Existentialism In Hemingway And Camus - 1730 Words

People like to get stuck in what they find comfortable, and don’t want to push the boundaries. Literature was stuck in a rut, until Modernism came around and broke the standard mold that authors thought they needed to follow. This movement brought in new styles, dynamic characters and topics that centered around ground breaking theories. Many of these authors looked for their own individual way to break from the tradition. Hemingway and Camus were just two of these authors that took their novels, The Sun Also Rises and The Stranger, in directions that others hadn’t. They developed characters that broke away from the typical stock characters everyone was used to. Hemingway looked at the crazy lifestyles and the consequences that the war had†¦show more content†¦Jake states early in the book â€Å"Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed they were all such nice people† (Hemingway 150). This is a clear example of how alcohol is u sed by not just him but all characters in this novel to numb their pain. They all are seeking out the opportunity to shy away for them real world and the pain that it brings with it. For him to appear happy, Jake needs to have something to numb him to the other feelings he had battling inside of his mind. Hemingway’s group of characters don’t see the value that life has to offer them, so instead they choose to create fake value by drinking. The alcohol driven state allows him to appear happy to the outside world. While it might appear that the characters in the book are alcoholics, it could be countered that these young men have been accustomed to consuming large amounts of alcohol as a means of escaping their lives (Djos 64). In a journal article, written by Matts Djos, he claims that Jake and his companions are â€Å"terrified that fate and circumstance might shatter their facade of civilized deference. These people lack the skills and the sanity to break their addiction to self-sufficiency and their destructive loop of unmanageability. Instead, they seek refuge in broken relationships, in changes of scene, in drunkenness and the illusion that, however meager, they can find some pleasureShow MoreRelatedTheme Of Existentialism In The Stranger1624 Words   |  7 PagesHemingway’s characters were struggling to find the value in their lives, Camus took the other side of the spectrum and made a character that didn’t see any value in life. Camus focuses on the topic of existential ism, which is the philosophical theory that focuses on the fact that everyone is responsible for developing their own actions, in his novel The Stranger. Camus introduces Meursault who is deeply rooted in the beliefs of existentialism, believing that there is no value to anything that happens in aRead More The Rise and Fall of Existentialism1287 Words   |  6 PagesThe Rise and Fall of Existentialism   Ã‚  Ã‚   Existential literature often focuses on the personal journey towards existential awareness. Common themes in existential works, such as alienation and confrontation with death, often lead the anti-hero towards a climactic choice that defines whether they have reached true understanding. The themes within existential literature are reflected from the world at large, and the works themselves are a metaphor for a grander shift in Western philosophy. Read MoreAlice Malsenior6001 Words   |  25 Pages1946, Albert Camus published his famous work called The Stranger and sparked the start of existentialism. This literary approach rejects the idea that the universe offers any clues about how humanity should live. Therefore, writers of this type glorify the ideas of freedom and individual responsibility. Other popular authors that are characterized as existentialists are Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin, and Nathaniel West. Following its popular surge in the 1940s and 1950s, exi stentialism faded after