Dangling man is a short novel, written in the form of a journal. The main character, Joseph resigned from his job seven months ago at the Inter-American Travel Bureau in order to enter the army. Due to bureaucratic red tape, he balances between civilian and military life. On December 15, 1942, Joseph writes that there was a time when people felt no shame recording their thoughts and experiences. However, having a journal nowadays appears as a self-indulgent, weakness. Regardless of people's current attitude toward journaling, it's important to write about one’s life and understand how we progress over time.

In Joseph’s journal, he displays differently to the reader than he does outwardly. The events that flashback earlier in the day are crucial because it shows Joseph's innocence and earnestness, compared to who he is today. The first journal is impressive, when he describes his relationship with books. He states, “Now, however, now that I have leisure and should be able to devote myself to the studies, I once began, I find myself unable to read.” Joseph explains to readers that books no longer capture his attention. I resonated with this quote because I have similar feelings to the narrator, as I don’t always have the patience to get through more paragraphs when I open a book. Reading his journal makes me feel that I am not alone in this world.

Additionally, Joseph writes about his early days where he has copious amounts of books. He has long been purchasing new books and they are precious to him as they lead him to gain new knowledge. Take myself as an example, my parents always told me how they were impressed when I read almost every single book that they had bought for me when I was young. Nonetheless, with all the advances in technology and students’ addiction to electronic devices, books are more removed from my daily life. My parents are disappointed to see me holding a phone rather than reading a book in my free time. When I read about the same experience with Joseph, I gradually understand why The New York Times said the author has outlined how many others must feel; an uncannily accurate delineation of themselves.

Prior to entering the army, Joseph had a lot of spare time for leisure activities he wanted to do, but he doesn't know how to utilize his freedom now. He mostly stays by himself, the more active the rest of the world becomes, the more slowly he moves, and his isolation increases. Even though the journal was written several decades ago, far from the world in 2021 that we live in today, Joseph’s remoteness from the outside world reminds me of the recent quarantine that the world unanimously experienced. One can trace Joseph's estrangement to his deteriorating relationships with friends and relatives. Joseph is shocked at the shortcoming in a friend who he had once praised as “colony of the spirit.” The cruelty that Morris Abt's exhibits toward a hypnotized Minna Servatius, disillusions Joseph, who henceforth feels that his friend has failed him. In a frenzy, Joseph spanks his brother’s spoiled daughter after she calls him a beggar. Additionally, he thinks that the concerns he receives from his in-laws, the Almstadts, are complete bogus.

Joseph explores the kind of person he wants to become in his journal as he navigates the reason he changes and is now different than before. For him, this search for ultimate meaning must precede self-knowledge: "But I must know what I myself am." With a journal, there is a clear reflection of a person’s life and it can help to develop into a better individual. Even though I don’t record everyday life, I still keep a journal. However, I record experiences that are both delightful and sorrowful, just like Joseph in Bellow’s imaginative novel.