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چکیده
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The present thesis is a reading of Saul Bellow's Dangling Man, The Victim, and Seize the Day in terms of Michael White's and David Epston's notion of 'narrative therapy.' Saul Bellow's subtlety in his portrayals of the modern man's struggle against problems is present throughout all his novels. The existence of problems as dominators of the mind has become an integral part of his fiction. Bellow's prose implies a long-lasting tradition of story-telling to express events from distinguished perspectives. Each protagonist attempts to tell stories about his lived experiences using different ways of expression, including writing a journal, remembering past events, ruminating on fixed and unexamined narratives, and writing letters. Joseph, Leventhal, and Wilhelm are victims of dominant stories constructed socially, culturally, and economically. Thin descriptions force them to dangle and wonder about 'the truth.' Different difficulties give them the postmodern realization that specific versions of events cannot become more privileged than others. One of the study's primary concerns is to examine the role of others and society in shaping dominant stories since the stories are constitutive. Re-membering conversations in narrative therapy seek to thicken the thin description with the aid of one's club of life in finding unique outcomes. Although the protagonists fail to end their dissociation from relatives and society, they show their intentions in doing so. The study analyzes different depictions of American society, whether as a war-worn atmosphere, a repudiator of Jews, or a reckoning place for unsuccessful men. The role of prevailing culture as a controlling factor that affects people's perception of problems is common in the three novels despite the distinguished demonstrations of society in different eras. Joseph, Leventhal, and Wilhelm utilize therapeutic techniques like naming the problem, tracing the history of it, evaluating its effects, finding unique outcomes, and re-authoring to deconstruct totalizing stories. Bellow writes about men seemingly at the rope's end and their remaining hope to recover from past mistakes. Although some troubles are left unsolved during the deconstructing process, the protagonists arrange their problems based on their importance and externalize all of them.
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