Nihilism

Through the disruption of cynicism, barbarism, and nihilism present in O’Connor’s short story, we’re cognizant that literature truly matters. Its very essence strives to enlighten others of the possibilities of generosity, sympathy, and morality. Mrs. Turpin’s revelation at the end of the story allows readers…

Those books in order are European Nihilism, Critique of Highest Values Hitherto, Principles of a New Evaluation, and Discipline and Breeding. Nihilism is the lack of belief in one or more meaningful aspects of life. In the book European Nihilism he argues that he is not replacing God with nothing, but rather that he regards ‘European nihilism’ as an ‘in-between state’ that is necessary for getting beyond Christian morality. This is also…

Introduction Wise Blood was written by Flannery O’Connor and published in 1951. This book tackles issues such as faith and redemption through the interpretation of its many characters. Main character Hazel Motes experiences these conflicts the most as he learns first hand what it means to be “clean” in the eyes of the Lord. As O’Connor herself states Wise Blood “is a comic novel about a Christian malgre lui … [in which there are] many wills conflicting in one man”(O’Connor 6-7). Basic…

John Donne crafts an anti-love poem of warning by expressing all the same immediate sentiments of love and longing while also subverting the original love poem genre through drunken expression. This is why no word better encapsulates the overall tone and intention of the poem than “drunk” in the first stanza: “The general balm th ' hydroptic earth hath drunk” (6). The word holds an immense amount of weight as it rests heavy on the tongue. This aforementioned heftiness correlates to the enormity…

his old and new belief contradicting, Grendel ponders why he can’t be cure. This in between stage demonstrates Grendel conflicting emotions towards belief. The reader can see that Grendel has not fully adopted Nihilism because Grendel states, “I have not committed the ultimate act of nihilism: I have not killed the queen” (Gardner 93). The audience can see clearly Wealhtheow influences Grendel choice of whether or not he decides to murder. As the story progresses, Grendel finally decides to give…

The Negativeness of Culture and Counterculture in the Sixties: Conventionalism vs. Bohemianism in Didion and Shepard’s Ideology The 1960s is a period when new cultural forms arise; it is a time when the traditional roles of women were reevaluated; it is “an era in which the ego ran wild, and the young had a craving for altered states.” As many young people were dissatisfied with the conventionalism — the mainstream American culture after post-World War II, the counterculture emerged in the…

masses. Along with Marxism, Lenin used other theories and practices to encourage the Revolution. Populism “influenced the tactics and techniques of Lenin and Bolshevism”, Lenin took the idea of promoting self-interest and believing in nothing from nihilism, and he took the use of violence from anarchism, which helped justify the Red Terror (Packet). Lenin’s goal was to overthrow…

This relates to the isolation because as one is rejected from society, they will begin to believe that everything is impairable. In addition, Gardner’s use of vocabulary correlates to his argument on nihilistic point of views. Because nihilism is the belief that nothing has meaning in life, he argues through word choice in his letter that, “Grendel gives up all hope and faith...perhaps at last he’s found someone who can kill him and end his stupid, pointless, and loveless existence” (Gardner)…

his behavior during the crime itself”(Leatherbarrow 141-142). Raskolnikov changes his reasoning to a nihilistic way of thinking. Dostoevsky is critical as he addresses nihilism and the disregard for moral responsibility during that era. He used the protagonist in this novel, Raskolnikov, to portray his dissent to nihilism. Nihilism rejected all…

Christianity’s role was declining. He referred to this shift in faith through the phrase that “God is dead” and warned that the raising faith in science led to nihilism, since science did not introduce a new set of values to replace those of Christianity. Although Nietzsche rejected the values of Christianity, he considered the shift to nihilism a “bad to worse” situation because it is better to have beliefs in something rather than nothing at all. He proposed a revaluation of values, wanting to…