Bellow's assimilated protagonists:The representation of Jewish American nessand identity in Saul Bellow's the Victim, Seize the Day, and Herzog

Jewish-Americanness is an overwhelming and recurrent themein Saul Bellow's fiction. Three of his novels—The Victim(1947), Seize the Day (1956), and Herzog (1964)— affirm the author's sustained interest in placing the stories of the protagonistswithin the context of their social and culturalin-betweenness.AsaLeventhal in The Victim, Tommy Wilhelm in Seize the Day, and Herzog in Herzog lack father figures,and they internalize American culture as they accept it as the moral authority.Yet they entrap themselves into their neurosis, which is brought about by their Jewish collective unconscious. Eventually they come to terms with their Jewish-American identity. In exploring the representation of the assimilation process of the three Bellovian protagonists, this thesis applies Sigmund Freud's super-ego formation process and Carl G. Jung's concept of the collective unconscious and rebirth. By doing so, this thesis initially demonstrates how Bellow's three protagonists, namely AsaLeventhal in The Victim, Tommy Wilhelm in Seize the Day, and Herzog in Herzog deny their father's authority and internalize American culture. Thereafter, the aim is to present how these three protagonists are under the control of their Jewish collective unconscious. Ultimately, they achieve self-awareness. As they assimilate themselves into American culture and also embrace their Jewish heritage, they are finally reborn and they come to terms with their Jewish-American identity. The Freudian concept of the super-ego provides the assimilation process of Bellow's protagonists in The Victim, Seize the Day and Herzog into the American culture by denying their father figure and internalizing the moral principles of American culture. Thus, the assimilated protagonists internalize the moral dictates of American culture that they accept as an authority, which have an impact on the development of their characteristics. Meanwhile, the Jungian concept of the collective unconscious provides compelling forces into the psychological trials the assimilated protagonists of Bellow undergo upon the loss of their Jewish ancestors in the Holocaust. Finally, the Jungian concept of rebirth provides the framework in which the representation ofBellow's assimilated protagonists become meaningful. As they observe death and are, then, able to accept life as it is, thereby are reborn. They embrace both the values of American culture and their Jewish heritage in such a way that they celebrate their hybrid identities. Keywords: Saul Bellow, The Victim, Seize the Day, Herzog, Jewish-American Identity