"An Apathy Like Oblomov's:" Oblomovitis in Saul Bellow's Fiction

Abstract

This BA thesis compares three of Saul Bellow's early novels, namely, Dangling Man, Herzog and, briefly, Henderson the Rain King, with the novel Oblomov by Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov, as well as the stock character of the schlemiel that is found in Jewish literature. The thesis shows how aspects of both Oblomov and the schlemiel can be found in Bellow's work, and how these work together to construct a picture of marginality in his novels.