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existentialism on freedom essay
themes of freedom in literature
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Jean-Paul Sartre’s play, The Flies is a tragedy in which Sartre melts philosophy, politics, and literature together. Sartre uses his literary talents and places countless themes and literary devices in The Flies in order to make statements about human beings as well as the political turmoil of 1946; freedom is a constant and obvious theme throughout the play, and Sartre even goes so far as to use inanimate objects, such as stones, to insert deeper meaning into the play. Sartre inserts bits of his life into the tragedy as well. It is no coincidence that Sartre wrote The Flies while under Nazi occupation in France.
Sartre’s portrayal of Argos in the play is strikingly similar to the state of affairs in France during the mid-1940s. Aegistheus as a tyrannical usurper of the throne is a clear representation of the Nazis that invaded and occupied France. Clytemnestra symbolizes the submissive Vichy government. Sartre had to tiptoe around the subject of the occupation, yet inserted enough similarities for it to be relevant for the people watching the play at that time. In essence, The Flies was a call to arms for the people living in France during the German occupation. While Sartre was so seemingly focused on writing a liberal piece of literature that would stir the French people into action, he also managed to insert countless existential theories and philosophies into the action.
The concept of freedom is a staple of existentialism, and as such, is present constantly throughout the play. However, freedom does not simply exist; Freedom must be seized and obeyed simultaneously, as Orestes explains in the end of the play: “Neither slave nor master. I am my freedom” (Sartre 493). In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary defines existe...
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...and would simply be carrying out another order that was predetermined many years ago. Because Sartre wrote The Flies during the Nazi occupation, Orestes’ decision to take action against the tyrannical Aegistheus is crucial. Orestes represents the French people, and Sartre clearly wanted to inspire an uprising against the oppressive Nazi leaders.
Works Cited
“Existentialism” Second edition, 1989; online version November 2010. ; accessed 18 January 2011.
Goldmann, Lucien and Sandy MacDonald. "The Theatre of Sartre." Drama Review. 15.1 (1970): 102-119. Print.
"Jean-Paul Sartre - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 19 Jan 2011 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1964/sartre-bio.html
"Orestes." Encyclopedia Mythica. 2011. Encyclopedia Mythica Online.
21 Jan. 2011 .
... of hope for rescue and the destruction of their ties to former human society; and the Lord of the Flies, used to represent mankind’s “essential illness”: inherent human evil. Ultimately, Golding’s symbols, simple in appearance yet burdened with the weight of human savagery, violence, and inner darkness, do more than frighten. As these symbols are ingrained into our minds, so, too, is responsibility: the responsibility of recognition, understanding, and action. If we do not take heed of the messages behind Golding’s symbols, then our ignorance may be more than unwise—it may be fatal. For if we do not soon take steps to confront our inner evil face-to-face, we may eventually find ourselves trapped in Golding’s harrowing depiction of human society: one bound only by rules far too fragile that, when broken, lead only to chaos, self-destruction, and total savagery.
William Golding’s novel ‘The Lord of The flies’ presents us with a group of English boys who are isolated on a desert island, left to try and retain a civilised society. In this novel Golding manages to display the boys slow descent into savagery as democracy on the island diminishes.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a highly symbolic novel. From chapter to chapter,
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, at first glance, is an incredibly dark read. However, that trait evaporates after one's first cursory read. Once it's text is more thoroughly perused, a pattern of optimism erupts between passages. If one dares to dive deeper into the meaning behind the book, many reasons surface. For example, the story, all in all, had a happy ending. Also, the themes were only represented among a very small pool of data. Lastly, the representation of evil in the book insinuates even greater things of goodness.
French Studies 1.2 (Feb. 1973): 112-124. Rpt. in Drama Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
William Golding’s, ‘Lord of the Flies’, is a powerful piece of literature that teaches important perspectives on the human nature and mind. In the story, the boys plane is shot down by the the military in which it lands on a deserted island. After this event, the boys’ decide to create a civilization on the island until they’re rescued. Golding paints a realistic image of evil, hope, and order expressed through the three items: the Lord of the Flies, the fire, and the conch during World War 2. The boys believe these items will assist them, however, they end up all tearing them apart in the end: the symbols all appear to be beneficial to the situation but eventually lead to their demise. Golding effectively uses the literary device symbolism to develop the theme in the novel that chaos and destruction can occur in the most peaceful places.
If the Emperor’s advisers had told him that he did not have any clothes on, then maybe his humiliation in front of his subjects would have been prevented. However, this is understandable for the advisers, because if they could not see the clothes, they would be deemed unfit for their positions. The real mystery lies in the fact that none of the adults in the crowd said a word until one child spoke up, which has a lot to say about the structure of belief in a given society. In The Flies, Jean-Paul Sartre creates the pious city of Argos whose social attitudes and traditions stand on a pillar of religion that has lasted for fifteen years. Like the child in the famous fairy-tale, Sartre exposes the religion as a farce; it is based solely on guilt
Much of history’s most renown literature have real-world connections hidden in them, although they may be taxing uncover. William Golding’s classic, Lord of the Flies, is no exception. In this work of art, Golding uses the three main characters, Piggy, Jack, and Ralph, to symbolize various aspects of human nature through their behaviors, actions, and responses.
...lier the townspeople were compared to them. The townspeople’s similarity to the flies is emphasized because the people walk by Gaspard hanging in the square, by the guillotine, and witness many deaths without any remorse. Then at some point, they are eventually killed too. The blue-flies are a prime example of humans at their worst.
Lord of the Flies is a novel written by William Golding in 1954. Golding’s participation in the Second World War, and especially in the invasion of Normandy may have pessimistically affected his viewpoints and opinions regarding human nature and what a person is capable of doing. This can be seen in his novel, which observes the regression of human society into savagery, the abandonment of what is morally and socially acceptable for one’s primal instincts and desires.
The “great blue flies” symbolize London’s citizens, their thirst for human suffering, and their reliance on others’ pain. Dickens first introduces the flies during Charles Darnay’s trial, and “the buzz of the great blue flies grew loud again” (Dickens 52) when he is acquitted. The confused onlookers begin to chatter and “buzz,” as flies do. The people have one desire, which is to feast their eyes upon the torment of others. Instead of exuberance over Charles’ acquittal, the people overlook the joy because they crave only his torment. After the trial, “a loud buzz swept into the street as if the baffled blue flies were dispersing in search of other carrion,” (59) as the disappointed citizens flooded into the streets. The French citizens are hungry for pain; they desire something else to feast their eyes upon, such as the terror of the Guillotine. This moment is one that highlights heartlessness in the story, as the citizens go in search of others’ suffering to feast upon, as a fly gorges on dead meat. The blue flies in the story are the London citizens who enjoy the pain and suffering of those in the courtroom and of the convicts.
In theatrical performance, the fictional realm of drama is aligned with the factual, or “real” world of the audience, and a set of actors feign re-creation of this factual world. At the same time the audience, by participating as spectators, feigns believability in the mimic world the actors create. It is in this bond of pretense between the on-stage and off-stage spheres of reality—the literal and the mock-literal—that the appeal of drama is engendered. The Merchant of Venice then, like any effective drama, ostensibly undermines realism by professing to portray it. The work contains no prologue to establish dramatic context; it offers no assertion of its status as imitation, a world separate from our own. And yet, the bond of pretense forged between actors and audience prevents the line between the fictional and the factual from being blurred completely. This division allows the device of metatheatricality to emerge as a means by which the play can ally itself with realism, rather than undermining it, by acknowledging its own status as drama.
The 1954 novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature and the novels allegorical nature has earned it positions in the “Modern Library 100 Best Novels, reaching number 41 on the editor's list, and 25 on the reader's list” (Lord of the Flies: Background). Golding’s thought provoking novel was written and published as the world was still remembering the horrors of the Second World War and many parts and components of the novel can be related to the Second World War, specifically Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Regime. Many comparisons can be made between Lord of the Flies and the events that occurred in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Regime. The group of choir boys bossed by Jack Merridew can be compared to the brutal and intimidating Nazi police force the Gestapo. The character Jack Merridew himself can be compared to the father of Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler because both gained support through using fear. Dehumanization is also present in the form of young Piggy and the Jewish People is Lord of the Flies and Hitler's Nazi regime respectively.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is an author’s painting of the evil that resides in all of the human race. The tropical island setting presents an environment free from civil order introducing a battle ground for the war of good and evil. Showing different side of human nature one can ponder the question “What would I do?” Golding explains the good, bad and balance of human nature, revealing that in times of despair man can easily regress to a primitive state, leaving the strong willed to promote civil order, but often be extremely out numbered.
William Golding’s Lord of the Flies shows man’s inhumanity to man. This novel shows readers good vs. evil through children. It uses their way of coping with being stranded on an island to show us how corrupt humans really are.