Victimization’s Camouflage: Seize the Day, Chapters I - II

Tommy Wilhelm, best described as a failure in life, possesses no similarity whatsoever with the title of the book, Seize the Day. His life is composed of losses and misfortunes but, most importantly, of a profound, deep-rooted resentment towards his father, Dr. Adler. Although Wilhelm is constantly criticizing the old man’s polite, hypocritical behavior, there is never really any tangible proof to demonstrate Dr. Adler’s supposed evil nature. Wilhelm’s criticisms about his father’s personality are powerful and extremist, yet possess no base to support them or add credibility to his inferences. “After any talk with Dr. Adler, Wilhelm generally felt dissatisfied, and his dissatisfaction reached its greatest intensity when they discussed family matters. Ostensibly he had been trying to help the old man to remember a date, but in reality he meant to tell him, ‘You were set free when Ma died. You wanted to forget her. Me, too.’” (p. 26). Wilhelm expresses a profound hatred for his father, giving the reader the impression that Wilhelm himself, not the old man, is the one with the problem. When one comes to think about it, Tommy is the reflection of everything his father managed not to be: unsuccessful, frustrated, insecure, and pathetic. After being faced with the loss of his job and an unsuccessful marriage, Wilhelm is forced to live with his father, a figure agreeable to the public who managed to assess both financial security and social respect.

As Mucho Maas said in The Crying of Lot 49, a car is a mirror of a person’s life:
“Forgetfully, Wilhelm traveled for miles in second gear; he was seldom in the right lane and he neither gave signals nor watched for lights. The upholstery of his Pontiac was filthy with grease and ashes.” (p. 30). The car is a representation of Tommy’s own existence. The fact that he travels in “second gear” represents his uncommitted, effortless attitude towards life itself. The connotation of the words “right lane” possesses a double meaning, both literal and figurative. “Right” can define the opposite of left, but it can also come to represent correctness. By stating the fact that Wilhelm “was seldom in the right lane,” Bellow is emphasizing that Tommy fails to make the correct decisions or adopt an assertive attitude towards life itself. Not giving signals or watching out for lights symbolizes the character’s failure to both give and receive positive experiences and teachings in life. His behavior and relationship with others is not reciprocal: Wilhelm has nothing to give, and at the same time is unable to receive and interpret the signals life provides him with, such as Tamkin’s apparent unbalance. Finally, the filthiness in his car represents the untidiness in his life. Wilhelm does not care about maintaining a stable and enduring relationship with anyone, not even his wife or his job.

Seize the Day also poses a critique towards the excessive value and importance people attribute to money. “Uch! How they love money, thought Wilhelm. They adore money! Holy money! Beautiful money! It was getting so that people were feeble minded about everything except money. While if you didn’t have it you were a dummy, a dummy!” (p. 32). Money has come to occupy the most important pillar in which people construct their lives upon. In fact, this item has become the basis of everybody’s existence. “They made it a shame not to have money and set everybody to work.” (p. 27). Tommy Wilhelm talks about money in an ironic way in order to recreate a society in which wealth and other material goods act as gods. Even though the main character presents the reader with an unworldly perspective towards life, one can notice how the invisible yet powerful grasp of money has managed to seduce and succumb the unconscious Wilhelm into the midst of a degrading, materialistic culture: “He thought, The money! When I had it, I flowed money. They bled it away from me. I hemorrhaged money. But now it’s almost gone, and where am I supposed to turn for more?” (p. 36). Apparently, Tommy is also a slave of wealth and riches. What’s worse, Wilhelm decides to criticize everyone and everything without discovering that the gravest faults lie within him. He sees himself as a victim of other people’s points of views and actions, but never realizes that he is actually a bad imitation of everything he attacks.