The ending of Seize the Day, one of the
representative works of American contemporary famous writer Saul Bellow, has
multiple meanings. Firstly, in the first part of his life, Wilhelm is
constrained by his "pretender soul". At the end of the novel, in the
Jewish chapel, Wilhelm begins to realize the "ultimate need of his
heart" is to seek the "real soul". Secondly, in the Jewish
chapel, Wilhelm realizes his Jewish identity once again. The awareness of
suffering comes to the surface of his mind again. Wilhelm's spirit is redeemed.
Thirdly, in spite of the pitiful relationship between people, Wilhelm
identifies with and adheres to the commandment of loving one's neighbors in
Jewish ethics.
Living a
life full of mistakes, Tommy never seemed
to correct himself or even be
bothered about repeating the same mistakes over and over
again. But, losing everything he had and reaching the state where he had
nothing else left to lose, he started to have a different kind of
self-actualization. Psychologically, he started to dig deeper and deeper
within himself. He regretted, “I
should have done hard
labor all my life” . He realized that he should have listened to
his father when he warned him about Tamkin. He also realized that he should have listened to his
mother Florence Adler, who tried to stop him many times when he was making all
those mistakes. He now thought he must get a divorce from Margaret in his
last-ditch effort to get united with Olive. He decided to sell off his car to
pay the hotel. He thought he would have to go on his knees asking Olive to
be with him. He now came out of his confused
life and clearly had a plan
how to start things over. He thought, “I’ll
try to start
again with Olive.
In fact, I must” . His self-realization led him to his spiritual rebirth. “This
spiritual rebirth is
apparent in the
tears pouring down
at the end
of the novel,
when Wilhelm accidentally
gets swept into a
funeral ceremony”. The pretender soul of Tommy died thus and the real soul of Tommy
was born through his self-actualization.
battle against what is annihilating for mankind. He transcends the margin of alienation that threatens to overthrow man. 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 up 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 imagery of drowning sank deeper than Sorrow makes clear. Wilhelm has been metamorphosed; he has undergone a sort of baptisms by being washed by his happy tears. Tommy not only attains his emancipation but achieves purification. His tears has led him toward the consummation of his heart's ultimate need. This is a powerful ending.
Seize the Day is much about love as it is about money. Like a child he literally craves for sympathy and attention from both his biological father and surrogate father. In the world of the novel he is the only character who cares much about such things as love. He is a loving father and expects love from his father, from his wife, from his kids, and from his beloved. In the last chapter of the novel there is a suggestion that Tommy is going to establish a 'little society', as E.M. Forster terms it, based on this universal passion called love:
"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 thought, I’ll try to start again with Olive. In fact, I
must. Olive loves me. Olive' The oppressive forces cannot completely crush
Tommy. Bellow ends the novel in an optimistic note, however faint it may be. The
ending shows the triumph of human over inhuman. The novelist has lent almost an
allegorical dimension to the book. The ending testifies it.
