The Path of Knowledge of Henderson the Rain King, Essay Example

Introduction

The book written by Saul Bellow titled Henderson the rain King is really impressive concerning the path that the main hero went through since the beginning of the novel till its end. It is possible to say that the range of transformations, spiritual, philosophical and moral, was very complicated and unintelligible for readers, but still the figure of Henderson, the lost character who cannot come to grips with himself and tries to find himself in different activities, is very attractive throughout the narration.

The first part of the book that describes misfortunes of Henderson at home, in the USA, and the beginning of his journey through Africa, is genuinely funny, and does not at first cause any genuine, deep interest and does not reveal the true depth of Henderson’s character. But as far as the narration develops and the setting proceeds to Africa, readers understand how bad the character who at first seemed to be ridiculous and unrestrained really feels, what obsesses his soul and breaks the sleep of his soul. As the main hero meets African tribes and starts to communicate with them, it is possible to understand that his character is gradually transformed in the process of his absorption of the eternal truth mixed with unreal, mystical implications, myths and magic of Africa.

Henderson finally gets what he wanted after a certain period of being in Africa, seeing the way people live and die, the way they think and accept their fate, so he understands that he has found the harmony he has been seeking so long. Nonetheless, no matter how simple it may have seemed, the way to the truth is extremely complicated and it always requires a huge effort from the individual – the wish and ability to accept it is easy to obtain but hard to fulfill. The present work is dedicated to examining the whole path Henderson passes on his way to the truth – there were many events that marked certain changes in his perception, certain changes that directed him further on his way to harmony. It will be possible to detect the personality he represented at the beginning of the book and the one he became at the end of it – Henderson is a very expressive character and his transformation is highly evident on every page of the book. Thus, all his changes will be detected and analyzed from the point of view of the specific manner of narrative used by Saul Bellow, and the artistic mix of mysticism, irony, sarcasm as well as the style of depicting actions of Henderson used by the author.

The Beginning of Mental Transformations and Learning of Henderson

At the beginning of the novel we see a rich, self-confident person living in the USA, in Connecticut, and he does not appear very appealing to the reader. Clayton characterizes him as “the dissatisfied idealist, the bourgeois longing to fulfill his life, to transform himself and the world into something more noble” (166). Dutton also adds some picturesque details to his appearance saying that Henderson is “huge of frame and heavy of flesh, is world and life weary to the point of extreme irascibility” (91). Thus, all these epithets and descriptions give the reader a clear understanding of the fact that the personality of Henderson is far from being sympathetic because there is nothing for what one should sympathize him.

Another thing necessary to take into consideration is that Henderson questions his decision to go to Africa at the very beginning, in the first phrase of the book. He does not know why he did this, and begins to analyze his lifestyle from the very beginning to find the answer. Henderson confesses that he did not feel comfortable in the place where he lived saying that all fuss he experienced produced enormous pressure on him and did not let him breathe. He could not stand all people surrounding him and wanted to escape, at the same time understanding that he could not do this because it was all his – despite destroying him, it was still the indispensible part of his life he could not avoid (Bellow 3).

What is even more important in understanding of the factors for irritation following Henderson – he is angry not only with people who surround him and the chaos they create but with himself as well. He cannot stand his face, his body, his teeth etc. – these are highly eloquent indicators of absence of his harmony with his inner self that troubles him and does not let him find salvation. Henderson is also very much concerned about the situation he finds himself in, so he dares to make such a drastic change – to go to Africa for knowledge, experience and refuge from everything that exhausted him so much.

To add some more vivid characteristics to the image of Henderson as it appears before the reader at the beginning of the novel, he drinks much justifying this by his life full of sufferings. As for the sufferings, they come from his planned life prescribed by the high class in which he was unlucky to have been born, thus being urged to follow the rules and prescriptions created by his family for him. The same pattern acted in his choice of his wife – even saying she is a schizophrenic the reader cannot detect any specific anger or sadness because Henderson himself does not see anything unusual about this. The reason for this lies in the planned marriage that did not involve any feelings and commitment for the woman – Henderson only did what he had to, thus recollecting his previous experience in the first chapter of Henderson the Rain King.

The additional reasons for the irritation that Henderson felt can be found in the fact that he was a former soldier who got used to another style of living, to everything real and true, without pretense and fuss. For this reason it could have been hard for him to get accustomed to the civil life again, so as soon as he saw the death of their family maid he realized that he had no more time to waste and decided to make something he wanted but did not dare to do.

Summing everything that has been said up, and adding the evaluation of Henderson’s character made by Clayton similar to the one of Don Quixote it is possible to understand the initial state of mind and soul Henderson possessed – nothing helped him, even raising pigs and trying to escape from all earthly matters through reducing himself to the level of animals did not help a bit, and he understood he needed some more radical action. According to the main character’s personal assessment, “things got worse and worse…. became too complicated” (Bellow 3). So, the decision was made and Henderson started for Africa.

The Metamorphosis That Took Place With Henderson in Africa

At the very beginning the trip of Henderson to Africa makes him understand many things that had never seemed obvious to him. The meeting with the Arnewi people and the initial misunderstanding they had because of his burning a bush made him understand that he understood some basic truth that was unseen in the formal, civilized life. After destroying a living organism, a bush, and seeing the tears of a young girl who felt sorry for the bush that was so stupidly and senselessly destroyed by a stranger, Henderson saw that he did bad and understood the true value of nature (Bellow).

His first remark about the village already showed that he perceived the goal to which he strived in Africa – he felt the age of the village and felt that such ancient places could bear truth, harmony and strength he needed so much. Thus, when coming to Arnewi he told his companion that he somehow felt the place would be good for him (Bellow 47). However, it was only the beginning of Henderson’s inner struggle with the authentic, open and genuine Africa in which he was a stranger and to that he was a hostile, unusual being not accustomed to living there. The further meeting with the chief Dafhu was another stress for Henderson which he could not find an explanation to. But at the same time Henderson strongly felt how Africa influenced his outlook, how he came under the influence of mysticism and rules that governed that savage world, feeling that he was at the right place.

Henderson surely was surprised to find an intelligent, educated and intellectually developed Dafhu as a leader of the Arnewi tribe – he still expected that Africa was a completely pure, mysterious country that did not feel any influence of the educated West. Still, he found much interesting and useful in the words of Dafhu, in the conduct adopted in their tribe, as well as his explanations of this way of life they had. For Henderson who committed a huge number of misdeeds in the African desert that coincided with his expressive, unrestrained and uncontrolled nature that could not find a constructive realization Dafhu was a person who saved him from despair and grief he had experienced during the last few years.

The whole stay of Henderson with Dafhu changes his life and becomes the true experience he himself is not able to assess at the time he receives it. But he feels that in the world so unnatural for him but at the same time so attractive and appealing, so true and non-artificial, he finds his true soul and becomes what he always wanted to. The event of Henderson’s becoming Sungo, the rain king, also happens through the legend of the African tribe about the idol Henderson moved and won the name (Bellow).

The culmination of the novel comes with the legend about the souls of previous chiefs of tribes who die transmitted to the lion that the next chief has to kill and to transmit his soul when dying to the next lion. Dafhu does not feel anything bad about this legend and agrees to kill the lion Gmilo that has to carry the soul of his father. His eventual death during the capture becomes a real tragedy, and his soul is also transmitted into the small lion cub which Henderson decides to take away with him as gratitude and memory about the precious knowledge Dafhu gave to him. After these events Henderson understands that his time to go back home comes – he has already gathered all precious knowledge, he restored his harmony and learned to respect nature and people as well as understand himself, so he decided to leave.

Conclusion

To assess the book is very complicated because the style of Bellow is incomparable with anything else written and read in this field of literature. The art of mixing the words, styles and characters that in general cannot be combined has always distinguished Bellow, which has been noticed by many critics and literary reviewers:

“It is an art of the ending that does not end, the conclusion that does not conclude, the achievement of clarity that makes us ask just what it is that has been made so clear” (Freedman 6).

Phillip Roth also agrees to such an opinion and notes the exquisite style of Bellow that cannot be assessed unanimously. It is important to understand the whole row of changes the character undergoes on his way from chaos to harmony, which makes the transition visible and partly magical:

“Bellow overthrows everything: compositional choices grounded in narrative principles of harmony and order…as well as a moral perspective that can hardly be said to derive from delight in the flash, color, and plenty of existence” (Roth 82).

The book is very impressive in many aspects, even the way the author includes elements of psychoanalysis into the talks of Dafhu and Henderson – according to the opinion of Hull, the psychotherapeutic effect of their communication is evident through the healing effect thereof. Henderson heals his soul and comes to the harmony with himself, so Hull admits the traits of Jamesian therapy in it. The book is full of many other implications necessary to be noticed and thoroughly analyzed because of their crucial significance in the plot, development of events and changes happening at all levels of perception of the literary work.

Works Cited

Bellow, Saul. Henderson the Rain King. Penguin Classics, 1996.

Clayton, John Jacob. Saul Bellow: In Defense of Man. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1979.

Dutton, Robert R. Saul Bellow, revised edition. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1982.

Freedman, William. “Hanging for Pleasure and Profit: Truth as Necessary Illusion in Bellow’s Fiction.” Papers on Language and Literature 35.1 (Winter 1999): 3-27.

Hull, Byron D. “Henderson the Rain King and William James.” Criticism 13 (1971): 402-14.

Roth, Philip. “Re-Reading Saul Bellow.” The New Yorker (October 9, 2000): 82-90.