Tommy Wilhelm's Reality Deception Saul Bellow's Seize the Day symbolizes the complexity of American culture in the 1950s. During the post-World War II period, America is experiencing rapid economic growth. Additionally, America is experiencing the beginning stages of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. In Seize the Day, Bellow uses settings, characters, and imagery to symbolize the psychological detachment of Americans during the corresponding time period. In Seize the Day, Tommy Wilhelm is portrayed as a middle-aged man living in New York City. Tommy Wilhelm moves to New York after being fired from his sales job and divorcing his wife. Faced with a financial dilemma, Wilhelm decides to invest in the stock market with Doctor Tamkin. Doctor Tamkin proves to be a fraudulent character after losing all of Wilhelm's money and disappears. Despite many failures, Wilhelm makes one last attempt to ask his father for assistance. After his father denies him financial help, Tommy has a revitalizing insight into the meaning of life during a stranger's funeral. New York City is the perfect setting to symbolize the psychological mindset of America in the 1950s. Bellow describes the setting of New York City as "the great, great crowd, the exhaustible stream of millions of every race and kind pouring in, pressing around, of every age, of every genius..." (111). Bellow describes New York City as a chaotic image to symbolize Tommy Wilhelm's lost state. According to Gilbert M. Porter, “the setting and the present time form the framework that contains Wilhelm's reflections on the past time and its effect on his current situation” (107). Through Wilhelm's gaze, one can imagine the detachment he experiences... in the center of the card... a film with a hippopotamus to suggest another metaphor. Wilhelm is indirectly compared to the semi-aquatic mammal to emphasize Porter's “drowning man” (105). The symbol of water continues to dominate the imagery of Seize the Day across multiple levels of consciousness. Bellow's Seize the Day is a work of fiction that represents the perspective of the modern American during the corresponding time period. Like Hemingway's “Lost Generation,” World War II left the American people with a sense of disconnection from humanity. Through Tommy Wilhelm's protagonist one can see the correlation of failure with society. Furthermore, through the character of Wilhelm, the misconception of fate can be seen. Wilhelm realizes that correcting external problems requires direct internal fixation. Through the protagonist's tears, Bellow provides hope to the reader.