Henderson the Rain King: Formalist Criticism
NAME : JEREMIAH FOONG KANG YI
MATRIX NUM. : D20111047679
FACULTY : LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION
PROGRAM : TESL
PROGRAM CODE : AT 06
SEMESTER : 3
SESSION : 2012/2013
COURSE : LITERARY CRITICISM
COURSE CODE : BIS 3023
GROUP : B
ASSIGNMENT : CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON HENDERSON THE RAIN KING
LECTURER : MR. SEVA BALA SUNDARAM A/L A.M MARIAPPAN
For this novel, I will be critically analyzing it using two theories, namely the “Formalist Criticism” (which is also known as “New Criticism”) and “Reader-Response Criticism”. The reason I choose both these criticism theories are because I personally opine that these two theories can realistically reflect our views on the literature read as readers.
By the Formalist Criticism approach, I will firstly provide a plot summary of “Henderson the Rain King”.
“Henderson the Rain King” was written by Saul Bellow in the year 1959. In this novel, Saul Bellow names his main character, or also known as “the protagonist”, Eugene Henderson. Eugene Henderson is depicted, in this novel, as a troubled, middle-aged man. He is physically attributed with a large body frame, a bumbling loud voice, and possesses great physical strength. Contradictory to his struggling life, his family background is one which is rather wealthy. Eugene’s father was a famous author and he left him three million dollars when he passed. He is not at all amazed neither pleased with the life he has been living all the while and plans to heed his inner voice and go out to search for a better life, which he believes, lies in Africa. Before leaving for Africa though, he tried numerous ways to satisfy his weird calls by playing the violin, drinking, and shouting at his wife. He carried on with his plan to Africa with his friend Charlie Albert and his wife. He however set off to travel on his own upon finding a pampered travelling style Charlie practices. Eugene meets the Arnewi tribe and tries to help to settle their drinking problem
MATRIX NUM. : D20111047679
FACULTY : LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION
PROGRAM : TESL
PROGRAM CODE : AT 06
SEMESTER : 3
SESSION : 2012/2013
COURSE : LITERARY CRITICISM
COURSE CODE : BIS 3023
GROUP : B
ASSIGNMENT : CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON HENDERSON THE RAIN KING
LECTURER : MR. SEVA BALA SUNDARAM A/L A.M MARIAPPAN
For this novel, I will be critically analyzing it using two theories, namely the “Formalist Criticism” (which is also known as “New Criticism”) and “Reader-Response Criticism”. The reason I choose both these criticism theories are because I personally opine that these two theories can realistically reflect our views on the literature read as readers.
By the Formalist Criticism approach, I will firstly provide a plot summary of “Henderson the Rain King”.
“Henderson the Rain King” was written by Saul Bellow in the year 1959. In this novel, Saul Bellow names his main character, or also known as “the protagonist”, Eugene Henderson. Eugene Henderson is depicted, in this novel, as a troubled, middle-aged man. He is physically attributed with a large body frame, a bumbling loud voice, and possesses great physical strength. Contradictory to his struggling life, his family background is one which is rather wealthy. Eugene’s father was a famous author and he left him three million dollars when he passed. He is not at all amazed neither pleased with the life he has been living all the while and plans to heed his inner voice and go out to search for a better life, which he believes, lies in Africa. Before leaving for Africa though, he tried numerous ways to satisfy his weird calls by playing the violin, drinking, and shouting at his wife. He carried on with his plan to Africa with his friend Charlie Albert and his wife. He however set off to travel on his own upon finding a pampered travelling style Charlie practices. Eugene meets the Arnewi tribe and tries to help to settle their drinking problem
Bibliography: 1) Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow. (2000). Retrieved from http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-henderson-the-rain-king/ 2) Bellow, S. (1976). Henderson the rain king. NY: Penguin Books. 3) Dobie, A. B. (2011). Theory into practice: An introduction to literary criticism. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning. 4) 50 Plus One Great Books You Should Have Read: And Probably Didn 't. Retrieved from http://books.google.com.my/books?id=HPDqaTLKOEEC&pg=PA194&lpg=PA193&dq=%22Henderson+the+Rain+King%22&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&redir_esc=y