Hongyu Jia

This paper reexamines the funeral scene in Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day, challenging the critical reading that it marks Tommy Wilhelm’s transformative awakening. Drawing on Kierkegaard’s theory of despair in The Sickness unto Death, it argues that Wilhelm’s breakdown constitutes an incomplete journey toward self-realization. Wilhelm remains entrenched in the second form of despair—not wanting to be himself—regresses to the aesthetic stage when confronted with ethical demands, and fails to achieve a sustained transformation in his way of life. His emotional outburst, though intense, reflects self-rejection rather than a genuine breakthrough. Ultimately, the funeral scene embodies what Kierkegaard calls the “trembling of despair,” leaving Wilhelm trapped in the sickness unto death without attaining authentic awakening.

Saul Bellow; Seize the Day; Funeral scene

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