A Study of the main character's search for self-identity in Saul Bellow's Henderson the rain king

Wibowo, Santi (1997) A Study of the main character's search for self-identity in Saul Bellow's Henderson the rain king. Bachelor thesis, Petra Christian University.

Abstract

This thesis is a study about the main character's search for self-identity in Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King. Due to the conflicts with his father and his two wives, Henderson, the main character of the novel, loses his self-identity. Henderson gets no recognition from the society that just never consider him as an individual but only as one of the prominent Hendersons. Even Henderson does not get affection from his own father and his two wives. So, he decides to have journey to Africa, to search for his self-identity in natural place. Besides applying the theory of conflict, characterization and setting, the writer also uses a theory of self-identity. In addition, she uses psychological concepts about human behavior to support the analysis. The purpose of writing this thesis is to find out the factors why the main character can lose his self-identity. By this analysis, the writer wants to prove that it is easy for someone who cannot handle his hard life to lose his self-identity. Yet, he can gain it back if he does some efforts to gain it.

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