It's hard to know whether Seize the Day is a love letter to New York City, or an official complaint. As Tommy Wilhelm knows all too well, NYC is the city where dreams are made, but it's also the city where dreams go to get squashed, ground to a pulp, chewed up, and spit back out. The one thing we can say for sure is that Saul Bellow's focus is wonderfully narrow in this tiny little novel, but by showing us just a few hours of hustle and bustle in Manhattan's Upper West Side, he gives us a portrait of a city teeming with life.
Questions About Visions of America
- Here's one for New Yorkers: How well do Saul Bellow's descriptions of Broadway hold up today?
- Does Seize the Day critique urban America, or does it show it in all its strangeness, wonder, and glory?
- What does the novel suggest about wealth in America? Can anyone succeed by working hard and putting in the time, or does the big money go to swindlers and crooks?
- What is Wilhelm's experience of anti-Semitism in America? How does he deal with it?
Chew on This
All men may be equal in Saul Bellow's America, but some men are more equal than others. Although New York City contains people of all creeds and colors, racial hierarchies are revealed in subtle moments throughout the novel, suggesting that the great American melting pot isn't quite as equalizing as it seems.
Seize the Day depicts the dirt, grime, gas, and noise of New York City, but, in the end, the urban center's positive attributes overpower the negatives. The city may be alienating and isolating, but in rare moments, it inspires moments of radical connectedness to all of humankind.