Human beings are born everyday and when brought into this world, the only wish many parents have for them is to pursue their dreams and be themselves. The world thrives off human existence as well as individuality. This life can be absurd at times, but containing the absurdity and making life realistic is the ultimate goal. For Existentialists this world is absurd or at least they try to make it absurd. Franz Kafka is one Existentialist who makes life absurd in many books. Throughout Kafka’s work, “the existentialists ' conceptions of absurdity and dread are fully explored. Unlike the later existentialists, he did not derive a positive value from these modes of experience; the value of his writings lies in the intense lucidity of the exploration” …show more content…
Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood was no different and added some twists with it. Criminal buddies, Dick and Perry, plot to travel to Holcomb, Kansas in order to steal money from well-known farmer Herbert Clutter while leaving no witnesses. A detective while interrogating Perry, “You were out in Holcomb, Kansas. In the home of Mr. Herbert W. Clutter. And before you left that house you killed all the people in it” (Capote 255-256). While this would have been a great time to admit his guilt and take responsibilities for his actions, he didn’t. In fact, Dick and Perry were found guilty at trial and still didn’t take responsibility. When they were finally given a date that they would be hung, they began to accept the punishment for their actions. Dick was the first to be hung and his final words were, “I just want to say I hold no hard feelings. You people are sending me to a better world than this ever was” (Capote 379). Not long after Dick was pronounced dead, Perry was brought to the warehouse. His final words were different, “It would be meaningless to apologize for what I did. Even inappropriate. But I do. I apologize” (Capote 381). Capital punishment was ordered on Dick and Perry and without that extreme of a punishment, it is likely they would have fought tooth and nail, to not apologize or accept the
Murder is a very sensitive and important part of America’s past, present, and future. There are many murders that can take place anywhere, and they can happen at any time. In 1959, Herb Clutter’s farm family was murdered by two ex-prisoners who were ruthless. The book In Cold Blood, written by Truman Capote, shows his views on the crimes committed by Perry Smith and Richard “Dick” Hickock. Capote states the facts of the case, but in an attempt to make readers feel sympathy for the killers, he changes some information to make others believe they were innocent.
In “A Hunger”, “The Penal Colony”, and Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Kafka succeeded in showing his individuals as obsessed with their profession; however their obsession caused their doom because society asks so much from an individual, only so much can be done. However, regardless of that, these individuals choose their work over themselves, and not even bad health or death can stop them. Because society places immures pressure on Kafka’s work obsessed character, they neglect their well-being and cause their own downfall.
Truman Capote has been deemed as one of the most revolutionary writers of the twentieth century. His different writing styles, vast knowledge, and use of his own opinions on his works have come to produce some of the greatest literary products in modern times. One of Capote’s paramount works, In Cold Blood, captures a mid-western family located in Kansas and focus on the details surrounding the brutal butchering of their family. Five years of intense research follows, and during which time Capote became very close to the two murderers, Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith. Capote examines the two murderers and studies their psychological and cognitive indifferences to understand why they committed such a heinous crime. Both Dick and Perry’s personalities are very complex and their disorders have many underlying and irreversible affects.
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis is a masterfully written short story about Gregor Samsa, a man who devotes his life to his family and work, for nothing in return. Only when he is transformed into a helpless beetle does he begin to develop a self-identity and understanding of the relationships around him. The underlying theme of The Metamorphosis is an existential view that says any given choice will govern the later course of a person's life, and that the person has ultimate will over making choices. In this case, Gregor?s lack of identity has caused him to be numb to everything around him.
classicmoviescripts/script/seventhseal.txt. Internet. 4 May 2004. Blackham, H. J. Six Existentialist Thinkers. New York: Harper, 1952. Choron, Jacques. Death and Western Thought. New York: Collier Books, 1963.
Existentialists believe that “to live is to suffer; to survive is to find meaning in the suffering”. Despite all the horrific experiences in the concentration, Viktor Frankl is determined to not lose the significance of his life and succumb to the cruelty of his situation. With the use of three literary techniques- argumentation, rhetoric, and style- Frankl gives his proposition warrant that a man will not find meaning in his life by searching for it; he must give his life significance by answering questions life asks him.
as a form of hired help since he had taken the job to pay for his
...ion...” (“Truman” 84). Capote creates a story that was based on true events while being able to evoke emotions out of the readers. The use of an objective writing style was a fundamental part in adding to the garnering of emotions to the story as well. Through In Cold Blood, Capote alerts the audience to “...Ambiguities of the American legal system and capital punishment” (“Truman” 84), stating that in the court of law in America there are some flaws and laws that are obscure in their purpose that one should be weary about. Capote wrote In Cold Blood in order to convey the idea that whenever a person or a group of people is murdered, vengeance is always sought upon the murderers. In a place where everyone knows everyone, it is hard for the community to adjust to the losses without proper compensation, and sometimes the only way is through punishing those by death.
In Cold Blood by Truman, Capote takes a brave deviation from the mainstream of murder or crime novels in that the author frequently takes the perspective of the perpetrators of the crime in question. Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were two particularly perverse individuals who were hanged for the murder of the Clutter family. Capote gives a well researched account of the murder and events following November 14th, 1959, in such depth that the reader may even begin to sympathize with the duo. Capote portrays the murderers through a journalistic and mostly impartial description that enhances the reader's understanding of the two by going into trivial details. Dick and Perry are two individuals with conflicting origins and attitudes.
Albert Camus considers absurdity to be a fight, a force pushing between our mind’s desire to have meaning and understanding and the blank empty world beyond. In argument with Nagel, Camus stated “I said that the world is absurd, but I was too hasty. This world in itself is not reasonable, that is all that can be said. But what is absurd is the confrontation of this irrational and the wild longing for clarity whose call echoes in the human heart. The absurd depends as much on man as on the world.”[1] He continues that there are specific human experiences evoking notions of absurdity. Such a realization or encounter with the absurd leaves the individual with a choice: suicide, a leap of faith, or recognition. He concludes that recognition, or realization, is the only defensible option.[2] The realization that life is absurd and cannot be an end, but only a beginning. This is a truth nearly all great minds have taken as their starting point. It is not this discovery that is interesting, but the consequences and rules of action drawn from it.[3]
Existentialism is the epitome of the unknown. There is no straightforward explanation of what exactly it is, there is only certain characteristics and behaviors that describe existentialist views. Throughout today’s world, there are examples of it everywhere, it’s found in movies, books, songs, and just people in general. Existentialists are known to think and do for themselves only. They believe that to understand what it means to be human requires understanding of themselves first. Some very well known pieces of entertainment existentialism is found in are: Hamlet by William Shakespeare, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Stranger by Albert Camus, and The Breakfast Club by John Hughes. The Stranger is a book written about a young man whose mother dies, which soon leads him to becoming acquainted with the feeling of not caring about what his actions do to others or himself. The main character Meursault starts helping his friend Raymond, carry out ways to torment his mistress. Out of nowhere while at the beach, Meursault shoots Raymond’s mistress’s brother. He is thrown into jail and tried, but he seems to not be affected as much as he should about his actions. He first finds it hard to live without cigarettes, women, and nature, but he soon finds out he doesn’t need any of those. After being sentenced to death, he is suggested to turn away from his atheism but later realizes that human existence has no greater meaning. This realization and acceptance is what truly makes him happy (Camus). Next, The Breakfast Club is a very relatable movie about high school students suffering the consequences of their actions in detention. The kids are all of ...
No person that leads a normal life is likely to write a metaphorical yet literal story about a man transforming into a bug. That being said, no person that leads a normal life is likely to alter a genre as much as Franz Kafka did. With the unusual combination of declining physical health and a resurgence of spiritual ideas, Franz Kafka, actively yearning for life, allowed his mind to travel to the places that his body could not take him. In his recurring themes of guilt, pain, obscurity, and lucidity, are direct connections to his childhood and daily life. His family dynamic, infatuation with culture and theater, and his personal illnesses all shaped his imagination into the poignant yet energetic thing that made him so well-known. With all of his influences combined, Franz Kafka developed a writing style so distinct that he founded a semi-genre all his own: kafkaism.
Many people believe that The Judgement was the most autobiographical of Kafka's works. To provide a complete picture, one must analyse both. Franz Kafka was born into a Jewish family in 1883 in Prague, Bohemia. His father was Hermann Kafka, whose father was Jacob Kafka. Hermann Kafka worked in his father's butcher shop until he was able to fend for himself. A number of years later, he married the daughter of his employer, who owned a store. In short, he ‘married up’ to Julie Kafka. She was far more educated than her husband (especially considering that Herman had never received any schooling whatsoever). She later gave birth to Franz and 5 other children. Kafka was the oldest child of 2 brothers (Georg and Heinrich) and 3 sisters (Eli, Valli, and Ottla). The mother helped run his father's business, so she wasn’t at home often, like most others at the time. Just like in The Judgement, Franz Kafka’s relationship with his father is extremely dysfunctional. According to the European Graduate School, Hermann was seen as a “tyrannical figure in the household”. Kafka’s father Hermann, is represented as the antagonist in many of Kafka’s books, and tends to make life miserable for for the son figure (in the book and real life). Because Franz's father Hermann was raised in an impoverished environment, he valued hard work and dedication to his job. For Herman, it was very important to ensure his family had a good life. Franz’s mother Julie was similar; although she didn’t grow up in poverty, she also worked to support the family, leaving Franz with a governess. Due to the regular absences of his parents, Franz felt abandoned by them. Their high expectations only made him hate them more. Although an impartial observer would likely say that F...
In Franz Kafka’s short story, Metamorphosis, the idea of existentialism is brought out in a subtle, yet definite way. Existentialism is defined as a belief in which an individual is ultimately in charge of placing meaning into their life, and that life alone is meaningless. They do not believe in any sort of ultimate power and focus much of their attention on concepts such as dread, boredom, freedom and nothingness. This philosophical literary movement emerged in the twentieth-century, when Kafka was establishing his writing style in regards to alienation and distorted anxiety. A mirror to his own personal lifestyle, this story follows the short and sad life of a man unable to break out of the bonds society has placed on him. These bonds are not only evident in the work place, but at home too. Being constantly used and abused while in his human form, Gregor’s lifestyle becomes complicated once he becomes a giant insect and is deemed useless. Conflicts and confusion arise primarily between Gregor and his sister Grete, his parents, and his work. Each of these three relationships has different moral and ethical complications defining them. However, it is important for one to keep in mind that Gregor’s metamorphosis has placed him into a position of opposition, and that he has minimal control over the events to take place. Conflicts will also occur between family members as they struggle with the decision of what to do with Gregor. In the end they all come to the agreement that maintaining his uselessness is slowly draining them and they must get rid of him.
Human life is absurd and there is no universal meaning, but humanity suffers from this inevitable fact so they try to find meaning through various created purposes to feel significant in their life. The absurdity of life is one of the biggest issues of philosophy because of the consequences it can cause in peoples lives. As human beings we desire purpose, meaning and order in life. Without the content of a meaningful life we feel lost and strive to find something that gives us meaning. We are all suffering from this unattainable goal to find a meaningful life. Albert Camus and Thomas Nagel agree with the fact that life is absurd but disagree on the right approach to life after realizing that life is without meaning.