Created By:

Mallory Norfleet

and

Kasey Martin

Born in Lachine, Quebec (suburb of Montreal) on June 10, 1915

Raised in Chicago

Abraham and Lescha Bellow (his parents) emigrated in 1913 from Russia to Canada

Family moved to Chicago in 1924 after father was beaten

His mother was very religious and taught him Hebrew and Yiddish as a young man

Jewish Heritage

His mother died when he was 17

In 1933 he attended the University of Chicago

Transferred to Northwestern University and studied anthropology and sociology

Graduated in 1937

Abandoned post-graduate studies at University of Wisconsin to become a writer

Taught at Pestalozzi-Froebel Teachers’ College (1938-1942)

Worked for Encyclopedia Britannica (1943-1944)

Served in US Merchant Marine (1944-1945) after being rejected into the Army due to a hernia

After the war he returned to teaching at the Universities of Minnesota, New York, Princeton, and Puerto Rico

In 1967 he served as a War Correspondent for Newsday

Bellows was a novelist and a playwright

Wrote three short plays that were produced on Broadway in 1966

Settled in Boston in 1993 and taught at the Univerisity of Boston

Bellow had three sons from his first four marriages

Married Janis Freedman in 1989 and had one daughter in 1999

Died on April 5, 2005 in his home in Brookline, Massachussetts

Guggenheim Fellowship in 1948

In 1965 Bellow was the first American to be awarded the International Literary Prize for Herzog

In January 1968 the Republic of France awarded him the Croix de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres

In March 1968 he received the B'nai B'rith Jewish Heritage Award for "excellence in Jewish literature"

In November 1976 he was awarded the America's Democratic Legacy Award of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith

Awarded Novel Prize in Literature 1976

DANGLING MAN, 1944

THE VICTIM, 1947 THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE

MARCH, 1953 (won National Book Award)

THE WRECKERS, 1954

SEIZE THE DAY, 1956

HENDERSON THE RAIN KING, 1959

THE LAST ANALYSIS

TO JERUSALEM AND BACK. A PERSONAL ACCOUNT, 1976

MORE DIE OF HEARTBREAK, 1987

A THEFT, 1989

HERZOG, 1963 (won National Book Award)

MOSBY’S MEMOIRS AND OTHER STORIES, 1968

MR. SAMMLER’S PLANET, 1970 (won National Book Award)

HUMBOLDT’S GIFT, 1975 (awarded Pulitzer Prize)

Characters

Augie March-the main character who is young, mischievous, and Jewish-American born in Chicago.

Grandma Lausch-boarder of the house, not really the boys grandmother, assists in the major upbringing of the three boys, has the dominant authority of the household

Mama (Rebecca)- Augie’s mother who is very simple minded and raises the boys on her own after their father left

Georgie- Augie’s younger brother who was born an “idiot”

Simon- Augie’s older brother who is very intelligent and strives to be a wealthy businessman

Themes

Personal Identity: Augie struggles throughout the book in finding

himself. He is very immature and goes through many different jobs.

Honesty: Augie is taught at a very young age that honesty

is the most important factor in a person’s life, but people take advantage of it to get ahead in life.

Machiavellian Influences: Grandma Lausch is the key factor in Augie’s

outlook on life as a small child. Augie is faced with many Machiavellian influences that teach him to better understand the ways of the world

SummaryAugie lives with his mother, two brothers, and Grandma Lausch in Chicago. Augie’s childhood takes place during the Great Depression, where his family was supported only by his mother Rebecca. In the first chapter he describes each member of his family. Augie and Simon are taught about the lessons in life by Grandma Lausch. She teaches the boys to lie to the free dispensary in order to receive a pair of eyeglasses. Augie earns friendship with Stashu Kopecs by stealing clothes from lines, rubber balls from the dime store, and pennies off newspaper stands. Augie gets beat up by a gang that Stashu recently joined. He gets in trouble by Grandma Lausch because she says it is his own fault because he runs around with troublemakers. His mother is very frightened for him, but doesn’t say anything because she feels she has no authority over Grandma Lausch.

1. Where was Saul Bellow born and where was he raised? He was born in Lachine, Quebec and he was raised in Chicago.

2. What is the setting of “The Adventures of Augie March?”

Chicago during the Great Depression.

3. In what year did Saul Bellow receive the Nobel Prize for Literature?

He received the award in 1976.

4. How is Grandma Lausch connected to Augie and his family and what is her role in the household?

Grandma Lausch is the boarder of the house; she is not really Augie’s grandmother. She is the authoritative figure in the household. Grandma Lausch is even dominant over Rebecca. She helps Rebecca raise her three boys.

5. Grandma Lausch shows Augie that “wit and discontent” can go together and teaches him to lie— not because he needs to, but simply for the joy of the contest. How does this gaming spirit, this joy in subversion inform his later temperament?

Grandma Lausch teaches Augie that this type of behavior is okay. She also tells him that honesty is important but people take advantage of it to get ahead in life. This leads Augie to begin stealing with his friend Stashu.

Saul Bellow Biography http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1976/bellow-bio.html

Saul Bellow (1915-2005) http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/bellow.htm