Herzog: the Return of the Mythical Hero

In 1964, Saul Bellow ripped the veil of self-complacency with this thought- provoking Herzog. The amazing character he composed, Moses Elkanah Herzog, is a university professor who compels the reader to go with him along a journey of discovery similar to the ones taken by the heroes of long ago. Drawing of Joseph Capmbell?s The Hero with the Thousand Faces, Marta Ancarani analyses Herzog?s quest in terms of the separation initiation- return pattern proposed by the eminent scholar. The answers Herzog finds through his painful quest help him come to terms with himself so that he can try to change a society ?that was no community and devalued the person. Owing to the multiplied power of numbers which made the self negligible. Which spent military billions against foreign enemies but would not pay for order at home. Which permitted savagery and barbarism in its own great cities. At the same time, the pressure of human millions who have discovered what concerted efforts and thoughts can do.?