Existentialism of Samuel Beckett Essay Example for Free

Existentialism of Samuel Beckett Essay Samuel Beckett was a very astound Existentialist. Beckett’s work was essentially existentialist and consciously or unconsciously, his works were infused with the idea that things have no inherent meaning and that our fallacy is to perceive meaning in everything. Existential philosophy became prevalent in the twentieth century as a symbol of the destruction of culture and tradition following World War II, asserting the hopelessness of humanity and focusing on life in a more honest but pessimistic manner than other socialistic philosophies. The philosophy recognizes the fact that humankind is capable of great evil and has limitless possibilities. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of ones acts. It emphasizes the difference between human existence and that of inanimate objects. Existentialism was a term adopted by Jean-Paul Sartre. Existentialism was identified with a cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s. Heideggers 1927 Being and Time, an inquiry into the â€Å"being that we ourselves are† (which he termed â€Å"Dasein,† a German word for existence), introduced most of the motifs that would characterize later existentialist thinking(Edward). One existentialist view is absolute individuality and absolute freedom. The Existentialist conceptions of freedom and value come from their view of an individual. Since we are all ultimately alone, isolated islands of subjectivity in an objective world, we have absolute freedom over our internal nature, and the source of our value can only be internal. I feel Beckett expressed this view in the expelled when the main character got thrown out of his apartment. He had no one he could turn to for help. He just started wondering the city not caring where he was going. He knew getting thrown out wasn’t the end for him because he controlled his own destiny. Another existentialist view is the view of human nature. Existentialism is defined by the slogan Existence precedes Essence. Meaning we have no predetermined nature or essence that controls what we are, what we do, or what is valuable for us. Human beings have no essential self; they are no more than what they appear. A person is basically born with a blank slate; humans have no uniform, predetermined principles or ethics common to all of mankind. Since there is no preformed essence or definition that exists for what it means to be human, a person must form conception of existence by asserting control of and responsibility for their actions and choices. Consequently, a human being gains essence through individual choices and actions. It is solely through the process of living that one defines ones self(Existence Precedes Essence). I feel Beckett expressed this point heavily in â€Å"Krapp’s Last Tape†. The character was an older man listening to a tape of when he was younger. He could listen to the way he use to think, act and be as a younger man. He was also able to see how his past had affected his life in the present but he still had no idea what laid ahead of him. That is way he made this tape’s so he could remind in self in the future what he thought lay ahead of him in the past. He knew to always go back and listen to the tapes to ponder on what he had made for himself and no had predetermined it. Existentialist encourage us to consider, in a personal way, the meaning of living authentically and inauthentically(Oaklander). Man is the only known being, according to the philosophers, that defines itself merely through the act of living. First you exist, and then the individual emerges as he makes life decisions. Freedom of choice, through which each human being creates their own nature, is one of the basic themes. Because individuals are free to choose their own way, Existentialist have argued that they must accept the risk they choose to take and responsibility of their actions. Those people that follow this believe they are in a world that does not always make sense, a world that is filled with uncertainty where well-intended actions can become obscure and chaotic. In basic existentialist beliefs, man is the only animal defining itself through life. Without life, there is no meaning. Existentialist believe in life and fighting for it. While fighting for life, each person must face important and difficult decisions with only limited knowledge and time in which to make these decisions. Human life is seen as a series of decisions that must be made without knowing what the correct choice is. They must decide what standards to except and which ones to reject. Individuals must make their own choices without help from external standards. Humans are free and completely responsible for their choices. Their freedom and responsibility is thrust upon them and they are â€Å"condemned to be free†. Existentialist belief people are responsible for their actions, decisions and beliefs which caused them anxiety. They try to escape by ignoring or denying their responsibility. To have a meaningful life one must become fully aware of his true self and his situation and bravely accept it. Yet other existentialist thought dictates every person spends a lifetime changing his or her essence. Without life there can be no meaning, the search for meaning in existentialism is the search for self. In other words, we define ourselves by living, killing yourself would indicate you have chosen to have no meaning. Existentialist believe in living, in fact fighting for life. In Molloy I feel Beckett expressed this believe many times. First, at the beginning when his mother was dying and dead. He stated â€Å"I have her room. I sleep in her bed. I piss and shit in her pot. † this says to me that even though she had died he had to continue living his life. Also in Expelled Becket had traces of this theme. At the end when he left the cabdrivers carriage in the morning. I felt he was portraying that he used the cabdriver. He just needed a place to stay the night. The next morning he got up and left without saying anything. He got what he needed to survive the night then continued on his life. Samuel Beckett always used the Quote â€Å"a step from the cradle to the grave†. I feel this Quote means that you are only a split second away from dying. Even when you’re a new born one thing could go wrong and you’re died. Beckett used this saying in many of his writings. One time he used this saying was in the Expelled. He said â€Å"In what had just happened to me there was nothing in the least memorable. It was neither the cradle nor the game of anything whatever. Or rather it resembled so many other cradles, so many other graves, that I’m lost. † the character could not remember anything in life. He could not till if he was at the cradle of his life or the grave because they are so close together in life. Existentialism was a very big part of way Samuel Beckett was such a great writer. His works were infused with the idea that things have no inherent meaning and that our fallacy is to perceive meaning in everything which is way his stories where so great. He was also one of the last people to write in that form. After researching this subject I plan on studying Existentialism more in depth. Works cited 1. Barsoum Diane. Existentialism and the Philosophical Tradition 2. Edward N. Zalta, Standford encyclopedia of philosophy 3. Existence Precedes Essence: Jean-Paul Sartres Existentialism and Human Emotions Online at:http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/186425/existence_precedes_essence_jeanpaul. html? cat=38 4. Grene, Marjorie. Introduction To Existentialism. 5. Oaklander, L. Nathan, Existentialist Philosophy an Introduction.

Analysis of She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron Essay -- Poem Poetry Lor

Analysis of She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron She Walks in Beauty is a poem in which the author speaks of the physical beauty of a woman; a female who the author encountered. This encounter lead him to visualize a great distinct physical image of her so he began to speak of this phenomenal attractiveness. A special quality in her was being able to be identified with the heaven. Beautiful like the stars and clearly visible as a cloudless night. The poem ?She Walks in Beauty? came by as an inspiration to the author. This occurred at an event attended by the author where he meet his cousin which is the woman the author speaks about in the poem. The author lord Byron wrote this poem which is found in the Hebrew Melodies. This publication is found with many other lyrics completed in 1815. The poem speaks through the usage of imagery. The poem is highly rhythmic with meaningful tones. Essentially the female in this poem is evaluated in terms of the physical world. For example, the author does not provide a detailed appearance of the woman. She is instead shown responding to the world around her. George Gordon was born in London in 1788. Gordon was the son of Captain John ?Mad Jack? Byron and his second wife, Catherine Gordon, a Scots heiress. The next ten years were difficult for George. One of the reasons was because of his clubfoot. The second reason was because of his mother displaced resentment against his father onto him, and George Gordon had later been tended by a Calvinist nurse whom awakened his sexuality. In 1798 his great-uncle the fifth Baron Byron, died childless, and just after his tenth birthday Byron inherited his title. In 1801 Byron was sent to school at Harrow; in the same year he ... ...imself. The rhyme scheme shows a different pattern on each stanza; and its meter shows a consistent beat on each line. The tone perceived in Byron?s poem is of romanticism inspired by the woman?s beauty; and its theme is of the immediate impression of a man towards a beautiful lady. There are also many poetic devices like alliteration , simile and internal rhyme shown throughout the poem. Thus making of this poem a delight to the mind, and an enjoyable literary masterpiece. Bibliography: Robert Di Yanni, Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and the Essay (Boston, Massachusetts: Mc Graw Hill, 1998). The Penguin Group. ?World of Classics.? The Longman Anthology of British Literature. 24, Sep. 2000 . ?Poetry Series Supplement.? Masterplots II, Vol. 9 (Pasadena, California: Salem Press, 1998).

History of Indian Constitution Essay

THE CABINET MISSION PLAN In 1946, at the initiative of British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, a cabinet mission to India was formulated to discuss and finalize plans for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership and providing India with independence under Dominion status in the Commonwealth of Nations. The Mission discussed the framework of the constitution and laid down in some detail the procedure to be followed by the constitution drafting body. Elections for the 296 seats assigned to the British Indian provinces were completed by August 1946. With the independence of India on August 15, 1947, the Constituent Assembly became a fully sovereign body and began work on 9 December 1947. THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY The Constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by the elected members of the provincial assemblies. Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee were some important figures in the Assembly. There were more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi and R. K. Sidhwa. The Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians. Ari Bahadur Gururng represented the Gorkha Community. Prominent jurists like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, B. R. Ambedkar, Benegal Narasingh Rao and K. M. Munshi Ganesh Mavlankar were also members of the Assembly. Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur were important women members. The first president of the Constituent Assembly was Sachidanand Sinha later, Rajendra Prasad was elected president of the Constituent Assembly. The members of the Constituent Assembly met for the first time in the year 1946 on December 9. DRAFTING In the August 14, 1947 meeting of the Assembly, a proposal for forming various committees was presented. Such committees include Committee on Fundamental Rights, the Union Powers Committee and Union Constitution  Committee. On August 29, 1947, the Drafting Committee was appointed, with Dr. Ambedkar as the Chairman along with six other members. A Draft Constitution was prepared by the committee and submitted to the Assembly on November 4, 1947. The Assembly met, in sessions open to public, for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days before adopting the Constitution. After many deliberations and some modifications, the 308 members of the Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on the January 24, 1950. Two days later, the Constitution of India became the law of all the Indian lands. STRUCTURE OF THE UNION GOVERNMENT The basic form of the Union Government envisaged in the Constitution was introduced by Dr. Ambedkar as follows, â€Å"A democractic executive must satisfy two conditions: 1. It must be a stable executive, and 2. It must be a responsible executive. Unfortunately, it has not been possible so far to devise a system which can ensure both conditions in equal degree. †¦.. The daily assessment of responsibility, which is not available in the American system is, it is felt, far more effective than the periodic assessment and far more necessary in a country like India. The Draft Constitution in recommending the parliamentary system of Executive has preferred more responsibility to stability.† India, thus adopted a Parliamentary form of government, with the President as the nominal head of the Executive and the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers wielding actual power.

Education Is A Waste Of Time And Money - 1487 Words

Education is very important in today’s society in many different ways because it can tell a person’s success in life. Although education is important, some believe that college is a waste of time and are forced by their parents for the fact that they think college education is essential for the American dream or being successful in life. Some may believe that knowledge is the key to one’s success. Colleges can put an enormous amount of pressure on students because they need to keep a good GPA otherwise they have a chance of getting kicked out. I believe that sometimes colleges can waste your time and money by giving you classes that you don t need toward your degree, even though learning new skills and knowledge is important in today s†¦show more content†¦In Caroline Bird essay â€Å"College is a waste of time and money† she argues about how there are many other ways that a student that just got out of high school can be successful. Many students when asked about why they want to enroll in college is because it’s the most pleasant place to be in for the fact it’s is a chance for them to get out of their house and live on campus and be on their own. Finding a job is also a big issue for students who graduated. Caroline Bird states â€Å"Somewhere between the nursery and the employment office, they become unwanted adults. No one has anything in particular against them. But no one knows what to do with them either. We already have too many people in the world of the 1970s, and there is no room for so many newly minted 18-year-olds. So we temporarily get them out of the way by sending them to college†(Bird 248). This shows that although many people graduate and get a degree they still aren’t able to find a job. In addition, she states that although many people decide to go to college few people actually belong there. One major problem is debt which students rake up during their four years which puts them behind because they have to pay that loan back with interest. Even if they file bankruptcy student loan will never be forgiven and stay with them for the rest of their lives. Clearly, this shows that going to college isn’t for everyone because not everyone graduates in field they want to be in or they just drop outShow MoreRelatedGeneral Education Courses Are A Waste of Time and Money Essay examples1569 Words   |  7 Pagesindependent, mature new lifestyle. Not only is higher education a rite of passage, for some, it is also an opportunity to have a better life. Overall, college is a wonderful part of many people’s lives, yet the way the college education system is conducted wastes students time and money. College is basically composed of two parts: general education classes and major specific classes. 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