Tommy is a Little Boy- Thesis on "Seize the Day" by Saul Bellow

Essay by dex110College, UndergraduateA, December 2004

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Tommy is a Little Boy

Tommy is beginning to crack in this stressful time of his life. Tommy can be portrayed as a young boy. In the book Seize the Day by Saul Bellow, the main character, Tommy Wilhelm acts almost as a little boy would, he is unsure and seeks guidance every day, and is deeply confused about his life.

Tommy is a man who enjoys his routine breakfast with his Father Dr. Adler. With his routine comes cigarettes and lots of them, and on a stressful day you can find cigarette butts deep in his pockets. He is always swinging back and forth fidgeting around with his hands in his pocket. He may also pick at food and when he does this in front of his Father he will receive a slap on the wrist almost like he is a little boy. This is ironic because Tommy craves the affection of his father almost like a little boy would, this could explain why he would pick at food in front of his Father.

Taking a look at where he lives also shows he is starting to crack because he lives in the Hotel Gloriana and is surrounded by the elderly. Since Tommy is about 30 years younger then everyone this would show that Tommy could be considered the little boy of the building surrounded by the adults. Tommy also had changed his name from Wilhelm Adler to Tommy Wilhelm, which reveals that he didn't think it was a suitable name for him. Why did he do this when he so desperately craves his Father's affection? One, he is very confused with his life or two, he wants to get his Fathers attention no matter if it is negative or positive. "I will not carry anyone on my...