Looking for Hope—An Analysis of Grebe’s Search in “Looking for Mr.Green”

Bie Zhi

【Abstract】“Looking for Mr.Green” is a famous short story written by the renowned Nobel Prize winner Saul Bellow.Grebe， the main character in “Looking for Mr.Green”， confronts many difficulties in delivering relief checks to the residents who were in need in the South Side of Chicago.With the analysis of Mr.Grebe and his finding Mr.Green， this paper will take Grebes looking for hope in his life as the main reason for his chase.What Grebe does represents the predicament of Americans and their attitudes towards life during the depression time.

【Key words】character analysis； hope； meaning；“Looking for Mr.Green”

Ⅰ.Introduction to Saul Bellow and “Looking for Mr.Green”

Saul Bellow is one of the major representatives of Jewish-American writers.The wartime economic boom of the forties and fifties， the Cold War， the anti-Semitism of the thirties and forties， the Civil Rights movement， the end of segregation， and the seemingly endless Vietnam War contribute a lot to his writings.1 Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize， International Literary Prize and the National Medal of Arts.He is the only writer to have won the National Book Award three times and the only writer to have been nominated for it six times.His best-known works include The Adventures of Augie March， Herzog， Seize the Day， Humboldts Gift and Ravelstein.

By early 1951， when Saul Bellow published “Looking for Mr.Green，” he had already established himself as an author of more than usual promise.It is a short story that receives high reputation and is the first of many stories that exemplify his mastery of the genre collected in Mosbys Memoirs and Other Stories.From the perspective of setting and theme， “Looking for Mr.Green” is one of Bellows career-long best.It is set in the Great Depression in the 1930s.George Grebe， a lecturer of classical languages， has been reduced by the depressed time.Under the help of an old schoolmate， Grebe gets a job in the relief office.In his new job， he has to deliver a relief check in a Chicago ghetto.Grebe is eager to perform well in his new job but is hampered by a lot of difficulties.The one he has to find is Mr.Green and he always believes that Mr.Green must exist.It is just his bad fortune that prevents him from meeting him.Therefore， having this in mind， he gives the check to a woman who claimed to be Mrs.Green and bears hope in mind that for sure Mr.Green will get the help.

Ⅱ.Difficulties against Grebe in Looking for Mr.Green

George Grebe， the unemployed instructor in classical languages and a fellow in the University of Chicago， is faced with many difficulties in the new job.

One of the tasks of the new job for Grebe is to send checks in the Negro district.The former instructor obviously cannot stand such kind of heavy manual job as “he wasnt used to walking and stair-climbing.”2 As the stranger in the district， he has to depend all on his feet walking many extra miles and works like a hunter moving all the time without a stop.

It is noticeable that the bad weather condition constantly appears in the story.The weather is getting worse from “the cold， dark weather and windy”3 to “ground-freezing” and “frost-hardened”3 and in the end “the air bit cold and hard and a few flakes of snow formed near him.”4 The sharpness of the weather also leads to the difficulty of the job.

Besides， his working environment is as bad as the weather.He has to go to the condemned and cold buildings， the messy basement grocery， the crowded apartment， the closed schools， black churches， mounds and many others.And these places are always filled with cold， darkness and ruthlessness.

The most difficult thing for Grebe in his new job is that people dont want to share anything with him.Before his sending checks， Mr.Raynor has already warned him that he will meet resistance because of his skin as the blacks are very cautious and dont want to tell any information about anybody especially to the white.Indeed， during his looking for Mr.Green， nearly all the people are on the alert believing that he will take money from them and therefore tell him nothing about Mr.Green.Whats more， the ill relation between the blacks makes it harder for Grebe to find Mr.Green.The blacks in the district may know nothing about Mr.Green as they dont unite although they are from the same race.People know others faces but not names and they dont care.Just as Staika reveals in the office that in this unjust society， some poor blacks like her dont get enough money while some other blacks who find jobs easily lie in the beds all day and eat the money.In this district， mutual care and mutual trust are not important.The society had already driven people apart， and the ill human relations had set many blocks in Mr.Grebes new job.

Ⅲ.Reasons of George Grebes Looking for Mr.Green

Mr.Green is confronted with many challenges doing his new job but he doesnt give up.With his positive attitude and his responsibility for his job， he hopefully believes that he can find Mr.Green.And his finding can not only be viewed as a job duty but also can express his understanding of the meaning of life.

Grebe always bears the positive attitude in his mind doing anything.Been assigned the lowest clerical grade， he doesnt feel unhappy but tells himself that the new job “wasnt really so hard.”5 Walking endlessly in the bad weather condition doesnt make him depressed.On the contrary he feels “his luck was better than usual today”6 as he can enjoy the freedom of working outside.Therefore， being a positive man， Grebe never gives up finding Mr.Green among the tenement in the early dark and biting cold in Chicago.He knows “there must be a way to find a person.” 7Grebe was positive till the end as he believes that even though he makes a mistake， Mr.Green still can be found.”

Job responsibility also makes him hopeful in such adversity.When he starts the new job， the experienced Mr.Raynor practically tells him that he neednt to work arduously as it is only a city job and nobody expects him to work too hard on it in such a society.But his performance impresses everyone as he never ceases to find those people.Mr.Grebe can be off duty after working for a long time in such bad working condition.But thinking about washing in hot water， pouring a drink， lying down the quilt， reading the paper and eating something makes him feel a little sick.His job duty lets him give up his ideas of going home and he determines to deliver at least one of the six checks left.He is ready and willing to work overtime.Having searched again and again in different places and asked a lot of people in the district again， George eventually finds the name Green below a shattered mailbox.As a person with job responsibility， George， having been warned of such deception on this job， refuses to hand the check to the drunken woman who lives in the house.He insists to see Mr.Green himself and does not believe in the naked woman.But he knows his job is to help others and he wants to help Mr.Green who is in real need.Believing that the woman stands for Green， whom he is not to see this time， he finally gets someone that most relates to Mr.Green and gives the check to him.Such Job responsibility gives him hope as he believes if he works hard， the lives of the people in need will get better and his own life will be improved because of his good performance in work.

Ⅳ.Conclusion

The story is a wonderfully evocative rendering of the underside of Chicago， a brilliant parable of urban anonymity， class and racial hostility， the interaction of institution and individual， the shared paranoia of the contemporary world.In the Great Depression， people dump into despair both physically and mentally.The mysterious Mr.Green never appears in the story.He is like the apparition floating around symbolizing that his life is also absurd and meaningless.9 Nobody knows Mr.Green， and Grebe has found all around the district to find him but fails.Maybe Mr.Green does not exist， but Grebe persists in looking for him because it is his mission in life.Hope always hides behind the miserable things.Specifically to Mr.Grebe， he is in the Great depression time when everything is hard for him but he receives his job without any complaints.He shows his positive attitude and his pursuit of hope in his new job.Not continuing to look for Mr.Green is not a denial to the existence of Mr.Green.On the contrary， he senses a feeling of happiness because Mr.Green could be found.Grebes positive attitude in finding Mr.Green and his responsibility of his job are a revelation of the true meaning of looking for-hope always exists.In the midst of all this floating chaos， what is real？ What can we count on？ What abides？ Such abstract， weighty philosophical questions are brought to a point in Georges search for Mr.Green when George answers in an act of faith： Mr.Green does exist.A stronger feeling prevails： “It was important that there was a real Mr.Green whom they could not keep him from reaching because he seemed to come as an emissary from hostile appearances”.10George Grebe has the hope and the faith in looking for Mr.Green but more important he believes in hope in life.

Refences：

[1]Daniel Fuchs， Saul Bellow and the Modern Tradition， Contemporary Literature， Vol.15， No.1 （winter， 1974， University of Wisconsin Press）， pp.67-89.

[2]Bellow Saul， “Looking for Mr.Green，” Mosbys Memoirs and Other Stories （New York： Viking， 1968）.pp.85.

[3]Ibid， 85.

[4]Ibid， 103.

[5]Ibid， 85.

[6]Ibid， 86.

[7]Ibid， 105.

[8]Hanli Wang，“The allegorical analysis of ‘looking for Mr.Green”， （Foreign Literature， 2008（02））， pp.111-112.

[9]Ibid， 142.