Existential Dimension In Anita Desai's Fire On The Mountain '
Existential Dimension in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Mrs.Sen
Existentialism can be defined as the theory which shows the relationship between existence and essence between being and becoming. Existentialists believe that existence takes precedence over essence; they also believe that human beings are totally free and are completely responsible for the choices they make as well as from their actions. This responsibility lies at the root of the intense despair and anguish that are the preconditions of human existence. It emphasizes the existence of individuals in a hostile universe, an existence that is marked by uniqueness and isolation which makes human experience inexplicable and incomprehensible.
Anita Desai
…show more content…
Sen’ we see that there is a constant conflict between characters and their environment and a helpless acceptance of the inexorable unfolding of fate. In the novel ‘Fire on the Mountain’, we see that the Old Lady Nanda Kaul cannot stop letters from coming though she wants no letters. She cannot help but answer the phone when she would like to cut all connection with the world outside. Her inability to stem the tide of time is an age-old existential problem.
In Mrs.Sen, the protagonist, Mrs.Sen belongs to a community which feels a responsibility to participate in the lives of others. She loves to be with a family and mingle with them. She hates to be alone. She misses her home land so she tries to recreate all the aspects of India through using the cutting vegetables, utensils and wearing her sari. Eliot notices her before her bathroom mirror solemnly applying a fresh stroke of scarlet powder on her scalp and she tells to Eliot.
When Mrs.Sen mourning on her grandfather’s death at that time Eliot also sat beside her and shared her sad feelings. He understands her loneliness because Eliot is himself lonely. He is the child of a broken marriage with a father who never bothers about him and a mother who orders pizza for dinner. Even Eliot too enjoys Mrs.Sen affection. Mrs. Sen existence and her survival in an alien land revolve around the
…show more content…
Each of the novelists has brought about a different struggle of the postmodern man/ woman and each of them tackles their issues in a different manner, thus various different perspectives of the philosophy of existentialism is brought and analysed. There is no singular approach or solution to existential angst, a wide approach and empathetic study of human psychology can be of help in analysis of the tenets of
David Foster Wallace The Depressed Person Summary
1916 Words | 8 PagesEmpathy as Catharsis: Study on David Foster Wallace’s “The Depressed Person” エピグラフ案：ヴィトゲンシュタイン/ウォレスのインタビューから Introduction: The academic studies on David Foster Wallace so far center around Infinite Jest, which was published early in his carrier. However, his short stories[ He has never published novels --”the long thing” he called it-- after Infinite Jest.] after Infinite Jest is as important as the novel to appreciate what he achieved and who he was. One of the story in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, “The Depressed Person” deals with the central proposition of Wallace: true empathy is impossible.
Examples Of Motifs In The Kite Runner
1118 Words | 5 PagesHow running from your problems doesn’t always have a great outcome. And how the truth always finds a way to come out. This novel has a great deal of motifs and foreshadowing that all have important meanings and ties to explaining parts of the novel. By employing trees, eyes, and illness as motifs, Khaled Hosseini,
Persepolis Existentialism Essay
1744 Words | 7 PagesThe way that such intricate, specific, and divergent books and life events relate is quite showing that the choices we make do affect others and ourselves, our passions define us in positive and negative ways, and being alone in an indifferent world makes us more aware in the end. Hardship and toil prove themselves to be worth it because for Marjane, Meursault, and myself, the results of our hard work with teach us more strength and independence than before. Existentialism exists more than we can see, and its philosophy promotes learning from
Summary Of Marigolds By Eugenia Collier
338 Words | 2 PagesIn “Marigolds” by Eugenia Collier, Lizabeth lost her innocence when she was almost 15. Not knowing how much her family was struggling was part of her innocence. She didn’t understand the beauty of Ms. Lottie’s marigolds. Actions she took helped her learn compassion and changed her a lot. Her first hint at deep understanding occurred late one night.
Analysis Of Ellen Kay Pathedy Of Manners
468 Words | 2 PagesLiterary Device #7 - Diction Diction: “the choice of words and style of expression that an author makes and uses” Example: “Her children gone, her husband one year dead, / Toying with plots to kill time and re-wed / Illusions of lost opportunity” (18-20). Kay, “Pathedy of Manners” Function: Context: “Pathedy of Manners” by Ellen Kay is about a woman and her experiences in life. The woman is now forty-three years old and is in the latter half of her life. After her husband dies, she becomes bored of her current state and starts to think about what she should do in the future. She also dreams about what she could have done that she did not do in the past.
Examples Of Existentialism In Catcher In The Rye
1626 Words | 7 PagesCITR Rough Draft Essay World War II had ended for America and instead of trying to come together as a nation some felt the need to exist as individuals. The Existentialist evolution came from Europe during the 1950’s. Existentialism came along in the United States at the same time segregation in schools was ruled unconstitutional, the Korean War had begun, and the Warsaw Pact had been signed. Existentialism was a time in America where some people emphasized the existence of the individual as a responsible and free agent. Existentialist believed that their development was based off their acts of will.
Moonrise Kingdom Character Analysis
893 Words | 4 PagesThey both have dissimilar reasons for their depression, but have a single way of coping with it. Suzy’s depression is ignited by the fact her stern, cheat of a mother is having an affair with Mr. Fox—who has no acknowledgement of what could happen to others involved. Her mom’s uncaring tone used when hollering through the megaphone when it was time to eat and the book Suzy found, “The Very Troubled Child,” are clues to why she is uninterested in her mother; on top of it all, her father’s distance is what makes Suzy feel unwanted and isolated. Sam on the other hand is desolate, orphaned, and restrained. His parents are deceased and he travels from one home to another with only the pride of being a khaki scout, but not even that is enough to make him happy.
Irvin Yalom Existential Model
809 Words | 4 PagesThe harsh realities of the industrial revolution created a climate of fear and anxiety about the human condition, which made many people more receptive to existential ideas. The birth of the existential movement took place following World Wars I and II and influential philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Sartre, who were in conflict with the predominant ideologies of their time, were committed to exploring and understanding human experience. Existentialism has three main branches; Christian existentialism represented by Kierkegaard, Jaspers, Marcel and May; aethestic existentialism represented by Sartre, Camus and Nietzsche and Jewish existentialism represented by Buber, Yalom and Frankl. (Professor M.L.O Rourke Handout October 2016). The Humanistic version of existential therapy predominantly thrived in America, through the work of Yalom (Van Durzen,
Alienation In H. G. Wells's The Invisible Man
1727 Words | 7 PagesHe suffers from psychological complexes, that alienated him from society, and he 's unable to face the realities of life. This research indicates the modern theme of breakdown, absurdity, uselessness, loneliness, and bitterness of life. The protagonist also realizes that the escape from the responsibilities is not a solution to life 's problem. A person ought to create a struggle for his survival, otherwise, there 's the decay of humanity in alienation. In the novel, the author appears to
Jean-Paul Sartre's Existence Precedes Essence
911 Words | 4 PagesThe argument Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher, presents on existentialism helps to prove the foundation which is “existence precedes essence”. Existentialism is normally understood as an ideology that involves evaluating existence itself and the way humans find themselves existing currently in the world. For the phrase existence precedes essence, existence’s etymology is exsistere or to stand out while the term Essence means “being” or “to be” therefore the fundamental of existentialism, literally means to stand out comes before being. This can be taken into many different ideas such as individuals having to take responsibility for their own actions and that in Sartre’s case the individual is the sole judge of his or her own actions. According to him, “men is condemned to be free,” therefore “the destiny of man is placed within himself.”
Existentialism And Absurdism In The Stranger, By Albert Camus
1021 Words | 5 PagesScanning through his past several years, he returns to his mother’s death and analyzes her choice to seek a lover at the end of her life. While before he thought it was strange and even somewhat aggravating, he realizes now, being so close to death, that people will enter a desperate search for meaning when their time left is fleeting. But at the same time, he reasons potentially as a coping mechanism, there is no difference whether he dies by execution later that day or in 40 years because he will be dying all the same. Together, these two realizations, though somewhat contradictory, create his bridge to Existentialism. By establishing these two points, he can allow himself to, “open up to the gentle indifference of the world - finding it so much like himself”(122), and apply whatever meaning he wants to life in order to make it as rich and enjoyable as desired, rather than drifting along as a pitiful being waiting for some greater power to guide him along.
Suffering In Bharati Mukherjee's 'The Management'
1504 Words | 7 PagesHaving a purpose to live with is one of the important things in life. It is significant because according to Viktor Frankl’s theory of logotherapy, he states that humans should be driven by the search of meanings. If one has a life purpose, it will motivate him or her to take actions, pursue dreams, and ultimately achieve success. Yet, there are circumstances wherein the search of meanings will disappear if an individual encounters feelings of pain, guilt, and death. These feelings will further add on to one’s suffering and impedes him or her to move on in life.
Existentialism In Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead
1007 Words | 5 PagesExistentialism: an interesting, odd, confusing concept. However, those three words are what existentialism is. It is the theory and approach to life that looks at the person as an indivual, not as a whole society of people. Some of the most well-known existentialists deny that they are existentialists (Corbett). Often, people don't realize the way that they think, write, or speak is existential.
Comparison Between Jane Eyre And Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
1437 Words | 6 PagesActually, it is a novel of rebellion, of self and society, and changing gender expectations. But it also engages into trouble investigations of the psyche and interpretations of dreams. The methodology followed in this paper is going to benefit from various sources like books, articles, and journals. Psychoanalytic Theory will be applied in this paper.
More about Existential Dimension In Anita Desai's Fire On The Mountain '
David Foster Wallace The Depressed Person Summary
1916 Words | 8 PagesExamples Of Motifs In The Kite Runner
1118 Words | 5 PagesPersepolis Existentialism Essay
1744 Words | 7 PagesSummary Of Marigolds By Eugenia Collier
338 Words | 2 PagesAnalysis Of Ellen Kay Pathedy Of Manners
468 Words | 2 PagesExamples Of Existentialism In Catcher In The Rye
1626 Words | 7 PagesMoonrise Kingdom Character Analysis
893 Words | 4 PagesIrvin Yalom Existential Model
809 Words | 4 PagesAlienation In H. G. Wells's The Invisible Man
1727 Words | 7 PagesThe Existential Crisis In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi
1463 Words | 6 PagesJean-Paul Sartre's Existence Precedes Essence
911 Words | 4 PagesExistentialism And Absurdism In The Stranger, By Albert Camus
1021 Words | 5 PagesSuffering In Bharati Mukherjee's 'The Management'
1504 Words | 7 PagesExistentialism In Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead
1007 Words | 5 PagesComparison Between Jane Eyre And Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
1437 Words | 6 Pages