Henderson The Rain King
(Bellow, Saul)
"Henderson the Rain King" by Saul Bellow is the tale of Eugene
Henderson and his quest for a sense of fulfillment. Henderson is an
ugly giant of a man who has been in search of a sense of completion
all his life.
Henderson was born into a rich family, and his sense of emptiness
can at times be seen as the ennui of the rich. However, through the
first person view of the book the reader is given a window into
Henderson's mind and discovers that this isn't really the case at all.
Henderson is a surprisingly complicated character. His deep
philosophical debates and questions are offset by occasional acts of
violence and anger. His maid dies from listening to him bellow at his
wife.
Constantly egged on by a voice that cries "I want, I want!",
Henderson goes to great lengths to sate it. He begins to play his dead
father's violin to try to contact him, he begins raising pigs. At
various times throughout the novel Henderson compares himself to an
animal, the fact that he seems to be constantly in their company and
more fit for that than to be with other humans.
The pestering voice eventually causes him to travel to Africa in
search of something he can't exactly find. He promises his guide a
Jeep to take him into the deepest parts of the country and they set
off. After causing a disaster in one village, Henderson encounters the
Wariri and their king, Dahfu. Dahfu is college educated and is almost
a doctor, and Henderson is almost a little crestfallen to find such
signs of civility in the wildest place on earth.
Because of his ponderous strength, Henderson is appointed Rain King
of the Wariri. He becomes closer and closer to Dahfu, and begins to
arrive to the sense of completion he has desired for so long. Dahfu is
killed in a ritual involving the capture of a lion, and Henderson fears
the tribe will not put up with him for long. He and his guide escape
from the tribe, though Henderson becomes sick and nearly dies.
It was perhaps this near-death experience that finally "brings him
around", in a sense. Henderson flies back home with his lion cub and an
orphan child, and a new sense of self-awareness.
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