Existentialism in American Literature - Essay Example

Existentialism in American Literature Introduction During the Second World War, European countries suffered immensely. Many people lost their lives in war and those that survived experienced hunger, pain and diseases. This led to the beginning of the existentiality movement (Thomas, Pp. 20). Philosophers believed that human beings were free despite their racial backgrounds. People in authority do not have the right to make laws that control the freedom and activities of other human beings. Existentialists believe that human beings are living in a world that is void and full of suffering (Thomas, Pp. 120). Human beings are not just objects but people who should operate, feel and live in the way that they think best. This movement came up after the some of the French citizens felt that it was wrong for the colonialists to force them to live in a certain way and decide on the activities the French had to engage in. This period in history led to many literal pieces as many authors and poets sort to share their views with the rest of the world about the emptiness they felt under colonization and war. Ellison is an author and philosopher who felt frustrated because of the way human beings were discriminated especially the black people in Europe. He wrote the novel Invisible Man as he sort to explain his views about the plight of people at that time. Invisible man is a novel that explains the invisibility of a man in a world made up of blind people. The main character of the novel is a black man who is not viewed as a human being but a nothing by people from other races. This makes the main character invisible and the people that discriminate him as blind. This places the novel in the historical times when existentialism movement was active and the war in Europe had caused a lot of damage (Ralph, Pp 368). The author wrote the book during the Second World War. Instead of focusing on the overall meaning of the existence of man, he took a narrow focus of the plight of Black people who were discriminated on racial grounds. The blond man insults the black man using names that discriminate him because of his race. The character beats up the blond man with the intention of making him recognize him as visible. The media people make the black man to appear the villain as they call him a mugger. Moreover, people view the blond man who insulted the black man as the victim (Ralph, Pp 173). They do not recognize the effort of the invisible man who is trying to make people respect him and stop discriminating him. The invisible man practices his freedom to act the way he wants in life. Using his invisibility, he commits crimes and the authority cannot catch him and make him pay for his mistake. He steals electricity and uses a lot of the electrical energy until the administration of the power company realizes that someone is stealing their electricity but do not know his location or name. The main character keeps his name hidden. This enables him to speak his mind out without the fear that people will realize who he is (Ralph, Pp 238). The invisible man uses 1369 bulbs to light his house. This is because he wants to see his existence beyond the eyes of the people who discriminate him and hold negative opinions about him. The author, Ellison sought to bring to light the suffering of people because of their race in France during the Second World War. The choices of songs he uses in the novel is like, “What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue.” These types of songs made the readers of the poem to talk about the racial discrimination, which can later lead to change. Jean-Paul Sartre is a novelist who also wrote books that influenced the attitude of people in relation to the meaning of existence. Nausea is an example of the books that the philosopher wrote that talks about the feeling of nothingness and emptiness (Sartre, Pp.70). Antoine Roquentin views his external world as filled with emptiness and that the non-living creatures in the environment steal his energy making him feel nauseated. When he looks at himself, he realizes that his inner being is full of nothingness making hopeless about life and his existence. The novel shows that Antoine knows his existence and his character but denies the facts about his existence and his character. He pretends that he has the freedom to do whatever he wants to do but is not ready to take responsibility of the actions that he does. This is evident when he blames the external environment for his nausea (Sartre, Pp.120). He is not ready to take responsibility for what is happening to his life but blames the stones that do not know of their own existence. Albert Camus, the author of The Plague talks about the freedom of the people of Oran and how it is jeopardized when a plague hits the land and makes people prisoners. The people of Oran were not free even before the plague epidemic (Camus, Pp. 245). This is because they had to perform specific activities and follow a routine that comprised of habits that they had to practice daily. They were not free enough to do whatever pleased them but were controlled by the rules and traditions of the community. The community did not love their families truly. This is because they only remembered them and increased their love for them when they stayed many days without seeing them. Camus believes that the existence of human beings in unexplained. He believes that human beings have no option but to experience pain and suffering. He does not believe that divine intervention can improve the lives of human beings (Camus, Pp. 245). Only war and death can end the suffering of human beings. The war and suffering of people during the Second World War influenced the attitude of Camus. He saw all the suffering and pain of people because of colonization and during the war and concluded that life must be painful ending in death. Conclusion Colonization and The world War Two led many American authors to write short stories that reflected the plight of people during that time. The hardships that the human beings experienced because of the weapons used in the war, the racial discrimination that the black community experienced led many to question the meaning of human existence. Through the stories, the authors described what they felt the human race should know about so that they change their attitudes and improve their lives. Works Cited Thomas Flynn. Existentialism. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., Oct 6, 2009. Pp.178. Sartre, Jean-Paul. Nausea. New York: New Direction, 2007. Pp. 140. Camus, Albert & Stuart Gilbert. Plague ; The fall ; Exile and the kingdom ; and, selected essays. eBookEden.com. Aug 17, 2004. Pp. 600. Ralph, Ellison. Invisible man. London: Modern Library. 1994. Pp. 573.   Read More