On the Relationship between Father and Son in Seize the Day

Wu Li cong

【Abstract】Saul Bellows novel Seize the Day represents an extraordinary contribution to the relationship between father and son as a theme in fiction. This paper tries to analyze the relationship between the hero and his father in order to help the reader have a better understanding of the novel.

【Key Words】Seize the Day； father； son； relationship

Saul Bellows novel Seize the Day represents an extraordinary contribution to the relationship between father and son as a theme in fiction. The father and son relationship is an area of experience which the artist shares to a larger degree than he does any other kind of experience with the cultural historian， the moral philosopher， and more recently with the psychologist， particularly the psychoanalyst.

The character and the action of the central figure Tommy Wilhelm in the novel are determined by and represent the neurotic conflict between instinctual cravings and outwardly determined frustrations. The conflict between father and son is central to this novel， but its repressed content is latent throughout until the last moment， when ， as Freud describes it， “the repression is shattered.”1So our readers can be struck by what appeared to us to be the premeditated delineations of the character and psychopathology of Tommy Wilhelm.

In this novel， the day Saul Bellow seizes on which to describe Tommy Wilhelm is the day of one of Wilhelm many undoings. On the day in question Wilhelm has been refused money and love by his father； his wife badgers him for more money for child support； the crazy and fraudulent psychologist Dr. Tamkin has power of attorney over Wilhelms remaining funds， which have presumably been invested in lard and rye futures. The lard and rye fall； Wilhelm is wiped out， and Tamkin disappears. Wilhelms reaction to these mis-adventures is best described as despair， tempered at the very outset by resignation， neurotic fatalism.

But at the same time， since there were depths in Wilhelm not unsuspected by himself， he received a suggestion from some remote element in his thoughts that the business of life， the real business—to carry his peculiar burden， to feel shame and impotence， to taste these quelled tears—the only important business， the highest business， was being done. Maybe the making of mistakes expressed the very purpose of his life and the essence of his being here. Maybe he was supposed to make them and suffer from them and suffer from them on this earth. [2]

The person to whom Wilhelm is masochistically attached is his all-powerful father， Dr. Adler， before whom he exhibits his helplessness. In the novel， we can get the hint about Wilhelms childhood according to what determined Wilhelms fixation on his father in the past. We can even reconstruct his childhood--the love and protection of his mother and the stern， sadistic disciplinarianism of his father--followed by his mothers death at the moment of his first failure in Hollywood. The death of one parent， in fact， any intimate relatives induces a retreat from adult effectiveness toward dependence， and a heightened dependence on the surviving parent. Dr. Adler was pressed into service as the mother in addition to his role as the father. But his tyrannical， uncompromising character has anticipated what might in Wilhelms life have been “a momentary lapse from effectiveness into fixer regressive patterns”， had rendered his son incapable of independence. But， in fact， Wilhelm is not always unsuccessful. He has assumed adult responsibilities over twenty years of his life， and until the ultimate day of his latest failure， he has not invoked his fathers help. However， “as a neurotic personality， Wilhelm is crippled， not dead， and his ego， besieged from without and betrayed from within， is still in command. He knows a hawk from a handsaw.” [3]

What might save Wilhelm from a complete failure on this particular day would be his insistence that Tamkin withdraw from the market before the lard and rue drop. Tamkin agrees reluctantly to pull out， but Wilhelm then allows his money to ride. Certain fatalities intervene and paralyze his will. The first and most apparent is his fathers cold， over hostility， and the passionate review of the past that had taken place in Wilhelm mind in the morning. A very short recollection involves Wilhelms distress that his mothers grave has been vandalized， and that his father cannot remember the date of her death. When his father forgets the date of his wifes death， Wilhelm thinks bitterly. And his next act unconsciously reveals the renewal of his own bereavement. “He turned to the Coca-Coca machine. He swallowed hard at the Coke bottle and coughed over it， but he ignored his coughing， for he was still thinking， his eyes upcast and his lips closed behind his hand.” [4] The thought of his mother drives him to the Coke machine； the ill-treatment of his father then compels him to rat not only his own breakfast， but a large part of his fathers. Denied any overt love on his fathers part， Wilhelm works out a primitive solution： he eats from his fathers plate.

Another external contribution to significance of the day appears in the form of an actual anniversary. The month is late September， and it is， as old Rappaport reminds Wilhelm， the eve of Yom Kippur， the Jewish holiday immediately following the Jewish New Year. Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement for the Jews， when one makes formal acknowledgment for ones sin. Old Rappaport tells Wilhelm hes better hurry up if he expects to say Yiskor for his parents. It reminds Wilhelm that in his fathers eyes he is the wrong kind of Jew because he often prays in his own manner. Wilhelm does not go to the synagogue but he will occasionally perform certain devotions， according to his feelings. So his father does not like the way Wilhelm acts and thinks that only he himself is the right kind of Jew. At the same time， Wilhelm remembers his mothers burial， his fathers indifference， and his having paid for having prayers sung for her. A moment later he allows Tamkin to let their combined investment ride to its loss.

As Soul Bellow suggests that Dr. Alder lives in his tight， tidy， old mans world of money saved. He has gone into his old age retaining everything， a fine old scientist， clean and immaculate. His entire philosophy of life is costive， miserly. Love means expenditure and he cannot give it. His “anal-sadism” reveals itself in his cruelty to his son. When Wilhelm asks him for advice， the old mans impulse is to degrade the son in his own eyes. One of Wilhelms numerous failures was in his job as a salesman. Dr. Adler asks him why he left the job.

“Since you have to talk and cant let it alone， tell the truth. Was there a scandal—a woman？”

Wilhelm fiercely defended himself. “No， Dad， there wasnt any woman. I told you how it was.”

“Maybe it was a man， then，” the old man said wickedly. [5]

His such a coarse suggestion that perhaps it was not a woman who caused Wilhelms failure in his job， but a man， and his repeated injunction to his son， are graphic revelations of the doctors own anal preoccupations.

Poor Wilhelm can only lumber after his father in an apelike distortion of the thrifty anal character. He has accepted the economic objectives of society but he recognizes them as a form of cruelty， intimately connected in his case with his father. He is incapable of accomplishing the socially acceptable anal traits， the thrift and industry and self-discipline that distinguishes his father. He cannot “retain” money； his retentions， like so many of his other traits， are at an infantile level. His principal character trait is his messiness， his dirt， the acceptable substitute for feces.

His playing the stock market is， like his gin rummy， a form of gambling， in which he contrives to lose. In Freuds “Dostoievsky and Parricide”， the act of gambling is regarded as a compulsive， repetitive act， in which the anal-sadistic hostilities towards a parent are displaced to the gaming table. To make a “killing” at the table is to kill a hated object. But Wilhelms aggressions are characterized by their abortive quality. He commits， instead， financial suicide. For the last few weeks he played gin almost nightly， but the day before the day in question he felt that he couldnt afford to lose any more. He has never won. Not once.

His pockets are full of little packets of pills， crushed cigarette butts， strings of cellophane and pennies. His hatred of “the worlds business” represents merely a diversion from aggressions directed against his father， for whom a large income is the mark of success. “Holy money！ Beautiful money！ It was getting so that people were feeble minded about everything except money. While if you didnt have it you were a dummy， a dummy！” [6] Wilhelms speech patterns are interesting. He is given to violent， explosive utterances， in which anal function has been displaced upward. Wilhelm also stammers， a “slight thickness in his speech，” especially when he speaks to his father. In this too he reveals his concealed hostilities， the death wish.

The most direct form of aggression on Wilhelms part appears as its opposite， as a reaction formation to Wilhelms death--wish. It appears as Wilhelms fear of giving pain and his preoccupation with his fathers death. He remembers explaining to his mother why he does not want to study medicine. He tells her that he cant bear hospitals. Besides， he might make a mistake and hurt somebody or even kill a patient. He couldnt stand that. He is obsessed with the thought that all his father thinks about is his own death. “When he dies，” Wilhelm tells Tamkin， “I will be robbed， like. Ill have no more father.” [7]

It is out of these elements， which we have considered as being to the highest degree ambivalent expressions of love and hate--a wish to preserve， a wish for an omnipotent father and a paranoid fear of an omnipotent father--that we can construct the unconscious process by which Wilhelm comes to his act of renunciation.

When Wilhelm looks at the dead man he sees what his soul has wanted to see all during the terrible day； he sees he father dead. He also sees his own death， mirrored in the face of the grey-haired， “proper” looking， but not aged man before him. It is here that the renunciation proper to the psychological drama takes place. Wilhelm gives up his death wish against the father and accepts， but without the masochistic insistence that characterized his earlier courtship of paternal cruelty， his own role as victim. A few minutes before this he has been standing over the body of his father stretched out on a table in the massage room of the hotel. He makes a last plea to his father for help， which will include not only money， but also understanding. The father， as impatient with his suffering as he is with his dependence， sends him away with an old mans curse.

In Seize the day， on this day of days Wilhelms whole personality has been given over to an exhibition of his neurotic symptoms. And the external world bilges by offering him a realistic basis for such an exhibition. Systematically and seriatim the more-or-less loved objects from his present punish him--his father， his estranged wife， and Tamkin. Their betrayals evoke the memories of earlier betrayals and humiliations， finding their ultimate source in the original mistreatment by his father.

【Bibliography】

[1]Weiss， Daniel. “Caliban on Prospero： A Psychoanalytic Study on the Novel， ‘Seize the Day， by Saul Bellow”. Contemporary Literary Criticism， Vol.79. Detroit， Gale Research Inc.， 1994. p.63.

[2] Bellow， Saul. Seize the Day. Penguin Books， 1987. p.56.

[3] Weiss， Daniel. “Caliban on Prospero： A Psychoanalytic Study on the Novel， ‘Seize the Day， by Saul Bellow”. Contemporary Literary Criticism， Vol.79. Detroit， Gale Research Inc.， 1994. p.64.

[4] Bellow， Saul. Seize the Day. Penguin Books， 1987. p.15.

[5] Weiss， Daniel. “Caliban on Prospero： A Psychoanalytic Study on the Novel， ‘Seize the Day， by Saul Bellow”. Contemporary Literary Criticism， Vol.79. Detroit， Gale Research Inc.， 1994. p.68.

[6] Bellow， Saul. Seize the Day. Penguin Books， 1987. p.51.

[7] Bellow， Saul. Seize the Day. Penguin Books， 1987. p.36.