Nihilism And Its Consequences - Essay Example

August 11, Nihilism: No Consequences, Meaning, and Openness Nihilism can kill people “inside” or “completely,” according to two short stories. In Hurstons “Spunk,” Spunk is a giant and armed African-American, who takes what he wants, because he knows he can. Braverman describes the vast emptiness in a white, alcoholic, upper-class, middle-age womans life in the “Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta.” This paper compares and contrasts how Hurston and Braverman use imagery, symbols, writing style, and characterization to explore the nature and outcomes of nihilism. Spunk and the alcoholic woman are nihilistic, because they do not think about the consequences of their actions, they live in closed societies, and they find life meaningless, though Spunk strikes some form of meaning in his guilt, while the woman moves further to the darkness of meaninglessness. Nihilism entails the absence of consideration for consequences, where people have no inner guide and promote only their self-interests. By openly showing love for a married woman. Spunk demonstrates a missing conscience. He tells Joe that “Lena was his” (Hurston). The alcoholic woman in “Tall Tales” also dismisses the effects of her decisions. She sees herself slowly attracted to a stranger, just because of her creative imagination that feeds her inner emptiness. The “watch” in the story symbolizes reality, because it reminds people of time and organizing their life. She does not know how to organize her life, however, because she cannot understand the meaning of her existence. When she allows Lenny to take her watch, she surrenders to the pseudo-reality that Lenny wants to bring her to. Lenny tells her: “You dont need [your watch]. You dont have to know what time it is” (Braverman). She then empowers him to organize her life for her, which happens eventually. Furthermore, nihilistic people only value their self-interests. Spunk takes Lena and parades their affair to others. He says to Joe: “Call her and see if shell come. A woman knows her boss an she answers when he calls” (Hurston). This means that for Spunk, he is the boss of himself and others. The woman of “Tall Tales” also focuses on her inner fantasies than her own future and the future of her daughter. When she sees “China blue” in the sky, it is an image of peace and hope. These images of peace and hope are superficial, however, because she intends to escape her reality to find them. She feels unhappy with her failures and she covets a new life, where responsibilities no longer exist. She transfers her dreams for a new self and life to Lenny: “She looked at his hand and how the air seemed blue near his fingers.” By feeling this way for Lenny, she neglects to think how an affair with him can lead to her contracting AIDS and being pursued by the Colombians, thereby endangering her daughters life too. Thus, both Spunk and the woman are nihilistic, as they address their inner needs and desires first over others, whatever the consequences of their decisions may be. The main characters of both stories live in closed societies, where closed societies refer to a “social system in which taboos and conventions are held in high regard” (Lester 53). In these closed societies, people prioritize independence over morality. Spunk lives in a community, where superstitious “beliefs are very much a part of the cultural milieu of Eatonville” (Carson 4). These are the taboos that guide their ways of thinking and doing. This society is also a place, where people prioritize strong will, which is especially important in the case of African Americans in the setting of the 1920, who still lack the power to fight for their rights. Spunk just killed Joe, but as he leaves, “no man stopped him” (Hurston). It is the kind of community that allows random acts of violence and “their attitude does not change even as Spunk lies in front of them at the wake” (Lillios 1). The people continue with their usual activities, as if no man has just been killed. The writing style of Hurston follows her anthropological perspective, where her many stories reflect life as it is in Eatonville. Here, townspeople love gossip and can easily move on from one event to the next. “Tall Tales” demonstrates that Beverly Hills also values independence, where alcoholics are supposed to fight back their addictions by developing their inner resistance to their weaknesses. The protagonist is supposed to be a “busy” woman, who controls her life. When she and Lenny first met, she was bringing cookies to AA, then she had an “appointment with her psychiatrist, then a manicure” (Braverman). It seems that she has started to gain control over her life again after her divorce and in spite of her alcoholism. Furthermore, their society revolves around physical desires, which is nihilism with its attraction to the unimportant. People see Lena and Spunk together, but they do not dare to personally intervene. Where is the church and the law here? Adultery is supposed to be a sin against God and a crime against people. As for “Tall Tales,” the woman lives in Beverly Hills, where appearance is more important than substance. Braverman uses “dramatized encounters” as part of her writing style (Seib 3). These encounters provide opportunities for readers to know more about the inner desires and demons of the characters. Lenny knows about the realities of upper-middle-class living and thinking and tells the woman: “I know you skinny broads from Beverly Hills. You want to get dressed up” (Braverman). Hence, Spunk and the woman focus on immediate and physical desires that do help them find meaning in their lives. Spunk and the woman are also nihilists, because they do not believe in free will and they lack spiritual beliefs. There is situational irony in how Spunk exerts free will by taking what he wants, when he wants it, and yet he blames Joes ghost for his accident. He shares what he thinks with others: “It was Joe, Lige... the dirty sneak shoved me” (Hurston). Apparently, Spunks guilt is eating him inside, though he does not want to acknowledge it. In essence, Spunk shows lack of free will, as he absolves himself from his own accident. The woman from “Tall Tales” thinks that the “blue” inside her is dark and too overpowering. She believes she is helpless, as this dark blue re-enters her life once more. In the end, she justifies her drinking by thinking that she has been infected by Lenny: “There is only this infected blue enormity elongating defiantly” (Braverman). She blames the “blue” for ruining her life: “The blue that knows you and where you live and its never going to forget” (Braverman). Like Spunk, she does not want to believe that she has free will, and rather, she is a product of external forces. Moreover, life has no meaning, because people do not have spiritual beliefs to help them understand their purposes in life. Spunk does not pray for redemption from his sins of adultery and homicide. Elijah informs Walt that Spunk is marrying Lena and Joe responds: “Joe aint had time to git cold yit” (Hurston). Spunk does not feel any spiritual struggle with marrying a widow “too soon.” In “Tall Tales,” Braverman mentions spiritual settings, where prayer and reflection does not occur. One of the AA meetings takes place at the basement of the church and the “church” is mentioned four times in the story. The woman, however, instead of reflecting on her life and identity, finds herself drifting to images of “blue”: “...that blue, luminescent with ancient fever, with promises and bridges broken, with the harvest lost in blue flame” (Braverman). She allows herself to be attracted to the “blue flame” of seduction and recklessness that Lenny embodies. With Lenny, she feels that she can access “a Mekong Delta of possibilities that fill the emptiness of her life” (Seib 3). This can be linked to her alcohol dependence and “loss of control” (Surgenor et al. 146), though she feels some kind of “denial of personal inadequacies” (Krauthamer 446). Her god is her desire for escape through her own illusions. The main characters of these two stories remain different, nevertheless, because Spunk strikes some form of meaning in his guilt, while the woman moves further to the darkness of meaninglessness. He feels guilty for not only taking Joes life, but also his wife. “Lenas things”is a symbol that stands for what Joe had before- a wife and his life. Though Spunk sees Lena as an object to be owned, he feels guilty for killing another man, whom he knows is weaker than he is. Hence, he has not completely lost his conscience yet. The woman in “Tall Tales,” however, feels no guilt in her selfish fantasies. At one point, she dreams of being a concubine for ruthless men: “She could have borne sons for men crossing borders, searching for the definitive run, the one you dont return from” (Braverman). She almost runs away with Lenny, but though she does not, she surrenders to this “blue” ocean of meaninglessness, because she cannot face the responsibilities of changing herself and turning her life around for good. The woman and Spunk embrace nihilism, as they neglect thinking about consequences, live in closed societies that reinforce their nihilism, and find meaninglessness in their existence. Still, they are also different, because Spunk feels guilt, which renders the acknowledgment of meaning in taking a weaker mans life. He knows he did something wrong, though he cannot fully admit it. Finally, though the woman and Spunk both continue to blame their surroundings for their meaningless lives, the woman is far worse, because as she lives on, she is determined to die all over again, when she chooses to drown in the dark blue of nothingness. Works Cited Braverman, Kate. “Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta.” 1991. Web. 8 Aug. 2011 . Carson, Warren J. “Zora Neale Hurston.” Critical Survey of Short Fiction (Jan. 2001): 1-5. Web. 10 Aug. 2011. Literary Reference Center Database. Hurston, Zora Neale. “Spunk.” Web. 8 Aug. 2011 . Krauthamer, Carole. “The Personality of Alcoholic Middle-class Women: A Comparative Study with the MMPI.” Journal of Clinical Psychology 35.2 (1979): 442-448. Web. 10 Aug. 2011. EBSCO Database. Lester, David. “Murders and Suicide: Are They Polar Opposites.” Behavioral Sciences & the Law 5.1 (1987): 49-60. Web. 10 Aug. 2011. EBSCO Database. Lillios, Anna. “Spunk.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series (Jan. 2004): 1-2. Web. 10 Aug. 2011. Literary Reference Center Database. Seib, Kenneth. “Tall Tales from the Mekong Delta.” Masterplots II: Short Story Series (Jan. 2004): 1-3. Web. 10 Aug. 2011. Literary Reference Center Database. Surgenor, Lois J., Horn, Jacqueline, Hudson, Stephen M., Adamson, Simon, and Paul Robertson. “Alcohol Dependence and Psychological Sense of Control: Refining the Links.” New Zealand Journal of Psychology 35.3 (2006): 146-152. Web. 10 Aug. 2011. EBSCO Database. Read More