Essay Questions

Show how the American dream is brought out in Saul Bellow’s Mr. Sammler’s Planet.

While the idea of the American dream to another person might be quite compelling—a luxurious life—to Sammler it all seems a rather self-defeating process. Having experienced the terrible and virtually horrific events revolving around death and suffering, Mr. Sammler is quite unappreciative of this continuous quest for luxury and even detests it. Not only is the quest tiresome but it also makes them unhappy and miserable.

Show how suffering and survival is brought out in Mr. Sammler’s Planet.

Having survived the fate of the holocaust despite their horrific and horrible nature, Mr. Sammler has experience with the cruel and difficult side of life. Mr. Sammler is quick to notice the disadvantage that a life of luxury brings to people. Not only does it disarm them of their ability to survive twists and turns that life might throw at them but it also makes the people lazy and entitled. In this way, Bellow explores these themes in the novel.

Why does Mr. Sammler treat matters of technology with reservation?

In this work, the promises that technology brings along with it are not treated in high regard but with enquiry and scrutiny by Mr. Sammler. This particular treatment is as a result of the fact or idea that the technological advancement may not provide all the solutions that humans have in their lives. Mr. Sammler notices that technology comes with certain drawbacks and in this way treats these matters with reservations due to the fact that technology brought weapons which worked against his community in the Holocaust.