Justify the title of the novel” Seize the Day”.

 It is heavily ironical in the novel's context that the title, me of the novella should be pronounced by someone who, at the first superficial assessment, appears to be out and out a rogue and mischievous manipulator. The ‘carpe diem’ theme, taken from Horatian ode, lurks at the core of this small but profound book.

 

“ The past is no good to us. The future is of anxiety. Only the present is

Real- the here-and-now. Seize the Day.”

 

 The telling story of Seize the Day narrates how a man from the brink of utter despondency attains a position of ‘the consummation of his heart's ultimate need.’ Seize the Day is the story of one crisis day in Tommy Wilhelm's life, the story of his failures to adjust himself to the hard world of money,  selfishness, and exploitation around him. Being a failure in the world's standards, Tommy staggers at every juncture of life, suffers ignominious humiliation at the hands of his sardonically egocentric biological father, Dr. Adler, showy and pompous surrogate father, Dr. Tamkin and ever exploiting unsympathetic wife, Margaret. He passes through heavily shattering situations, arrives at a dreadfully disastrous edge of life-'as he had dreaded, he was wiped out. but eventually overcomes ignominy by being completely human and seizes the day.

 

Tommy Wilhelm, the anti-heroic hero of Seize the Day, is an ignominious failure. There is hardly anything heroic in him in the true sense of the term. 'Victory' or 'success are words, which are not found in his private dictionary He had never won. Not once.'  Throughout the novel he fights a solitary battle and on the very verge of collapse he wins it. He parts the mundane aspirations, cuts off all his ties with the dehumanized materialistic world and, in the long run, advances toward the establishment of a personal world based on the universal passion called 'love to live a life befitting humankind and to enjoy it to the heart's content.

Being motivated by the juvenile enthusiasm, Tommy aspired to become a film star: "He was to be freed from the anxious and narrow life of the average."   Against the counsel of an agent, and against his parent's will, he rushed out to Hollywood, changed his name; but, as ill luck would have it, his screen test went powerfully against him and ultimately his adolescent

aspirations turned into gnawing disappointments. He barely survived as an extra. His obstinate attachment to the Hollywood mission to be a film star consumed much of his youthful vigor and vivacity making him incompetent for any quality jobs. Now a grown man with an estranged wife, he sets himself in pursuit of filial affection and help. He remains unable to accept his fate as an ordinary man.

The story of Seize the Day ends with the magnified image of a man. Throughout the novel Tommy has fought a solitary battle against forces of darkness, against what is annihilating for mankind. He transcends the margin of alienation that threatens to overthrow him. The last paragraph tells about Tommy's regeneration:

“ The flowers and lights fused ecstatically in Wilhelm's blind, wet eyes; the heavy sea-like music came un to his ears. It poured into him where he had hidden himself in the center of a crowd by the great and happy oblivion of tears. He heard it and sank deeper than sorrow, through torn sobs and cries toward the  consummation of his heart's ultimate need."

Here we see a meaningful suffering affirmed rather than denied There is a kind of rebirth, as the image of drowning - (sank deeper than sorrow)- makes clear. Wilhelm has been metamorphosed; he has undergone a sort of baptism by being washed by his happy tears. Tommy not only attains his emancipation but also achieves purification. His tears have led him toward 'the consummation of his heart's ultimate need.’ This powerful ending of the novel shows Tommy as triumphant in the long run.

 

Seize the Day is much about love as it is about money. Like a child, the protagonist of the book literally craves for sympathy and attention from both his biological father and surrogates one; but his hope is unremittingly thwarted as he meets with unnatural and dubious treatment from both of them. Though his hunt for filial love and compassion ends in dismal frustration, there is a suggestion, however faint it may be, in the last chapter of the novel that Tommy's ever-ravenous heart is going to be satiated with the long cherished touch of love. In the novel, Tommy is the only character who cares much about such things called love. In the end, Tommy makes up his mind to establish a care free world with his beloved Olive founded on this universal passion of love with a view to enjoying life to the fullest extent:

“ I’ll get a divorce if it's the last thing I do” he swore" As for Dad- As for Dad- I’ll have to sell the car for Junk and pay the Hotel. I’ll have to go on my knees to Olive and say, ’stand by me a while. Don't let her (Margaret) win, Olive" And he though,  I’ll start again with Olive, In fact, I must. Olive loves me, Olive'

In Seize the Day, the oppressive forces cannot completely crush Tommy. Bellow endows his protagonist with Compelling human qualities by dint of which he overcomes ignominy. Throughout the novel Tommy Wilhelm, an epitome of suffering humanity, undertakes a highly metaphorical journey, the closing stage of which is the assertion a meaningful life. From a very faltering position to a sturdy ground, from all pervasive loneliness to heart refreshing accommodation, from ignominy to admiration.

Seize the Day tells us a tale of a man's success not through physical prowess but by humble human qualities, The book is about the vicissitudes and fluctuations in a man's 1ife and also how he passes the hurdles to seize the day, that is, the present Bellow, presenting a magnified vision of life, presents his hero, Tommy Wilhelm as exemplary and shows how to seize the day, the big, colossal present and also what is life meant for. The title of the story not only covers the quest story of the protagonist, but also throws powerful light on the purport of the book. Seize the Day tells us how a man seizes the day, and the title, being the best summation of it, is an apt one. By giving this title to the book, Saul Bellow has lent almost an allegorical dimension to it.

Compare and contrast between the characters of Tommy and Tamkin.

 

The  compare between the characters of tommy and Tamkin is that : Tommy Wilhelm, the protagonist of Seize the Day, is a character in turmoil. He is burdened by the loss of his job, financial instability, the separation of his wife, and his relationship with his father, among other things. He is a man in search of self who the reader is allowed to watch and follow through the course of a single, significant day in his life, a day that is called his "day of reckoning."

  Tommy is a complicated and layered character who wears masks and has to peel away his social armor and mask in order to understand himself, at the end of the book. The book begins, "when it came to concealing his troubles, Tommy Wilhelm was not less capable than the next fellow. So at least he thought…" Concealment is an issue at hand. Significantly, Tommy had been an actor, albeit a failed one, as well as a salesman. He had learned to wear masks, play roles, and "sell" himself. However, on the day that the narrative takes place, Tommy must rid himself of all of this and find out who he really is.

Tommy, it is evident, plays many roles. He plays the role of Adler's son, a role that is difficult for him to escape. He cares too much how his father sees him. And, he often becomes the "failure" that he believes his father sees in him. He has been an actor, a hospital orderly, a ditch-digger, a seller of toys, a seller of self, and a public relations man for a hotel in Cuba. He has, therefore, been many characters and never his true self. Beneath his masks, as the reader is privileged to discover through interior monologues, he is truly an introvert trapped in the body of a man who has been forced to be extroverted, he is also sensitive and almost, at times feminine. This femininity is poked at and criticized, however, by his father when he accuses him of having had a relationship with a man from his office.

The novel portrays Tommy as a man who is drowning. The imagery that surrounds him is the imagery of water and he is constantly "descending" and "sinking" into hellish depths. However, the author must bring into question the character of Tommy because although he constantly blames others, such as his father, his wife, or Dr. Tamkin, for his strife and place in life. He must learn to take credit for his own mistakes. He is character in flux, a character that wavers between victimization and a temptation to martyrdom and a self-acceptance, and he wavers too between childishness and maturity. Nevertheless, it is this very fluctuation that will help him on his way to seeking truth because, as Dr. Tamkin says, the path to victory is not a straight line.

On the other hand Dr.Tamkin the Antagonist of seize the day. Dr. Tamkin, like many of the characters of the novel. He claims to be many things, but what is true is difficult to surmise. He claims that he is a psychiatrist, a healer, a poet, a stock market specialist, that he has tended to the Egyptian royal family and that he is, among other things, a master inventor. He is also an advocator of Reichian philosophy: he believes in juxtaposition. However, there are many truths within his lies. Perhaps also, one might come to understand his "lies" as simply stories or parables. For a man who believes in the power of juxtaposition and the force of opposites working together, a man who believes in flux and in alternative ways of looking at the world, it makes perfect sense for the reader to find truth within his lies. The paradox, itself, is a work of juxtaposition.

In many ways then, one might say that Dr. Tamkin is much like Bellow himself. That is to say that he is an "inventor," a teller of tales and truths, and, therefore, an authorial figure. Significantly, he also takes on the role of a surrogate father for Wilhelm, giving him advice and leading him to an eventual recognition of self.

Dr. Tamkin, whether a liar or not, is an attractive figure. This is not to say that he, along with the psychology and Romanticism he preaches, is not often the subject of Bellow's parodying force. However, it is important to disregard Tamkin, for he always practices what he preaches even if his methods are seemingly "unsound."

The contrast between the characters of Tommy and Tamkin, they both start the same business and they believe each other.  Both of them are playing an important role in Seize the day.