The Rise and Fall of Existentialism - 1287 Words

The Rise and Fall of Existentialism Existential literature often focuses on the personal journey towards existential awareness. Common themes in existential works, such as alienation and confrontation with death, often lead the anti-hero towards a climactic choice that defines whether they have reached true understanding. The themes within existential literature are reflected from the world at large, and the works themselves are a metaphor for a grander shift in Western philosophy. Intellectualism in post-war Europe had a sort of existential realization of its own, paralleling the experiences of its literary figures. The philosophy of existentialism had its roots in late nineteenth century philosophers such as†¦show more content†¦The existential attitude itself is not so much chosen as arrived at, writes Porfirio, ...the threat of imminent death... forces the individual to re-examine his life (88) The threat of mortality is particularly pungent in existentialism, because the philosophy strips away all dressings of an afterlife or the hope that any morality transcends existence. The night before Pablo is to be placed before The Wall, he re-evaluates all of the relationships, loyalties, and faiths that he had held during life and finds them all to be false when compared to the absoluteness of death (Sartre). When he finally accepts his lifes meaninglessness, he is rewarded with rebirth. War seems to have been a particularly strong influence of existential sentiment. Both A Clean, Well-Lighted Place by Ernest Hemingway, and The Wall, by Sartre, were set during the Spanish civil war, and the characterizations reflect the fear and alienation inflicted by the senseless violence of the wars raging around them. Catch-22 was written about the absurdity of World War II, and even The Stranger was set in an Algeria torn by racial animosity. During World War II, the entire world was well acquainted with the senseless slaughter of millions of people, and the pervading sense of death helped a existential realization for our whole society. Each individual assumes responsibility for his life through the act of choosing between twoShow MoreRelated Existentialism in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay1635 Words   |  7 PagesExistentialism in Things Fall Apart      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chinua Achebe presents his audience with an interesting twist to a contemporary school of thought in his work Things Fall Apart.   This post-colonization narrative incorporates several traits that revolt against normative philosophic systems and tralititious theories and beliefs of the existence of man and his place in the universe.   Achebes efforts are characterized by a small diverse group of writers that purge realizations of predestinationRead MoreLiterary Theories And Literary Criticism1318 Words   |  6 PagesKill a Mockingbird. †¢ Based on the Post-colonial theories of Fanon, Foucault, Said. †¢ Harper Lee, the author, reveals the attitudes of white people towards the black people, showing how prejudice the white people are towards the black people. 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There is a more fundamental basis to understanding social science than accepting a macro-social order of human nature as the disconnect of social sciences previous to the rise of existentialism reduces these personal experiences. How a person understands and recognizes the world does not fall passively to norms or values as a structural functionalist would believe nor the surrounding economic system as Marxists recognized. Instead, it is the continual interaction in a social environment