chosen by ‘God’ but they are
rejected by the ‘society’. All of them do not care for their family lives or physical feature but they love
hard and sad humour. How this aspect of these characters is treated by Bellow shall be expounded in a
detailed manner in the research.

In the world of Bellow there are many adult males in a sense that they people in his world as sons
and father, father may real fathers or surrogate fathers, children and women too present but in a shadowy
manner. Bellow’s main concern is the emotional transaction of males inside the family, brother and
brother, son and father, father hating son and a Machiavellian surrogate father Levanthal in the Victim a
helpless son in the world of tyrannical father.

Augie March has an absent father and accepts his elder brother. Simon as a surrogate father.
Einhorn is his spiritual father Henderson, the Rain King’s real father in tyrannical. In Africa he discovers
substitutes for parental authority.

Critics say that Bellow’s imagination does not range very far where his female characters are
concerned. They appear as nympholestic fantasies, peculiarly unconvincing. A detailed analysis is
followed in the succeeding chapter where women’s portrayal by Bellow is discussed.

After discussing the historical perspective of America’s self contradictory nature which itself
becomes a feature of polarity in the choice of the individual protagonists pursuit in life the researcher
shall launch on the monomaniacal tendencies of them by applying the psychological parameters of
Erik.H.Erikson’s(from his book entitled – Childhood and Society) as

a) Basic Trust Vs Basic Mistrust

b) Autonomy Vs Shame and Doubt

c) initiative Vs Gailt

d) Industry Vs Inferiority

e) Identity Vs Role confusion

f) Intimacy Vs isolation
 g) Generativity Vs Stagnation

h) Ego integrity Vs Despair

The historical perspectives with its attendant impact of geocentricity hinge on the
psychological mould of the protagonists of these select novels shape them into a typical pattern of
characters’ in Bellow imaginary world of his fictions as being of self with problems within moving in and
along with problems of their world without.

The uniqueness found in the selves of the individual protagonist of these novels as portrayal by
Bellow is they never accept and lead a life after identifying their evils in their selves as found expressed
objectively in the society or the world but try their best to find a positive idea of himself and lend a
progressive life of their own.

The estimate of the individual protagonist’s positive idea about their lives emerges out of their
interaction of their own inner selves with the other factor of the objective world. In the process of
establishing the positive bright patches of their selves they at times delve deep into their own mental
conflicts from which they struggle to extricate out of their own psychological introspection of ideas
mentioned above as their eight entities pitted against the eight other entities as found in their selves as
adverse factor. The positive ideas of eight factors and the negative ideas of other adverse factors create in
their selves problems for which if they see a solution in their American life with their twin faith either to
accept or live in Hell or within and without drive all factors of Hell from within and without. Choice of
their struggle for identity in the positive half of his idea against the other subjective adverse one continues
even after the individual’s victory on his sticking to positive idea when he steps into the action and
interaction objective other factors of society with its twin cleavage living in Hell or driving Hell away. It
is in the process of contemplation and choice action protagonists of these five novels by their positive
idea of their selves choose the objective positive attitude of driving the hell away become beings
polarizing the positive factors in their selves and the society.

This there is brings out thin clement of polarity of the self of the individual and society by
interpreting the historical objective of American social life and the psychological dictates of the inner
positive selves of the individual protagonists and prove the fact that Saul Bellow, chooses the dictum that
the individuals positive idea shall bring peace and prosperity, harmony and happiness, progress and
pleasure here in life amidst the other adverse factors within the self and without the society.