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Essay on absurdism
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“The Guest” and “War Games” both tell different stories but are connected at the same time. They both have themes pertaining to morality, absurdism, and limits of human knowledge. I came across many different emotions while reading “The Guest”, as well as watching “War Games”. There were many conflicts and plot twists while reading and watching these two stories. I will express my opinions, thoughts, and relations to “The Guest” and “War Games”. Moreover, one of the themes that both stories share is limits to human knowledge. In “The Guest” Balducci doesn't know why the Arab killed his cousin, or why Daru must take the Arab to the police. He simply has his orders and follows them. Daru doesn't know whether the Arab should be released …show more content…
or punished, though he constantly tries to find information about why the Arab committed murder. In “War Games” they show limits to human knowledge by them not knowing why the password was chess; one of the simplest answers possible, is one of the hardest answers to think of. Also, the simplest way to win the game is to not play. Assuredly, “The Guest” in my opinion, was very dull and simple.
I saw it coming when the Arab was going to go to prison because I knew there was a plot twist that was going to occur. Also, the ending should’ve been better. It should’ve ended in something that makes you sit at the edge of your seat or makes your heart race. An alternative ending could be the Arab pretending to go to prison to show righteousness, but when Daru leaves he will have freedom and show cowardness. Moreover, the ending for “War Games” I thought was perfect. It ended in simplicity but at the same time it blows your mind. The answer at the end of the movie “the only way to win the game, is to not play” is so simple yet it is so obvious, but nobody would ever think of saying it. These days, ,all we ever do is overthink and stress but the answer is right in front of you. The ending was very clever. Ultimately, “The Guest” and “War Games” share themes which are absurdism, morality, and limits of human knowledge. The ending for “The Guest” was too dull and simple, while the ending for “War Games” was perfect and mind blowing of how simple it really was. Overall, my experience reading these two stories was successful. The meaning of absurdism really kept me thinking if life even has a true
meaning.
War is seen as a universal concept that often causes discomfort and conflict in relation to civilians. As they are a worrying universal event that has occurred for many decades now, they posed questions to society about human's nature and civilization. Questions such as is humanity sane or insane? and do humans have an obsession with destruction vs creation. These questions are posed from the two anti-war texts; Dr Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut.
Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novel All Quiet on the Western Front is based on World War I; it portrays themes involving suffering, comradeship, chance and dehumanization. The novel is narrated by Paul, a young soldier in the German military, who fights on the western front during The Great War. Like many German soldiers, Paul and his fellow friends join the war after listening to the patriotic language of the older generation and particularly Kantorek, a high school history teacher. After being exposed to unbelievable scenes on the front, Paul and his fellow friends realize that war is not as glorifying and heroic as the older generation has made it sound. Paul and his co-soldiers continuously see horrors of war leading them to become hardened, robot-like objects with one goal: the will to survive.
Both writers show the horror and pity of the war and they views on the
Daru initiated the Arab morning commute from the schoolhouse an accompanies him on the road for several hours—Until the road divided into two directions. Daru hands him a package of food and money for two days. Daru turns the Arab around and points to two possible directions. If he goes east, he will reach the police headquarters and be punished. If he goes south, he will find the nomads, who will protect him in accordance with their laws of hospitality. Daru starts his return journey and turns to see which direction the Arab has chosen. In the end, given the choice between the road to the prisoner where he would surly be punished or the road to the nomads and freedom, the Arab chooses the road, toward the prison headquarters. Daru returns to his schoolhouse and finds a warning written on the blackboard: “You've handed over our brother. You will pay for this.”(Camus 109.)
Throughout their lives, people must deal with the horrific and violent side of humanity. The side of humanity is shown through the act of war. This is shown in Erich Remarque’s novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front”. War is by far the most horrible thing that the human race has to go through. The participants in the war suffer irreversible damage by the atrocities they witness and the things they go through.
The story “The Veldt” by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction short story that has themes connecting to what is happening now, and what will happen in the future. “The Veldt” was written in 1950, where notable technological advances were made. Things such as the first TV remote control and credit cards (although, known as the “travel and entertainment” card at the time) were made. 8 million televisions were also being used in homes around the US (The People History. Retrieved from http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1950.html). As technology is advancing, things are getting easier; people are starting and continuing to become more leisurely. The story “The Veldt” is showing how our future might end up as technology advances, and people themselves
...lot of war veterans, a confusion that illuminates the mind and eventually lead to self-destructing acts. The theme of confusion looms in and out of The Things They Carried as a setback of living the life of war.
As Bertrand Russell once said “War does not determine who is right - only who is left.” No one ever truly wins a wart. The horrors of war are devastating; both mentally and physically. The horror is not only ever present during life on the Frontline, it lives on in the survivors guilt. I believe that althought the horror of war is represented in the soldiers, we are all too quick to forget about the feelings of those at home, the friends and families, and the effects the war had on them. The effects of war are prominent throughtout the Novels “Regeneration” and “All quiet on the Western Front” and is also explored deeply in Wilfred Owen’s “Selected War Poetry”. Throughout these works we discover that war was inescapable for these men, they had no choice, and it+++++s events were also inescapable. We discover that the men would rather die defending their country as a hero than live with the flashbacks, the guilt, the both mental and physical scarring. They would rather lose their lives than their limbs. I find these works encompass this question fully, as it covers all angles. Pat Barker never really shows her opinion in the novel, it is more factual, and as it is based upon real events and real people it’s a reliable source of information on the horror of war and it’s effects, without bias. Erich Maria Remarque had first hand experience in the First World War, and he gives us an insight into what life on the frontline was really like. Althought fictional, I believe his suffering would have still haunted him years later, compelli...
Throughout the seminar discussion various topics were addressed, but the argument students came back to the most dealt with the characters in the war and their experiences throughout the novel, more specifically, the negative effects the war had inflicted on them. Tim O’Brien’s argument in the novel was simply that war brings out the worst in people. O’Brien makes this argument clear through his usage of metaphors, imagery, and symbolism all as he builds up his complex characters throughout the novel.
From this text, I learned hat war is not easy. It plays with both your mind and body. I realized that I would not want to go to war, even if it were for my country. War is an irrational solution to what people may argue about. Risking lives and losing things one may love is not worth the risk. All in all, I found this novel somewhat a bore and not what I would be interested in.
According to the previous reviews of Phil Klay’s book, countless human manifestations results from collisions with young and armed Americans with a foreign country, whereby a few of them understands. Reviews captures on the manner in which the war evoked as well as emotions, predicaments, and heartbreaks. The reader looks forward to understand the outcome of the war. However, what makes the reader apprehensive is that the stories resonate with themes, such as battle, images of outstanding battleground pain, as well as psychological trauma due to the nature of the war, nuances of human nature and the associated violence.
Daru’s values are in conflict because he is told to complete a task which is not his job, which goes against free-will and his loyalty to the French. He is asked by French policeman, Balducci, to deliver an Arab prisoner to “Tinguit” (Camus, 4), which Daru states, “It’s not my job.” (4) to the officer. However, he still agrees with Balducci that he will deliver the slave because of his loyalty to the French. He accepts Balducci’s order because he was “the old gendarme he had known for a long time.” (3) and to not accept his offer would be an insult to him and the French. Later on he tells the officer that “every bit of this disgusts me” (6) and says “I won’t hand him over.” (7) He does not take the Arab prisoner to the police station because he thinks this is wrong and he believes in freedom of choice, therefore thinking that the prisoner should have a choice. Daru tells the Arab that he has two options and that is whether to go to Tinguit which is a two hour walk where he will “find the police which are expecting him” (13), or take the trail across the plateau. In a day’s walk he will find land where the first nomads will take him in and shelter him.
In Albert Camus's "The Guest," an idealistic schoolmaster, Daru, is forced to make many unsettling decisions when ordered to deliver an Arab prisoner to higher authorities in Tinguit. From the beginning, after the prisoner is transferred into his custody, Daru chooses to treat him as a guest rather than a prisoner. Also, Daru decides not to cast judgment on the Arab for the crime of killing his cousin. Lastly, Daru chooses not to play God and assume the awesome responsibility of deciding another man's fate. Thus, when Daru is faced with a series of confusing and complicated situations he chooses to be himself and make his own decisions rather than be influenced by others.
Sometimes reading fiction not only makes us pleasure but also brings many knowledge about history and philosophy of life. ‘The Guest’ by the French writer Albert Camus is a short story and reflects the political situation in French North Africa in 1950s. According to this story, we know the issues between the France and the Arab in Algeria, and the protagonist, Daru, refuses to take sides in the colonial conflict in Algeria. This is not a boring story, because Camus uses a suspenseful way to show the character, conflicts and symbol and irony.
Before going to the refugee camp, the theme of the story was survival. Dara’s brother, Sarun and some other farm boys escaped from their work crew and made it home to their families. “What a strange reunion that was - so muted and sad. Father was dead, Mother told Sarun. And Grandmother as well” (7). After hearing of his father's death, Sarun told his family about the camp. This shows how the theme before Dara goes the camp is survival because the war is killing people and breaking families apart.