Nemesis and the Persistence of Tragic Framing: Bucky Cantor as Job, Hebrew Prometheus, and Reverse Oedipus

Abstract

This article analyzes the protagonist of Nemesis, “Bucky” Cantor, in order to delineate those elements that define him not only as a Promethean figure, but also as a modern incarnation of both Job and Oedipus. The evocative power of these archetypes contributes to establishing the tragic framework of the novel and the heroic status of its protagonist, both of which resist the narrator’s attempt to deconstruct them in the final chapter.