What is the theme in Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow?

Another theme to consoider is money and art. Throughout Humboldt's Gift, Saul Bellow examines the relationship between money and American art. He does this primarily through his two central characters, Charlie and Humboldt, but in many incidents and minor characters as well. The effect of money on art creates a major conundrum in Charlie's eyes. On the one hand, the capitalist American market determines what art will be produced and disseminated based on what will and won't sell. These decisions are made by a largely unsophisticated, hedonistic population of people unschooled in aesthetics but with the money to buy tickets, books and artifacts. This is contrasted to the historical European system in which a privileged class is expected to further the arts as an obligation to society.