Up until reading Miller and Roth, I didn’t really realize why people thought existentialism was that depressing. Sure I can understand why some might find the fact that Sartre so cooly writes off the existence as God as depressing but, after all, we still have the freedom to make our lives meaningful in just the way we want them to be meaningful. Now how is that depressing?!
I use to hate the way high school English teachers would make us sit and analyze “what the writer really meant” when he wrote a certain passage. I feel that that strategy is important for both the Roth and Miller excerpts though. I’m fascinated by the way that authors are able to turn a story into something so much more meaningful than simple entertainment. And I’m particularly fascinated with the way Miller was able to write such an influential American play that is really, pretty depressing.
Miller was able to illustrate some of the fundamentals of existentialism but creating a character who acts in complete antithesis to existential ideals. Willy Loman strives his whole life for the American Dream, becoming successful and taking care of his family, but he goes about it in all the wrong ways up until the very end of his life.
The introduction to the excerpt in our book claims that Willy “makes a final heroic gesture” (376) by killing himself. Now, according to the oh-so-reliable Wikipedia, a hero is some who, “in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice.” The problem, however, is that there is no danger or adversity. His wife explains in the Requiem that the final house payment was made and that “for the first time in thirty-five years we were just about free and clear” (377). Had he been more aware of his family he could have changed jobs early on to find something that would make him happy and take care of the money issues his family was facing.
It seems to me that Willy was trying to live in his facticity, but the problem was, he wasn’t actually living in his real facticity. He was putting up a front of what he thought a successful business with a successful family man would act like, but whenever that front was challenged, Willy responded by lashing out and then falling to shambles with the realization that he is not successful and that’s all he ever strived for in life. Willy is the prime example of what can happen to people when they make excuses and put things off in their lives. Willy never took responsibility for his lack of success as a business man throughout his life, but in the end he ultimately took on responsibility for all his mistakes in life by killing himself for the insurance money.
For me, it’s depressing to think that I have no control over my life. Yeah, it’s a little depressing to dwell on the fact that there very well can be no meaning to life, but instead of dwelling on that aspect, why not ponder how to make your life the most meaningful? That seems pretty great to me.
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3 comments:
I totally agree with you on this Brittany, that existentialism is wrongly stigmatized as depressing or pessimisstic. To me, the antithesis of existentialism would have to be the notion of predetermination - now that seems depressing. The idea that god or some other deity predetermines my each and every move is scary. The implications here are tremendous, because what it ultimately means is that no matter how hard I work or whatever endeavors I pursue - it was all "meant to be". Especially the sects of Protestantism that believe that even one's fate after death is predetermined...what could possibly be more pessimisstic than that?
No, existentialism is completely optimistic - the stigma some attach to it is utterly unwarranted, at least in my view.
Before I took this class I definitely thought that existentialism was a very depressing philosophy. And whenever I'm talking to my friends about class they ask how I've been able to stand such a depressing subject for a whole semester. However, since being in this class, I've changed my mind. I think the idea that I am able to control and choose my own path in life is very exciting, and not at all depressing. It is true that in existentialism (example: the excerpt from Catch 22 that we read) that people must watch out for themselves because no one else is looking out for them, but other than that, I have come to see existentialism as a more affirming philosophy.
Yeah, it is definitely an affirming philosophy, if you do it right. Like we've talked about in class and like I spoke about in the existential therapy blog, existentialism isn't for everyone. Not everyone can handle the idea of that much freedom. It can be quite scary. Not everyone can handle writing a contract with their professor and not having grades. Not everyone can handle being told that their lives are theirs alone to guide. Just don't be that guy.
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