The Film The Woman in the Sand Dunes - Essay Example

Meaning of life Searching for the meaning of life is a metaphysical concept that offers no ready answers. This is a core feature in metaphysical discussions since metaphysics relies on logic to deduct the meaning of life. It is notable that historical human experiences are essential in drawing the meaning of life. Studying life from an abstract sphere cannot grant meaningful answers because such learning does not lend credit to the empiricism of life. The existentialists gave a new view of life that explained the essence of life from daily-lived experiences of the human being. In this sense, the human being is a feeling, acting, and living individual whose collective experiences can account for the essence of one’s life. In the end, in as much as an individual is defenseless against the circumstances that define one’s life one should adopt a pragmatic view of life that is lived according to given challenges. The film, the Woman in the Sand Dunes, illustrates how random fate plays a role in disrupting lives of innocent individuals. Junpei Niki is an innocent schoolteacher whose devotion resides in teaching and research. Due to his devotion, he goes on an expedition of collecting insects from sand dunes (Woman in the Dunes film 1964). In the evening, he is unfortunate to miss the last bus. The teacher had not imagined this unpleasant fate. However, since he is caught up in the circumstances, he has to find a way of living through the night such that he catches the bus tomorrow. The teacher becomes culpable to seeming generosity of the villagers and he accepts to sleep in a widow’s house. In such a circumstance, Niki is compelled to trust the villagers, who seem to hold the key to his salvation. In this sense, the circumstances dictate that he trusts the villagers. In addition, he is compelled to climb the ladder that leads to the widow’s house. He cannot control this circumstance since the ladder is the only way into the house. Niki, therefore, finds himself trapped in an uneventful fate that he did not premeditate. The villagers have chained the widow in collecting the sand that prevents the village from sinking. Similarly, Niki is forced towards a responsibility that occurs against will. Niki is a normal character with an attachment out of the village. He longs to go back to his family and school life. When he believes he should go back to his place the following morning, he discovers the ladder is gone. In this desire, he attempts an absurd escape that leads him towards his trap. He slowly learns that the woman has a terrible fate that she has accepted. Having lost her family members, she decides to stay where they are buried and dig sand to sustain the existence of the village. The woman had long resigned to stay in the pit and she has an undeclared hesitance to move out of the pit even if chances of escape are available. In this light, the audience learns that in spite of the distasteful circumstances, an individual has to live. This does not occur on a sense of hope but on accepting the truth that life must be lived in the present in spite of the circumstances that form the same (Krieger 289). Niki’s resigned attitude mirrors the widow’s emotions when he uncovers a reason to stay in the pit. The schoolteacher uncovers a way of drawing water from the sand without relying on the supply from the villagers. The woman, however, becomes pregnant and she has to see the doctor. The villagers put up the ladder and opens up the chances for the schoolteacher to escape but he decides to stay in the pit. There seems a consolation in living a predictable average life. Niki believes there is no alternative fate to the one he faces in the pit. In such a state, the individual feels one cannot control the fate until the person decides to live life as it occurs. It is essential to highlight that the suffering individual is so isolated that one decides to put up with the exclusion. This, however, is a pragmatic viewpoint since the character attains the best out of the worst situation (Rube 6). The Ikiru film plots the life of Kanji Watanabe who, having worked in the corporate world for a long time, realizes that he has stomach cancer (Ikiru film 1952). He also learns that he has less than a year to live. The audience first witnesses the x-ray picture of Watanabe’s stomach. The narrating voice announces that Watanabe has a disease. The mention of death focuses the attention of the audience towards the ordeal that awaits the protagonist. Watanabe looks pitiful at his desk, with stacks of paper that informs of his former dispassionate life. Watanabe despairs at the mention of his impending death thereby hiding in dark corners of his room. He bursts into tears, hides beneath bed covers, and avoids attending the office until he reappears in the café’ scene. It seems that during this time, the protagonist is coming into terms with his eventual fate. When he hears his son and daughter-in-law laughing, he realizes that what he has been living for is not a real cause in life. Watanabe’s hope emanates from his reassignment that he will die. In his search for meaning, he goes to a nightclub where he meets a writer. By pointing to his heart and not stomach, Watanabe connotes that a search for meaning, rather than an impending death is the cause of his worry. Finding oneself is a difficult in an environment that promotes conformity. Watanabe takes the pragmatic step of living in the moment by going to a cabaret club, a strip club, and a pachinko parlor. The music and sound that play suggests that Watanabe relies on sensation as a means of escaping his ugly circumstances. Mirrors and lights exaggerate the dream-like effects as Watanabe floats in a virtual world. These experiences enliven the bored Watanabe until he finally smiles. The interactions with the strippers, club attendants, and the novelist highlight Watanabe’s exclusion from the lively world. The revelers in the clubs prove to Watanabe that each person is trapped in immediate distractions and delusions that help towards avoiding the distasteful circumstances that define one’s life. It emerges that the dream-like life does not help Wanatabe feels as he wishes. In the taxi that he takes back home, he begin experiencing the loneliness that haunted him a while ago. The girls’ cheerful singing of a pop song juxtaposes with Wanatabe’s misery and physical pain. The alcohol had served to initiate immediate gratification of his senses while the soul remained intact in exclusion and meaninglessness (Gordon 145). The protagonist realizes that his fate is imminent regardless of the ecstasy he is pursuing. It emerges that company and family, and groups that evoke intimacy are unworthy in alleviating the suffering individual in the end. Although he had dedicated himself to the fruition of his son’s life, Mitsuo looks back at him with contempt. Every night a suffering person goes back to the misery that defines one’s life. Watanabe finds a sense of life in encountering the bubbly Toyo, who seems to hold a carefree attitude towards life. Watanabe remains startled over what makes her so happy. She resolves to stay close to Toyo and asks her about her secret towards life. Watanabe undergoes a period of exhaustion as he contemplates about the source of Toyo’s satisfaction in life. Toyo cannot provide coherent verbal answers because she does not understand that her choices in life determine her happiness. Toyo, unlike other Japanese, ignores her circumstances and society’s expectations in order to cultivate a life that conforms to her. This, however, is a difficult feat for people like Watanabe who go through life with a great deal of societal expectations. Later, Watanabe realizes the source of Toyo’s liveliness and constructs a swimming pool for children. Indeed, creative pursuits are the only solace in a society ridden with absurdities. Watanabe solace, however, arises from his awareness of the truth that life is short and that a person ought to enjoy contemporary passions and compassions. Albert Camus’ novel, The Plague, offers a similarly existentialist view in the wake of a plague epidemic that shakes the Algerian city of Oran. The death of rats precedes the death of Michel and a few people (Camus 12). Thereafter, Dr. Rieux and Castel calls for a national action against the supposed plague, having realized the authorities are reluctant to announce the seriousness of the epidemic. Thereafter, the authorities react with stringent measures thereby placing the city under quarantine. The initial reactions of the victims achieve an escapist tone as individuals engage in selfish personal distress at the expense of the attention to the greater suffering. Father Paneloux explains to the victims that the plague is a punishment that God applies on the people of Oran for their sinfulness. The novel explores the theme of circumstantial exile. The quarantine separates the victims from their loved ones and homes. Rambert and Rieux live in an enclosed shell from their wives. Both Rambert and Rieux face the pain of being cut off from the luxury of staying in one’s home. Exile occurs unconditionally and the characters experience changes in behavior and attitudes. Initially, individuals indulge either in their past or wish the present would shuttle to the future. Dr. Rieux’s reactions offer a critical view into the human condition. He resorts to a life of passiveness as he attends to the patients. He converts his own home into a hospital for treating the victims. In this state, he realizes that death is an unpreventable element. He is an atheist whose only view in life is making the best out of worse situations. This explains his calmness when he experiences his wife’s death. The plague in Oran comprises an absurdist view that characterizes life as having neither rational meaning nor moral meaning. The plague surprises the people of Oran and they seem to possess limited control over the circumstance. The book offers light in the characters of Rieux, Tarrou, and Lambert. Although Rambert is initially preoccupied with the thoughts of joining his wife, he realizes that the plague adversely affects the general Oran community. These three characters utilize their privileges of sound health in helping the victims. They realize their only meaning in life resides on living outside the self. Although Paneloux resorts to religion, his faith slowly diminishes as he witnesses the death of the young boy. In such a circumstance, he cannot possibly say that the young boy is responsible for his death. Henrik Ibsen also highlights the absurd life of Torvald and Nora Helmer in the play, a Doll’s House. The play begins when Nora enters her house with numerous Christmas gifts but her husband chides her for spending too much on the gifts. The plot notes that Torvald has recently attained promotion in the bank where he works. Nora is in an ecstatic mood because of this promotion. Her encounter Krogstad reveals how much Nora has sacrificed for Torvald. In the past, she decided to take a loan for Torvald to attain treatment in Italy (Ibsen 67). When the situation of Krogstad jeopardizes the reputation of the family, Torvald’s selfishness manifests. Nora suddenly realizes that she has been living a meaningless life towards people who do not appreciate her efforts. She, therefore, decides upon leaving the Torvald household in order to search a life for herself (Moi 269). Nora is caught up in the patriarchal system that diminishes the role of women in life. Indeed, these works of art espouse that in as much as an individual is defenseless against one’s circumstances, one can still curve out a life that provides contemporary meaning. Teshigara’s film reveals how the protagonist accepts and makes the best out of the distasteful life that he faces. In addition, Kurosawa’s film demonstrates the hollowness of a person on the realization of an imminent death. Watanabe, however, finds a meaning in living one’s life externally. Camus’ novel portrays the traditional life whereby a person has to deal with misfortunes such as illnesses in carving out a better life for the self and the immediate community. In Ibsen’s play, Nora finds herself in a patriarchal society that does not value the efforts of a woman at building the society. Nora has to take the difficult decision of leaving the Torvald’s household towards articulating a serene life for herself. Works cited Camus, Albert. The Plague. Camberwell, VIC: Penguin, 2009. Print. Gordon, Jeffrey. “Kurosawas existential masterpiece: a meditation on the meaning of life.” Human Studies 20.2 (1997): 137-151. Print. Ibsen, Henrik. A Dolls House. Rockville, MD: Serenity Publishers, 2009. Print. Krieger, Murray. “Tragedy and the tragic vision.” The Kenyon Review 20.2 (1958): 281-299. Print. Kurosawa, Akira. Ikiru film (1952). Moi, Toril. ‘‘First and foremost a human being: idealism, theatre, and gender in a Doll’s House.” Modern Drama 49.3 (2006): 256-284. Print. Rube, Pierre. “Who Was Albert Camus?” Yale French Studies 25.1(1960): 3-9. Print. Teshigahara, Hiroshi. Woman in the Dunes film (1964). Read More