Dangling Man: Analysis of Major Characters
"Dangling Man" centers on Joseph, an educated, introspective man grappling with his impending induction into the U.S. Army, delayed by bureaucratic issues. This period of waiting exacerbates his existential anxieties about personal freedom and societal pressures, as he navigates a mundane life in a disheartening Chicago environment. Joseph's character evolves through his introspections, revealing bitterness and a growing sense of alienation as he contemplates his identity and the expectations of those around him, including his wife Iva and his mistress Kitty.
Iva is portrayed as a dutiful, conventional woman who, despite her quiet strength, struggles under Joseph's dominating presence and expresses her own frustrations about their relationship and his impending departure. On the other hand, Kitty represents a more carefree and sensual aspect of Joseph's life, drawing him into an affair that complicates his emotions further. Ultimately, as Joseph faces the acceptance of his military fate, he relinquishes control over his destiny, marking a significant transition in his character arc. The interplay between these major characters explores themes of identity, freedom, and the complexity of human relationships.
Dangling Man: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Saul Bellow
First published: 1944
Genre: Novel
Locale: Chicago, Illinois
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: December 15, 1942, to April 9, 1943
Joseph, an unemployed man dangling between civilian life and his final draft call into the U.S. Army, his induction delayed by bureaucratic red tape. A tall, handsome, flabby, well-educated man of introspective and philosophical habits of mind, he keeps a journal of his feelings and musings, growing more bitter, dispirited, and demoralized as he assesses the damage inflicted on his sense of self-identity by the seven-month delay. The major anxiety he feels is existential, such as how to keep his sense of being intact and unencumbered and how to keep his balance between his personal desires and the coercions of society. The problem of freedom is crucial for Joseph, as he clearly recognizes the environmental pressures toward conformity that threaten his personal freedom: the sorrowful, ugly cityscape of Chicago; the stigma of poverty; the demands of his mistress; and the relationships with his wife, family, and friends, all of whom urge him to make something of himself and behave respectably. In a secular age with no deep structure of belief or a priori models of conduct, he is haunted by the question of how to live as a good man. He becomes more peevish, irritable, and quarrelsome as the weeks go by, his life an unrelieved tedium of idleness in the single room he and his wife are renting until his departure. Joseph broods about the avidity of his friends and about his own limitations and sense of mortality. He becomes increasingly disappointed in others, separate, distrustful, and alienated. Feeling constantly badgered by the public conscience, he clings desperately to the one true virtue of preserving oneself: deciding what one can decide and recognizing what is beyond one's control. After quarreling with his wife over his refusal to cash her paycheck and with Captain Briggs, the landlady's son-in-law, about the annoying, alcoholic behavior and petty thievery of a fellow roomer named Mr. Vanaker, Joseph decides to give up his struggle and requests that the draft board expedite his induction. Summoned to report to the Army, Joseph has now placed his destiny in the hands of others and no longer feels accountable for himself. His journal ends on an ambiguous note: Having volitionally canceled his freedom and self-determination, he seems to embrace the life of regimentation that lies ahead.
Iva, Joseph's wife. A quiet, dutiful, circumspect woman, she tries to enable Joseph to enjoy his liberty before he leaves for the Army. Since he quit his job at the travel agency, she has fully supported him. Joseph has dominated her for the six years of their marriage, trying to form her taste and intellect, but she resists his efforts, succumbing instead to the conventional appeals of fashion magazines, clothes, furniture, and radio entertainment. Concerned about appearances and desiring the good opinion of others, she is easily embarrassed by Joseph's behavior. Growing somewhat rebellious, she becomes quick to defy or quarrel with him. She discourages talk (they do not confide in each other), yet she complains that Joseph neglects her. When she nurses him through a minor illness, she becomes less critical and more endearing to Joseph. Hurt by his failure to consult her in his decision to ask the draft board for an early summons, she wishes Joseph would show more grief at the prospect of their long separation. Against Joseph's wishes, she decides to stay with her parents while he is in the Army.
Kitty Daumler, Joseph's mistress, a simple, uncomplicated, down-to-earth woman whom Joseph met when he arranged a tour for her. She confidently sets out to seduce him. Although she is careless, messy, unkempt, and somewhat gross, she is sensually attractive, a lively, plump, solid, worldly presence. Irritated by Iva's nagging and pettiness, Joseph visits Kitty's apartment regularly, drawn by her affectionate and generous nature, yet determined to keep the relationship on the level of amiable talk. Inevitably, he succumbs to desire and the relationship becomes sexual. The affair lasts for two months, until Kitty hints that Joseph should leave Iva. Sobered by the consequences of his own unlimited desire, he attempts to return the relationship to its earlier, friendly but nonsexual, basis. One night, after quarreling with Iva, Joseph visits Kitty to retrieve a book and feels vaguely resentful and insulted to find her with a man. Several weeks later, Kitty sends Joseph a note asking him to drop by. He is surprised to find that he no longer thinks about her.