Seize the day door Saul Bellow

1) Information about Saul Bellow Saul Bellow was born in Canada in 1915 and grew up in Chicago. After earning a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, in 1937 he entered the University of Wisconsin at Madison to study anthropology but left there in December to become a writer. Bellow is usually considered to be one of America’s most important writers of his time. Bellow published his first novel, The Dangling Man, in 1944. After that novel came Seize the Day (1956). Henderson the Rain King (1959) is the story of an millionaire who journeys to the heart of Africa and experiences fantastic adventures. The Dean’s December (1982) confronts more directly than any of Bellow’s other novels political and social problems; Bellow contrasts the near anarchy of the slums of Chicago with the authoritarianism of the Communist world and sees a “moral crisis” in both West and East. Ravelstein (2000) is about friendship, memory, and death. Bellow has also written short stories, some of which are collected in Mosby’s Memoirs and Other Stories and Him with His Foot in His Mouth and Other Stories, a non-fiction book on Israel, To Jerusalem and Back, several plays, and a number of essays, some of which are collected in It All Adds Up. He has received many awards for his writing, including the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976. Bellow is a great comic writer, perhaps America’s greatest since Mark Twain. Other Works
Dangling Man (1944) The Victim (1947) The Adventures of Augie March (1953) Henderson the Rain King (1959) Herzog (1964) Mosby's Memoirs and Other Stories (1968) Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970) Humboldt's Gift (1975) To Jerusalem and Back (1976) The Dean's December (1982) Him with His Foot in His Mouth and Other Stories (1984) More Die of Heartbreak (1987) A Theft (1989) The Bellarosa Connection (1989) Source: introduction Seize the day book.
2) Short summary The story tells one day out of the life of Tommy Wilhelm. Tommy Wilhem lives in the same hotel as his father, Dr. Adler. Tommy has had a lot of failure in his life. He failed in becoming a movie-star, lost his job as a salesman and left his wife and children. He also lost the respect of his old father, who isn’t willing to help him. He can’t marry Olive, the one woman who can save his life with her love, because his wife wouldn’t give him a divorce. The book begins in the morning, where he asks his father for money, but he refuses. During the midday he meets Dr. Tamkin, who impresses him with his talk and positive energy. Tommy gives him his last bit of money to invest in the stock market. They spend the day toghether and talk about life and poetry. Then the stock market falls and his money is lost. Dr. Tamkin has also dissapaered. At he end of the book Wilhem enters a church, while a funeral is going on. Tommy starts to cry while he’s thinking about his own life. 3) Characters Name Kind of relationship with other characters Sentence to describe the character
Tommy Wilhem He is the son of Dr. Adler, who hasn’t got respect for Tommy. Wilhelm meets Dr. Tamkin and thinks this man wil save his failed life. There isn’t one sentence in the book that describes Tommy Wilhelm. What comes clear out of the story about him is this: Tommy Wilhem is a failure, an unworthy man, filled with self-pitty. Dr. Adler He is the father of Tommy. Dr. Adler is a well respected man. He only knows Dr. Tamkin and tells Tommy to watch out for him. “The handsome old docter stood wel above the other people in the hotel. He was idolized by everyone.” Dr. Tamkin At first it looks like he’s is willing to help Tommy, but in the end it is clear that he wasn’t. “Wilky, perhaps you listen too much to this Tamkin, He’s interesting to talk to. I don’t doubt it. I think he’s pretty common, but he’s a persuasive man. However, I don’t know how reliable he may be.” 5)a) see attachment. b) In this fragment, all his misery comes together. He thinks about all the failure in his life and starts to cry. Why I liked it, is because this fragment is like a qlimax in the story. The story tells you all the failures of Tommy Wilhem, and during the funeral, all this failures come together in Tommy’s head and he starts to cry. 6) song: Jiskefet – het leven is kut
Het leven is kut
Het leven is kut
Het leven is algeheel totaal volkomen kut
Absoluut totaal volslagen en volledig kut
Kut kut kut en nog een keertje kut ’s ochtends sta je op en het gaat gelijk al kut
alweer de 100.000 niet gewonnen dus das kut
geen Nobelprijs voor de vrede en geen oscar, kut
dat is toch niet normaal meer, zoveel pech dat is toch kut
het leven is kut
het leven is kut
en we gaan maar door, dat is het idiote
Het leven is algeheel totaal volkomen kut

En is het een keer niet kut, dan is het klote
Je moet een jas gaan kopen, kijk das op zichzelf al kut
Je gaat naar buiten en het regent dus dat is dan extra kut
Je koopt die jas, je trekt hem aan, dan schijnt de zon ineens, kut
Kan je die jas weer uitdoen, loop je met zo’n kutjas rond
Das kut allemaal
het leven is kut
het leven is kut
eerst een kutjeugd, in een kutstad, in een kutland, das al kut
dan in een kutzaal tussen kutpubliek
das nog een keertje kut
dan kan je nog zo’n kutlied mee gaan zingen, nog is extra kut
omdat zo’n kut van Merwijk denkt dat zoiets leuk is, 8 keer kut
kut kut kut kut en nog een keertje kut
nou kan je zeggen wat je wilt, maar zeg nou zelf, het leven is kut
b) I have chosen this fragment because the life of Tommy Wilhelm also sucks ( I had to use this word). The song says that everything in life sucks. Wilhem has had a lot of failure in his life. He failed in becoming a movie-star, lost his job as a salesman and left his wife and children. He also lost the respect of his old father, who isn’t willing to help him and lost his last money. In other words; everything in his life sucks. That’s why I thought this song was suitable for the life of Tommy Wilhems in the book Seize the Day. 7) Interview with Dr. Adler, the father of Tommy Wilhem. Why do you call Tommy Wilhem, Wilky? I name my son Wilky, because his real name is Wilky Wilhem. He changed his name into Tommy Wilhem, when I wanted to become a movie star. I still call him Wilky, cause I named him that way and I’m still against his name change. Why won’t you help your son when he is in finacial trouble? I despise my own son. He is a total failure. He has to look for itself, I never gave him much. How come you are such an respected man? That is mainly because my work and looks. People often say: “That’s old Professor Adler, who used to teach internal medicine. He was a diagnostician, one of the best in New York, and has a tremendous practice. Isn’t he a wonderful looking guy?” Do you have a lot of money? Since I retired from practice I had a considerable fortune. I worked really hard and now I can have some rest. Do you have a wife? My wife died in 1931, I think. You must realize, an old fellow’s memory becomes unreliable.
8) My opinion Seize the day is a book about one man who loses almost everything of value in his life. I think that reading about this subject isn’t very nice. But I did enjoyed reading the book. They thought about life and the meaning of life. I also think about life and the meaning of life myself. There didn’t happended al lot of exciting things, what was a pity. I liked the end a lot, because it was like a qlimax: All the trouble in his life came into his head in that moment and he starts to cry. After all I think this book was nice and interesting to read. 9) I would never give my last money to a man I hardly know. If my father had warned my about the reliability of Dr. Tamkin, I would never had given my money or even had a friendship with this man. 10) I learned that you have to “seize the day”. Because your life can turn into big trouble. Never trust your money to people you don’t know. I have seen in this book what could go wrong if you do.