CHARACTER DESIGN IN RELATION TO LANDSCAPE AND TIME
DIMENSIONS IN
HENDERSON THE RAIN KING BY SAUL BELLOW

This article analyses aspects of character design in Saul Bellow’s novel Henderson the Rain
King. It focuses on the association of space and specific moments in time and highlights the
use of landscape structures in important moments of the book, aiming to explore the evolution
of the central character. The overall discussion of the relationship between character
development and landscape patterns uses Bakhtin’s idea of chronotope and identifies several
significant moments in the economy of the book that are relevant to the construction of the
main character. On the whole, this article was inspired by Saul Bellow’s recurrent and
energetic attempts to rescue, throughout his writing activity, that part of the traditional novel
which is centered around a problematic hero.