Saul Bellow: Mastery in handling humour and parody

Abstract

Humour in Bellow's prose is both rich and complex and it could not express better than it did, the author's propensity for self-analysis and self-scrutinizing heroes. The purpose of this paper is to highlight Bellow's mastery in handling his humour and presenting episodes that are both grotesque and absurd in some of his best novels, such as “Henderson, the Rain King”, “Herzog”, “Humboldt's Gift”, “Mr. Sammler's Planet” and “The Dean's December”. The association of the various types of humoristic touches of his novels to the potential effects and functions they play in them remain within the scope of the present paper.