Existentialism in Albert Camus The Plague and Samuel Becketts Waiting

All of the characters in The Plague and delay For paragonot exist in their fictional worlds. However, none is able to explain why. neither work gives the ref an explanation of kind existence except to regularize that humans exist. Providing an final result to the interrogative mood of existence would constitute a paradox. To an existentialist, if you resolution the question, then youve deep in thought(p) the whole point. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and province for the consequences of ones acts (Bigelow 134). Basically, existentialism addresses mans existence. An existentialist believes that man does not exist under God or as part of a society or race. existence does exist, and that is all. An explanation as to why man exists cannot be found. Finally, an individual exists not as a functio n of a greater good or evil thus, the individual is free to live his life (135). Existentialism as a literary movement is most often associated with post land War II France. The images that sum up to mind are of Frenchmen with uncombed beards, smoke-filled basement cafes, and beatniks conversing with one another on the subject of despondency between sips of absinthe. However, many of the most prominent existentialist writers had rigorous and epoch-making experiences in the Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France (Lottman 54). Out of true despair they formed ideas and posed questions of great importance. They sought to understand and explain human existence. They concluded that existence is to be acknowledged, but can never be explained. Two existentialist works are Samuel Becketts Waiti... ... them to reevaluate their relations to others and to question their own existence. At first, most citizens assume that they will not wee-wee the plague, but they soon realize t hat even they are not immune to it. In this way they question their own humanity and are confront with something bigger than they have ever contemplated. They, like Vladimir and Estragon, are unable to come up with answers. All of the characters in The Plague and Waiting For Godot exist in their fictional worlds. However, none is able to explain why. Neither work gives the reader an explanation of human existence except to say that humans exist. Providing an answer to the question of existence would constitute a paradox. To an existentialist, if you answer the question, then youve missed the whole point. The key is in asking the question. The realization is in evaluate that there is no answer