Herzog by Saul Bellow is a complex and multifaceted novel. Moses Herzog, the protagonist, possesses a powerful but meandering intellect that does not seem to discriminate much in his choice of object. These myriad reflections can make the novel seem chaotic and undirected, a patchwork of loosely associated letter fragments and thoughts or observations begun but never finished. There are, however, deep concerns that structure the novel, such as concern with the nature and value of human suffering. In this article, I will argue for reading Herzog as a meditation on the role of suffering in the cultural landscape of postwar America. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay I think the key to such a reading is Herzog's discussion with Dr. Edvig on page 54 of the novel. Here, Herzog comments on Madeline's purported Christian vision through the prism of Nietzsche's work. He says: "Nietzsche himself had a Christian view of history, always seeing the present moment as a crisis, a fall from classical greatness, a corruption or an evil from which one must escape. I call this Christian. And Madeline said, "To some extent, many of us do." I read that last sentence as a euphemism. Viewing the present as a spiritual crisis is a characteristic of the culture. intellectual in which Herzog grew up and which must inevitably be responded to, whether it be the unnerving effects of a herd morality driven by resentment, the alienation caused by capitalist exploitation or the modernist emptiness of the world of the Wastelands, the present is always a moment of crisis The heart of the crisis is suffering; an omnipresent crisis begets omnipresent suffering. This is unique in the way suffering figures in this novel and in the intellectual culture that it presents. it represents, it is the way in which the greatness of suffering is assimilated to the greatness of character. The more we suffer, the more we can become a better person (although this is not always the case, of course). This conception of suffering emerges from Herzog's recurring reflection on Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. This particular ethic of suffering is represented by Valentine Gershbach. It is through Herzog and Madeline's responses to Valentine that we see how deeply ingrained this ethic is in the intelligentsia of Herzog's time. Valentine is in many ways a Nietzschean ideal, embodying the sublimation of suffering. Of Valentine, Herzog remarks: “Valentine spoke like a man who had recovered from a terrible defeat, the survivor of suffering that few could understand? He spoke of death majestically, there was no other word for it. His eyes were incredibly lively, large, rich, lively, or, Herzog thought, like the broth of his soul, warm and bright" (61). Valentine is a tall, emotional man with an authoritarian attitude. He is, as said Herzog, “an emotional king, and the depths of his heart was his kingdom” (61) This control, however, did not only concern his own person because “he appropriated all the emotions that concerned him, as if by right”. divine or spiritual. He could do more, and so he simply took charge of them” (61). not only in his soul but also in his body, with his amputated leg and his naturally crude features Herzog admits his acceptance.of this ethics of suffering, “recognizing that according to its own rules, the man who had suffered the most was more special” (62). Valentine's suffering left him stronger, more dynamic, more alive, emotionally and physically, than Herzog. (The relationship between Herzog's view and Nietzsche's is well brought out in his later letter to Nietzsche. He says: "I also know that you think that deep pain is ennobling, pain that burns slowly, like the green wood, and here I am with you, a little" (319).) Herzog connects suffering not only to strength of character but also to the appreciation of truth. He says that "the truth is only true in the to the extent that it brings more shame and sadness upon human beings, so that if it shows anything other than evil, it is an illusion and not the truth” (93). Herzog's view that Valentine is a "great man, too great for anything but the truth" makes perfect sense (61). Suffering then becomes not only the path to a robust and admirable personality, but also to greater apprehension. deep into the mysteries of life. Herzog's view of suffering, however, is not a simple endorsement of a life similar to Valentine's. Indeed, as the novel progresses, he becomes more and more critical of such an ethics of suffering. In his letter to Shapiro, in the last chapter, he seems to completely denounce such a view. He states that “we must get out of our heads that this is a doomed era, that we are waiting for the end” (316). Furthermore, “the promotion and praise of suffering leads us in the wrong direction and those of us who remain faithful to civilization must not go there” (317). At first glance, this seems like a contradiction, because how can Herzog idolize Valentine as he apparently does and denounce the praise of suffering because of which Valentine is "special," as Herzog calls him? I think the answer lies in the different types of crises that cause suffering. Herzog seems to differentiate two types of suffering, which I will call bodily suffering and intellectual suffering. Bodily suffering is suffering of the body and emotions. It is this type of suffering that characterizes Valentine. Although we are told that he is intelligent, he is certainly not an intellectual in the same way as Herzog or even Madeline. Its pains are the pains of the immediate reality of life and not of the deferred reality of thought. This is part of Herzog’s valuing of ordinary, lived life. We can see this in Herzog's rejection of Heidegger's idea of ​​a second fall of man into everyday life. Unlike Heidigger, Herzog accepts Montaigne and Pascal's view that "the strength of a man's virtue or spiritual capacity is measured by his ordinary life" (106). This judgment is also demonstrated in Herzog's recollection of Shapiro's father in which he says: "There was more truth about life in those blemished and spoiled apples, and in old Shapiro, who smelled of horses and produce , that in all these scholarly references [of the young Shapiro]” (70). These scholarly references are the object of intellectual suffering. This type of suffering is best represented by what Herzog calls the Wasteland perspective. According to Herzog, this view is characterized by “the cheap mental stimulants of alienation, name-calling, and talk of inauthenticity and despair” (75). Herzog seems to have two objections to this type of suffering and the crisis from which it arises. First, he believes that this form of spiritual suffering and the disillusioned passivity of those who.