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HUM OUR AND ITS FUNC TIONIN TW O OF SAL BELLOWS NOVELSTERESA GUERRA BOSCH

Universidad d e Las Palmas de Gr an Cana ria

A B S T R A C TTo successfully answer the quesrion of the function of humour in any given work is noteasy. There is so much of the martyr in Sal Bellow, due perhaps to his Jewishbackground, that in order to malee his reading more palatable for the average reader, heneed ed to am eliorate his m artyr c om plex with a lot of hu m ou r. Bellow s novis seem tobe posing the question of how you can be an intellectual and still live in this world. Ifin Mr Samm ler s Planetiere is no t a clear answer, in Hum boldt s Gifithere seems to be:you survive this world with humour and compassion.

R E S U M E NNo hay respuesta fcil a la pregunta de cul es la funcin del humor en una obra deter-minada. Hay tanto del mrtir en Sal Bellow, debido a su herencia juda, que necesitsuavizar sus novelas con buenas dosis de humor. Sus novelas parecen plantear las cues-t in de como puede un intelectual sobrevivir en este mundo. Si en M r Sammler s Pla-ne t no hay respuesta en H umbo ldt s Gifi parece ser: se sobrevive gracias al humor y lacompasin.

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[7] HUMOUR NDITS FUNC TION IN TWO OF SAL BELLOWS NOVELS 9 5does not use too many words . The reader has to supply the res t , which isan e lem ent of the th ird level. T h e co m edy of Lal s surpr ise and Sam m lersstart is followed by a des crip tion of Shula s att ire. H er sari is m ad e o ut o f apiece of mater ia l found in a drawer , and is not proper ly worn. Shula haspainted her face in white , wears fa lse eyelashes and a Hind spot madewith hpst ick on her forehead. A s t range v is in with more potent ia l forh u m o u r i n a m o v ie t h a n in a n o v e l . Bu t p e rh a p s t h e m o s t im p o r t a n te lement in th is scene is i ts t iming. Mr. Sammlersan d D r. Lal s in tellectua ldiscuss ion is in t err up ted by Shula s r id iculou s ap par i t ion . Shula s com icen t rance has a doub le func t ion . S t ruc tu ra l ly , the tempora ry in te r rup t ionof in te l lec tua l d i scuss ion p rov ides res t fo r the reader . Themat ica l ly , i tseems to imp ly that in today s busy world th ere is no t im e for p hi losop hies .We have only to remember that after the discussion is renewed, i t is againin terrupted by the breaking of the p ipes and consequent f looding causedby Sammler s nephew , anot he r com ic character .

Because they are easy to grasp caricatures also belong to the firstlevel of humour. Sal Bellow is a very interesting example of a caricaturist .Mr. Samm ler s Planetis no t essentia lly a funn y b oo k as we could conside rHum boldt s Gift to be. The former is more pessimistic. I t has, however, i tsbu t ts of hum ou r, especia l ly in i ts carica tures . Samm ler , a very cr it ical m an ,f inds everybody ra ther grotesque, with the except ion of h is protector , Dr .Grunner. Margotte, his niece, has fat legs; Feffer is overweight; Emil has aheavy bo t to m . In Sam mler s eyes , no on e seems to be f ree of a laugh ablefeature. Shula , Sam mler s daug hter , is prob ably th e mo st perfect e xam pleof a car ica ture . Even her wig of mixed yak and baboon hair and synthet icfibers (34) seems to be a caricature of a normal wig.

In Hum boldt s Gift we a l so f ind ve ry remarkab le ca r ica tu res .Thaxter is perhaps the best example of these . He has impress ive s ta ture ,warts, distorted nose and leopard eyes (252). However, as in the caseof Shu la , wha t makes h im a rea l ca r ica tu re i s wha t he wears : a b road-br immed hat bought in a shop for b lack swingers (246) , a b lue velvetsui t , a cape and canvas boots . This is v isual humour. We cannot imagineTh axter s presence on the screen w ith ou t i t e l ic i t ing some kin d of laug hter

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[7] TERESA GUERRA BOSCH

from the audience. From the examples shown thus far , we conclude that invisual humour there are nvo di rect ions: one kinet ic or s lapst ick, and theother s ta t ic , car icature . '

Scatological humour, though frowned upon by al l a t some t imes inhis tory, an d at a ll t imes by som e, is a very r ich source of hum ou r. Un l ikephyscal or cruel humour^ i t dees not seem to have been exhausted and i ss t il l very m uc h in de m an d as we can see by the qua nt i ty of f ilms, T V .shows and books that use i t as soon as censorship becomes lax. In many ofh i s nov i s Sal Bel low, looking perhaps to amel iora t e the profoundthinking in which some of the characters indulge, re l ies on scatology toach ieve humour . In Mr. Sammler's Planet, a serious novel for the most part ,t he spr ings of humour a re main ly sca to log ica l . Sammler ' s ph i losophica lconsiderat ions about the uncleanl iness of most of his readers are comic( 3 6 ) . Of al l of Sal Bellow's characters, Sammler is the one who seems themost obsessed by body odour. Most characters in the novel are defined bytheir smell .

In Hum boldt's Gifi, there is a lot of bath ro om hu m ou r, b ut as i t is anessent ia l ly funny novel , such humour i s only an ingredient added to otherhumorous resources . Never the less , we should ana lyze th i s . In the nex tscene, foUowing George Swivel 's advice, Charl ie Citrine has not paied hispoker deb t to Cantab i l e , who in tu rn smashes Ci t r ine ' s Mercedes 280-SLas a w arn ing . Cha r l i e the n dec ides to pay h i s de b t . T h ey m eet a t t heRussian Baths. Ca ntab i le is carrying a m en acin g gu n. Howev er, Ca natab i lechooses to hu m iliate his vict im w ith a biolgica act ion , as C itrin e explains:

... he wanted to humiliate me ... he was aware that I was as they would say inChicago aBrain,a man of culture or intellectual attainments. Was this why Ihad to listen to his rum bling and sloping, and smell his stink? Perhaps fantasiesof savagery and monstrosity, of beating my brains out, had loosened hisbowels. (83)This i s a c lear example of humour of the senses, not as much visual

as co nn ecte d wi th o the r senses. T h e h u m o u r in this passage is twofo ld.F i rs t , we have the unexpec ted qua l i ty o f the puni shment in f l i c t ed by aChicago gngs te r who i s ca r ry ing a menac ing Magnum, and secondly , we

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[7] HUMOUR NDITS FU NC TIO NIN TW OO F SAL BELLOW SNOVELS 97have a biologica l need . Ca nt ab i le i s expressing his op in i n of Ci t r ine sintel lectual prest ige, but a t the same t ime, by using scatological humourthe narrator seems to imply what he thinks of the Chicago gangsters . Thisscene pa ra l l e l s t he pun i shm en t i n f l i c t ed on Sam m l e r by t he b l ackp i c k p o c k e t i n Mr. Samm ler s Planet (49 ) . W i t h d i f fe ren t s ty les , bo thCantabi le and the black pickpocket want to prove they ate in charge, asthey rely heavily on their machismo in the punishment they inf l ic t .

Sexua l humour connec t s wi th sca to log ica l humour bu t requi res ahigher level of understanding. Chi ldren laugh at obscene jokes because aforbidden word has been ment ioned, not because they understand i t . I donot bel ieve a chi ld could understand completely the second ta le on theseventh day in The Decameron. Through the ages sexual i ty has a lways beena r ich source of h u m o u r as sexuali ty can be enjoyed by bo th perform er andspectator. With regard to obscene jokes Freud says: A person who laughsat smut that he hears is laughing as though he were the spectator of an actof sexual aggression (97). This visual izat ion makes this kind of humourvery cise to the first level. However, because it can be expressed not only incoarse language b ut a l so so subt ly that only a few people m igh t un der stan di t , i t has to belong to a higher level . Depending on the subt le ty of i t sexpression, sexual hu m o ur can be socially acceptable or frowned up on .

In sexua l humour there a re d i f fe ren t t op ics . In Hum bold Giftthere are several passages in which men are so convinced of thei r malemagnet i sm that they exhibi t themselves beyond the l imi ts establ i shed by acivi l ized society. In one of them, af ter his appointment a t Princeton, theha l f -naked poe t Humbold t chases a g i r l . In another , C i t r ine , wi tnesseshow, after suffering a heart at tack, his lawyer Szathmar exposes himself asi f by accident , every t ime a nurse enters his room (205). However, in TheDean s December, M ax De t i l l i o n is j us t pur exh ib i t i on i sm as he isdescribed in the fol lowing paragraph:

. . . Detillion s own image when he was in was of course quite difFerent. He wasany thing bu t a screwer ofgirls. N o , he was the agent or personification of Eros,all aflame, all gold, crimson, radiant, experiencing divine tumescence, bringingUfe. T h e p ower to bless w om an kin d was swell ing in his pan ts. (105-6)

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[7] TERESA GUERRA BOSCH 9 8

A no the r character s op ini n of Max De tillion s prowess is lessflattering and the pairing of the rwo perceptions yields humour: Zaehnersaid his [Detillion s] d ick was hangin g out (10 6).

Th e last resource ofsexu lhum ou r we are going to analyze has to dowith language. In real life the use of obscene language has any of thefoUowing functions: to show who is in command, to make somebody angryor to arouse laughter. Foul language can be used to convey realism to aliterary work, but sometimes is used as a comic resource. Since Sal Bellowtries to imtate everyday language in his novis, there is a great deal ofswearing and the use ofobscenewords in his dialogues. As in real life, someof Bellow s characters try, through obscene language, to prove they are tough.O the r characters have other m otives. Denise, Charlie Citrine s upper-classwife uses foul language about his friends to make him angry. Of GeorgeSwiebel she says: I can t bear to see his ass on my sof (41) and calis Citrine slover Renata Fat-Tits (225). C itrine tells us Den ise is a judge s daug hterwho grew up in H ighlan d Park, bu t the language she uses does not agree withher upbringing. One of the most important qualities ofthecomic is its lackof anticipation, its unexpectedness, its surprise. If foul language continesmaking its appearance in books or movies, and if more upper-class ladiesresort to it, foul language will no longer be finny. It will lose the element ofsurprise and the hu morous effect derived from a forbidden act. Nevertheless,in Humbold Giftthe h um ou r of Denise s words is not as yet exhausted. Inspite oftheharsh colours in which she is depicted, Den ise proves to be wittyand to have a sense of hum our, and the reader fmds her com ments amusing.

A discussion of the comedy of types is the next natural step in theanalysis of hum our . According to Hen ri Bergson, to depict characters, thatis to say, general types, is the object of high class comedp (149). Satiricaltypes are comical. They are different from caricatures as they are moresubtle. The satirical type usually involves a pretensin. The pretensin iswhat is exhibited, but it is just a cover for the real thing that lies hidden.^

Among the types there is one who usually creares humour: theinsane. Through the ages the behaviour of the insane has been a source ofhu m ou r for the sane. As E. C . Riley says in his wo rk on Don Quijote

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[7] HUMOUR NDITS FU NC TIO NIN TW OO F SAL BELLOWSNOVELS 99The degrading t rea tment of the insane throughout Europe i s wel l known.They were regarded as objects of mirth even by the most humane. But i t ishypocri t ical to go to the other extreme and pretend the deranged behaviour isnever funny. Th e antics of D on Qu ixote are the prim e source of the book scomedy. (49)In Hum boldt s Gift, H um bo ld t , the charac ter who g ives the w ork i t s

ame, becomes insane. He becomes more absurd as he goes crazy, but hewas also funny before. His craziness is of the jealous type: he is convincedhis wife is ha vin g an affair w ith a Rockefe l ler . H um b ol dt s jea lou sy iscomic . However , the o ther characters do not make fun of h im. We are inth e twe n t i e th c e n tu ry a n d th a t c o u ld o f f e n d th e s e n s i t i v i t y o f s o m ereaders .^ Some cr i t ics accuse Humboldt of being a schemer as proven byhis plan to get a chair in Princeton and to get Citrine to pay for his newcar . However he is ra ther a pathet ic or t ragic f igure : He is a poet in ac iv i l iza t ion that does not have room for in te l lec tualsthe theme of thenovel . At the end, when he is dead, he is granted honour and money for abizarre p lo t he had o nce wri t t en for a m ovie an iro nic f inale .

Th e re a r e i n Humboldt s Gift some sa t i r ica l cha rac te r s who a retypical of the twent ie th century American scene. In Mr. Sam mler s Planetwe hear abo ut D r . Grune r s mafia co nne ct ion s; in Hum boldt s Gift we seethe rea l gangsters in ac t ion . O n e m em be r of Char l ie s racket c lub is V itoLa ngo bard i , a m os t im po r ta n t un de rw or ld pe rsona l i ty , so h igh in theo rg a n iz a t i o n t h a t h e h a d b e c o m e r a r e f i e d i n to a g e n t l e m a n a n d wediscussed only shoes and shir ts (67) , and indeed a gent leman who doesnot dar to go to X-ra ted movies : What i f the show got ra ided and theyarres ted me? How would i t look on the papers? (67) .

This t ransposi t ion of vales is comedy. The character Langobardi isnew, but the pre tensin to appear respectable is an e lement in comedy,s imilar to M olier es M . Jourdain s des ire to be a gentilhomme. Th e n th e r eare the low class gangsters l ike R ina ld o Ca nta bil e w ho is a m oc ki ng figure.He is no more than a c lown. But , while Langobardi appears only a coupleof t imes and jus t a few l ines are dedicated to h im each t ime, Cantabi le isone of the most important characters in the ac t ion . Besides being a comic

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[7] TERESA GUERRA BOSCH 10 0character, C anta bi le a lso represents a t ransp osi t ion or , perha ps , a t ransi t io nof vales. His wife, Lucy, is a professor at Mundelein CoUege and she iswo rk in g o n h e r P h . D . An d c o n t r a ry t o wh a t we s h o u ld e x p e c t f r o m agngsterusual ly associa ted with the macho image, Cantabi le is rea l lypr ou d o f h is wife s ach ievem ents a nd w ants h er to get her degree , and th iswil l be one of the motives of the ac t ion . So, here again we have the worldof appearances : a gngs te r in te res ted in the h igh-brow pres t ige o f theacademic wor ld .

R in a ld o Ca n ta b i l e i s c o n s id e r e d c o m ic e v e n b y th e o th e rcharacters . His threats are not taken ser iously . George Swiebel considersh im a punk (63) , a d rop-ou t (40) who has seen the Godfathen (39) . Atth e P l a y b o y C lu b n o b o d y s h o ws m u c h r e s p e c t f o r h im (9 3 ) . He g e t ss win d le d b y S t ro n s o n s p h o n y c o m p a n y . A p o l i c e m a n m a k e s fu n o fRina ldo and a l l the Can tab i le s (278) . His ne le , who jo ined the p l iceforc, was laughed a t and hum i l ia ted by two hoo d lu m s (64) . At the end ,Charl ie can get r id of Cantabi le without le t t ing h im have more than hisshare (470). Since Cantabile realizes that he does not inspire much fear, heis a lways m ak in g th rea t s an d th i s is w h a t ma kes h im suc h a co m iccharacter . He l ikes to exhibi t h is Magnum, but apparent ly he never shootsi t . His most comical threat is the one which he d irec ts against S tronsonwhen he presents Ci t r ine as h is h i t man (277) . And here Cantabi le losesagain: in spite of having been swindled out of his money, he is sent to jailfor an arms violation.

A type somewhat d i f fe ren t bu t wi th some po in ts in common wi thall the above is the grea t spen der of som eb od y else s mon ey. In HumboldGift Sal Bellow has left us such a character. Thaxter is the big spenderwho lives on the ignorance, faith or benevolence of his best fr iends. Heseems to represent somebody the wri ter is sore a t . Though he is a comiccharacter , he does not have many redeeming fea tures . After each of h isappea rances , the reader feels sorry for Ci t r i ne , the narr aron Th ax ter is amyster ious person, perhaps a CA agent . Sal Bel low l ikes to p lay withtwe n t i e th - c e n tu ry i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d p e r s o n a l i t i e s ^ i n o rd e r t o c r a t ehumour and convey rea l ism. Thaxter , a very cul t ivated man and excel lent

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[7] HUMO UR AND ITS FUNCTION IN TWO OF SAL BELLOWS NOVELS 101j ou rna l i s t , c a nno t ho l d a j ob : W ha t he neede d w as an i ngen i ous andpat ient edi tor to send him on sui table assignments (252), which reminds

of The Lazarillos squ ire. For different reasons the y bo th w an t society toadapt to thei r needs and recognize and reward thei r vales.M os t com ic characte rs in Bellow s novis do n ot perso nify a single

vice. They are a mixture of several dr ives. However, there are some VA Oapp roach t he t r ad i t i ona l concep t o f t ype and w ho had appea red i nprevious novis. The spi teful , vengeful wife appears in almost every one ofBellow s n ovis. She is Ma rga ret in Seize the Day, Madele ine in Herzog,Denise in Humh oldt s Gift. They seem to be interested not only in drainingtheir ex -hu sba nd s of all their mo ney , bu t also of their vi tal fluids. T hi s isnot comic. Yet , the s i tuat ion of the abused husband and the abusive wifehas a lways been a com ic e l em en t in fo lk lore . Mo rever , D eni se s sharptongue displays her sense of humour as seen in previous examples.

Another type Bel low l ikes to repeat i s the oversexed, plump youngw om an . She i s R am ona i n Herzog, Angela in Mr. Sammler and Renata inHumboldh. Physical ly the thre e are the sam e. Sexually, Re nata dee s no tneed t o change pa r t ne r s t he w ay Ange l a dees , bu t bo t h a re r a t he rgrotesque. However, Angela is capable of feel ing love for her father, whileRenata leaves her only son, an eight-year-old, in a foreign country, in thecare of the m an she has just j i l ted, whi le she goes off on he r hon ey m oo n. Inthe way they dress , they resemble one another {Humboldh 2 0 3 , Sammler s3 0 0 ) . Rena ta and Ramona have even more in common. They seem to beone and t he sam e cha rac t e r . E ven t he i r cosm opo l i t an backg round i ss imi lar: Ra m on a i s A rgen t inian (25) , whi le Renata s moth er , th e Seora,pretends to be Spanish. They are supposedly the weaker sex but in thei rre l a tions wi th the i r male cou nterp ar t s Sa l Bel low s spo kes m en theyprove to be stronger. And they add themselves to the long l ist of femaletypes w ho peop le tha t o d and pop ular l i t e ra ture aga inst w om en .

Humour of the th i rd l eve l , i n t e l l i gen t humour , i s t he most d i f f i cu l t t oexplain because i t lacks physical elements and because i t is so subtle that i t

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[7] TERESA GUERRA BOSCH 10 2

is not always readily comprehensible and often goes beyond at least part ofthe aud ience . Humour o f the th i rd leve l i s the k ind o f humour d i rec ted a tm an s highe st faculties. I t is a ki nd o f eli t is t hu m ou r, an d iro ny is pe rha psi ts mos t i m po r ta n t e lem ent . As Roy Pau l Ne lson says :

W he n you use i rony your words mean one th ing to the unini t ia ted , s om ethingquite difFerent to the person in the know. You crate an intimacy between youand your more intel l igent readers. (Condensed n HeUtzer 66)In i ts h ighest form th is k ind of humour is not d irec ted to provoke

laughter , but is received ins tead with a smile . In th is k ind of humour thereis l i t t le or no room for comical e lements .Sal Bel low is perhaps one of the wit t ies t contemporary wri ters . He

is very know ledge able a nd, a t t imes , m or e tha n wit ty , h is characters seemto be scholars teac hing a lesson. W e have som e of that in Os ear W ilde sna r r a t ive to o . Be l low s char ac te r s seem to boas t ab ou t the i r e x tens iveread ing . Never the less , in the long monologue , in which Sammler exposesh is th ink ing to Dr . La l , the re a re examples which ming le soph is t ica tedwi th phys ica l humour .

The Self may think i t wears a gay new ornament, deUghtful ly painted, butfrom outside we see that i t is a mil lstone. Or Again, this personali ty of whichthe owner is so pro ud is from th e Wo olw orth store, chip t in or plst ic from thefive-and-dime of souls . (23 4)

Sammler is d iscuss ing an e levated subject , however the compari-sons he uses belo ng to the tw ent ie th c ent ury everyday Am erica . I th i nkth is i s an example o f the th i rd ieve l o f humour ; in sp i te o f the v i sua le lem ent of Samm ler s sym bolism , i ts h ig hb row subject ma kes i t th is typeof hu m ou r . W i t h the i r smal l in tu i t ion s an d co m m en ts Be l low s charac te rsh a v e c r e a te d c e r ta in p h r as e s w o r th m e n t io n in g . W i t h t h e e x c e p t io n o fSam mler , in genera l , it is no t the na r ra t o r w ho is the c rea to r o f thesephrases , but a minor character . Thus , in The Dean s December i t is not theDean bu t h i s b ro the r - in - law, Zaehner , who makes the foUowing commentabout the tenure system of universit ies: a professor with tenure is l ike aw o m an on welfare w ith ten i l legi t imate k ids . T he y are bo th se t for l ife ,

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[7] HUMOUR NDITSFU NC TION INTW OO F SAL BELLOWSNOVELS 103never again have to work ( 27 4) ^ O r G eorg e Swiebel s joke a bo ut theG erm ans and C i t rine s Mercedes 280-SL in Humboldt s Gifr. Murder Jewsand m ake m ach ines , tha t s w ha t those Germ ans rea lly kn ow h ow t o do( 3 5 ) . I be l ieve that th is joke belongs to the th ird level because i t i sin te l l igent an d i t is m ade by a Jew ( the autho r , the narra tor , a nd the jo kerare Jews) . Had i t been made by a Gent i le i t would be too cruel to quaHfyfot the third level. This joke, however, is not as innocent as i t appears. I thas a rac ia l under tone, and i ts motive is the Jewish resentment againstG e r m a n s .One way to ach ieve humour o f the th i rd leve l i s th rough thein trus ions of the narra tor . The narra tor is the best source of i rony, andirony, thou gh no t res t ric ted to the th ird level , is en e of the m ost im po rta ntingredients of i t . The humour of the narra tor usual ly belongs to the th irdlevel , because h is is usual ly the k ind of subt le humour that requires ace r ta in in te l lec tua l ma tu r i ty on the pa r t o f the reader in o rde r to beenjoyed. And because of the love the narra tor usual ly fee ls towards h ischaracters i t is very easy to sense his feelings of compassion behind ther id icu lous mis fo r tunes o f h i s he ro . None the less , keep ing humour on theth i rd level th r ou gh ou t a who le novel , is no t co m m on .

Hum boldt s Gift is a funny novel because of his narrator. CharlieCitr ine is a comic character with a sense of humour exemplif ied in h isvis in of the world in which he is immersed. He is comic because he l ikesto personify the martyr , and the abused husband. Ci t r ine perceives h imselft o b e a m o n e y m a k in g m a c h in e s u r ro u n d e d b y c a n n ib a l s wh o wa n t t odra in h i m of h is mon ey: h is ex-wife D enise , her an d his lawyers , the jud ge,h is f r iend Thax te r wi th h i s b r i l l i an t p ro jec t s , Humbold t wi th the b lankcheck, Re nata , t he Seo ra , Can tab i le . Char l ie s naivete extends to o ther reas and th i s makes h i s image more comic . By fo l lowing h is f r iendSwiebel s advice , he gets h is Merce des to ta l ly wrec ked. H e is m is tak en forCan tabi le s h i t m an an d fmgerp r in ted by the pl ice . In Ma dri d , ins tead ofmeeting Renata as agreed, he is left with her child, while she marries hisr iva l , F lonza ley , in Rome. Fa te has taken every th inglove , money .

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[7] TERESA GUERRA BOSCH 10 4

in sp i ra t ion from Ch ar l ie , bu t a t the end fate b r ings h im a legacy an dCharlie can start anew. In spite of all his adversit ies, Charlie never loseshear t and no twi ths tand ing h i s na ive te and h i s mar ty r complex , when i tbecomes necessary, Char l ie shows he is in charge . Un l ike T om m y W ilh emin Seize the Day, who expects his r ich father or the Stock Market to solvehis problems, and when everything fa i ls , the only th ing he can do is cry .

Char l ie has a sense o f humour , bu t he does no t make many jokes ;ra ther he quotes those of h is f r iends , especia l ly George Swiebel . In Mr.Samm ler s Planet, Sam m ler a lso has a sense o f hu m ou r . H e jokes a bo u tAn gelas m inisk ir t ( 300 ) , bu t he lacks Char l ie s w ar m th . H e is too cold; hehas co m e from the dead. H e is fond of an d very thankfu l to h is nep hew ,D r. Gr un er , b ut he is def ic ient in family fee l ings . C ha r l ie is m or e l ikeGruner . He has s t rong family fee l ings , and is capable of embarrass ing h isbrother , Ulick (380) . Sammler is a loof a t t imes: he c loses the car par t i t ionbecause he does not want to ta lk to Emil , whereas Ci t r ina , a Pul i tzer Pr izewinner does no t mind be ing ca l led Char l ie by Can tab i le and anyone e l se .The d if ferent personal i t ies of the narra tors ( though Mr. Samm ler s P lanet isw rit ten in the th ird perso n th e narra t ive is seen thro ug h S amm ler s eyes)m akes a d i f fe rence in the m oo d o f these two nov is . O n e exam ple o fCharl ie s sym path y is h is descr ip t ion of Renata s m oth er :

I couldn t arge with the Seora. I had seen her one mo rning before she wasmade up, hurrying toward the bathroom, completely featureless, a hmp andyellow banana skin, without brows or lashes and virtually without Hps. Thesorrow oft issight took me by the heart, I never again wanted to win a pointfrom the Seora. (320)Because of i ts affec tionate ton e , th is examp le is h u m o u r o f a h igh er

sor t , in sp i te of the fac t tha t the narra tor has used humour of the f i rs tl e v e l c a r i c a tu r e in th e d e s c r ip t i o n o f t h e l ad y . H a d th e n a r r a to romit ted a l together the physical descr ip t ion of the Seora and lef t i t to thereader s imag inat ion , i t w ou ld have been a perfect examp le of h u m o u r ofthe third level.

Sal Bellow s novis are in som e me asu re satir ical. In th em Bellowsatir izes the United States as representative of twentieth century civilization.

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[7] HUMOUR NDITS FUNCTION IN TWO OF SAL BELLOWS NOVELS 10 5Besides satir izing the types that abound in this our civilization, he satir izescertain insti tutions such as the university and its tenure system {Humholdt s120) , the theatre and i ts adapta t ion of p lay to ac tor {Humholdt s 152) , andthe greediness of lawyers and psychiatrists . Freud beUeves that hostile jokesa re a fo rm of de fense (97 ) . M os t o f Bel low s hu m o u r seems d isgu isedresentment, while his sexual and scatological humour would act as a relieffrom the oppression of the norms of civilization. Bellow sounds angry withthe university, the theatre, lawyers and psychiatrists . At Princeton, Charliefeels he has been snubbed by one of the regular facul ty members (123) ,how eve r, very sign ificantely, it is n o t Bellov^^ s spe ake r w h o is int er est ed in aprofession he qualifies as ass-kissing (128); the one who is looking for ape rmanen t pos i t ion i s Humbold t . I t i s in The Dean s Decemher where wefind Bellow s harshest crit icism of academ ic life w ith his com m en t a bo ut aprofessor with tenure (274) , ment ioned above.

I f t h e r e is r e s e n tm e n t i n Be llow s c o m m e n t s a b o u t u n iv e r s i t ypolicies, he shows even more bitterness towards one or all of his ex-wives.T he re is a pa in t ing f rom Picasso s Cub is t pe r iod , wh ich is a po r tra i t ofOlga, h is second wife , the ar is tocra t ic daughter of some Eastern Europeangenera l . She i s d rawn wi th he r mouth fuU open . As you look a t thepainting you can hear her yelling. Bellow makes the same gift to his ex-wife that Picasso made to his. However, the satire in Humholdt s Gifi seemsdirected at a society that lets the genuine artist succumb, but glorifies theb izar re c rea t ion . A genu ine c rea to r w ho t r ied ha rd , H um bo ld t cou ld nevera t ta in a s tab le pos i t ion in soc ie ty . However , the b iza r re sc r ip t he andCitrine wrote for fun is an economic success. And as the novel ends, i t iseasy to an t ic pa te tha t H um ho ld t s l a st sc r ip t , conce ived by an insanemind, is going to be another economic success .

W e have found that our co ncept ion of three levis of hu m ou r can beapp lied to Sal Bellow s novis. How ever, in l i te ratu re, especially in th enarrative, the only sensual material is the characters on the page. Contraryto what happens in a fi lm or even in the theatre, we realize that any readerhas to go through a process of decipher ing and turning in to meaningfulun its any writ ten scene, even the m os t visual or scatological. For this reaso n,

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a humorous writer must choose his words very carefuUy and use only thenecessary ones because of the importance of timing and speed in humour.Consequendy, a humorous narration of the first level can be at times asdifFicult for the writer to successfuily accomplish as one ofth third level.

Bellow s novis reveal a conflict between lower and higher forms ofhu m ou r and this mixing involves many risks. T he comed y based onpersonal resentments threatens to undercut or degrade the comedy ofsome higher sort, directed at the painful position tha t all of us are in ahalfcrazy world. The ultmate eflfect is this, both the physical comedy and theintelligent jokes help to creare a full and believable sensibility, capable ofbeing sublime and petty and noble and resentful, and therefore malee thebest and funniest m om ents in the novel hum anly plausible.

To successfuily answer the question of the function of humour inany given work is not easy. Humorists seem to be making fun ofsom ething w^hile at the sam e time em bracing those ideis. In order to be asuccessful writer Bellow needed to m ake use of hum our. The re is so muchof the martyr in Sal Bellow, due perhaps to his Jewish background, thatin order to make his reading more palatable for the average reader, heneeded to ameliorate his martyr complex with a lot of humour. We havealso the fact that Bellow relies heavily on very intellectual discussions,however as a concession to the reader he likes to abruptly interrupt thesepilosophical considerations with comic situations of the lowest level.Bellow s novis seem to be posing the ques tion of how you can be anintellectual and still live in this world. If in Mr Sammler s Planet there isnot a clear answer, in Humboldt s Gift there seems to be: you survive thisworld with humour and compassion.

N O T E S

1 Kine tic hum ou r s probab ly older. It is difficult to imagine cave me n worryin g about aesthe-tics. However, physical deformities inv olving weaknesses were prob ably laughed upo n andpunished in very early ages.

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[7] HUMOURA ND ITS FUN CTION IN TWO OF SAL BELLOWS N OVELS 1072 N ow days the use of cruel hu m ou r is considered to be in bad taste.3 A ccord ing to Me lvin Helitzer, Glose to 5 0 of all hu m ou r is based up en sexual activity becau-

se all of US ... are more concerned with sexual adequacy than any other single subject (25).4 N ot all comical types are necessarily satirical. Th ere are som e which, d ue to the love with

which they are depic ted, reach the third level of hum our . D ickens is probably th e autho r w horelies m ore heavily on th ose lovable types. Mr. M icawber or Miss Betsey are good examples ofit . Fot the most part, Bellow's types do not fall into that categoty.

5 In his essay on hu m ou r Po Baroja says :. . . un Cervantes ac tua l no hara que a su D on Qu ijote le golpe aran tant o. D esde la poca en que se escribieron estos libros a ac, nuestra sensibilidad se ha afinado {Caverna 94).

..6 In Humhold G/f Sal Bellow seems to be equa ting the legitmate and the il legitimate orga-nization s. A policem an can also belong to a family of gangsters.

7 T h e Spanish writer Po Baroja also likes to present himself as a m artyr wh o has been econ o-mically taken advantage of by other writers.

8 In H umboldt s Gift Senator Javi ts and Bobby Kennedy are ment ioned and in The DeansDecember the N ot re D ame I r i sh .

9 In Herzog, Herzo g says tha t wom en ea t green salad and d r ink h um an blood.10 It is difficult to kn ow if Sal Bellow has ha rd feelings ab ou t the Un iversit y tenu re system or if

he is jus t mak ing an inno cent joke .

R E F E R E N C E SA HA RON l , A da . Wo men in Sal Be llow 's Nov i s. Studies in American Jeivish Literature, 3

(1983) : 99-112.B A R O J A , Po. La Caverna del humorismo. 2nd ed. Madrid; Caro Raggio, 1920.BELLOW, Sal. The Deans December. N ew York: Pocket Books , 198 2.-Hum boldt s Gift. N ew York: Viking, 1975 .Mr. Sa mmler s Plan et. N ew York: Pengu in, 19 77. Seize the Day. N ew York: Vik ing Press, 1956 .B E R G S O N , H e n r i . Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning ofthe Comic. Trans. Cloudesley Brereton &Fred Rothwell. N ew York: Ma cMil lan, 1914.B L I N S T E I N , Elmer M. Comedy inAction. D u r h a m , N . C . : D u k e U R 1 9 6 4 .BORRUS, Bruce J. Bellow's Critique of the Intellect. MFS, Vol. 25, 1 (1979) ; 29-45.B R A D B U R Y , M a i c o l m . Sal Bellow. (Contemporary Writers). L o n d o n & N e w Y o rk : M e t h u e n ,1982.COH N , Sarah Blacher. Com edy and Guil t in Humboldt s Gifi ^> MFS, Vol. 25, 1: 47-57.D U T T O N , R . R . Sal Bellow. N ew York: Twayne , 19 71 .Freud , S igmund. The Co mplete Psychological Works.Vol 8. Jokes and their Relation to the Uncons-

cious.Trans . James Strachey & A rma Freud. Londo n: Ho gar t h, 1905 .

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H E L I T Z E R , Melvin . Com edy T echniques for Writers and Performers. Athens , Ohio: Lawhead Press ,1984.

KIMMINS, C .W. The Sprinp of Laughter. L o n d o n : M e t h u e n , 1 9 2 8 .N A S H , Waker . The Language of Humour. Lon gman: L ondon New York , 19 85 .RAPP,Alber t . The Origins ofWit and Humor. New York Dunon 1 9 5 1 .SiDIS, Boris. ThePsychology ofLaughter. New York: Apple ton , 19 13 .SULL Y, James. An Essay on Laughter. N ew York: L ongman s , 19 02 .T R A C H T E N B E R G , Stanley, ed. Critical ssays on Sal Bellow. Bos ton: Ha l l , 1979 .