Abstract：Saul Bellow is one of the most outstanding American writers in the 20th century. Henderson the Rain King is one of his representative works. Picaresque theme and mode recur in Saul Bellow’s works. Under the background of a new era, the picaresque novels by Saul Bellow are endowed with new meaning, involving both regional tramp and mental tramp. Henderson the Rain King reflects the characteristics of Saul Bellow’s Picaresque novel. This thesis is trying to analyze the novel from the perspective of Picaresque novel, illustrating how it inherits and transcends the traditional features of picaresque novel.
The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one introduces the author, the plot and theme of the novel. Chapter two makes a brief introduction to picaresque novel and talks about Saul Bellow’s preoccupation with picaresque novel. Chapter three introduces features of traditional picaresque novel in Henderson the Rain King. Chapter four shows us how the novel transcends over the genre. The last one is a summary of the whole thesis.
Key words: Henderson the Rain King picaresque novel Saul Bellow
摘要：索尔·贝娄是20世纪美国最杰出的作家之一。《雨王汉德森》是他的代表作之一。索尔·贝娄的作品中常蕴含着流浪汉小说的主题和模式。在一个新时代的背景下，索尔·贝娄笔下的流浪汉小说被赋予了新的意义，一方面指的是区域流浪，一方面指的是精神流浪。《雨王汉德森》反映出了索尔·贝娄流浪汉小说的特征。论文试从流浪汉小说的角度分析这部小说,并指出其对流浪汉小说的传承与超越。
本文从流浪汉小说的角度解析《雨王汉德森》。它包括五个章节。第一章介绍了小说的作者，故事情节和主题。第二章简要介绍流浪汉小说的定义以及索尔·贝娄专注于流浪汉小说的原因。第三章介绍了《雨王汉德森》中所体现出的流浪汉小说特征。第四章阐述了小说对流浪汉小说的超越。最后一章是对整篇论文的总结。
关键词: 《雨王汉德森》；流浪汉小说；索尔·贝娄
