Jean-Paul Sartre, who is often referred as the founder of existentialism, hated to be identified as an existentialist, for he deemed it a violation of his individualist philosophy to be a part of a literary movement. He even rejected the name because he deemed it to be too confining!
Existentialism at its conception rotated around the “life is without purpose” mantra; however, with the introduction of authors such as Albert Camus, Samuel Beckett, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, a new light illuminated the once-static spectrum of traditional existentialism. The presence of each of their respective novels, The Stranger, Waiting for Godot, and Notes from The Underground played pivotal roles in not only each the authors’ careers, but in the whole genre …show more content…
There is no better literary work that exemplifies such shifts in literary attitudes than Camus’ The Stranger. Unlike other prior existentialist works, Camus expresses his recognition of a higher Being through effectively integrating clerical and religious leaders into major components of relevant plot. Beginning with the notorious jail chaplain, Meursault ponders why the chaplin repeatedly offered him religious asylum upon his conviction to death row, asking himself the question–was the chaplain even alive? Camus describes the hyper-destructive nature of accepting religion and describes those who already accept such systems of belief as already having died, for Meursault was foolishly unsure of the chaplain “even being alive” (74). As a result, one–in this case, Meursault–must accept the fate of his own death, without turning to an ulterior power for consolation or hope. Earlier chapters within the novel set the preface for this ideology; the magistrate who hurls a crucifix at the protagonist while visiting his cell states, “all men believe in God, even those who reject Him” (Camus 42). Meursault unequivocally advertises this sense of altered atheism, even in the presence of the clerk as he jousts a crucifix towards his
Existentialism at its conception rotated around the “life is without purpose” mantra; however, with the introduction of authors such as Albert Camus, Samuel Beckett, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, a new light illuminated the once-static spectrum of traditional existentialism. The presence of each of their respective novels, The Stranger, Waiting for Godot, and Notes from The Underground played pivotal roles in not only each the authors’ careers, but in the whole genre …show more content…
There is no better literary work that exemplifies such shifts in literary attitudes than Camus’ The Stranger. Unlike other prior existentialist works, Camus expresses his recognition of a higher Being through effectively integrating clerical and religious leaders into major components of relevant plot. Beginning with the notorious jail chaplain, Meursault ponders why the chaplin repeatedly offered him religious asylum upon his conviction to death row, asking himself the question–was the chaplain even alive? Camus describes the hyper-destructive nature of accepting religion and describes those who already accept such systems of belief as already having died, for Meursault was foolishly unsure of the chaplain “even being alive” (74). As a result, one–in this case, Meursault–must accept the fate of his own death, without turning to an ulterior power for consolation or hope. Earlier chapters within the novel set the preface for this ideology; the magistrate who hurls a crucifix at the protagonist while visiting his cell states, “all men believe in God, even those who reject Him” (Camus 42). Meursault unequivocally advertises this sense of altered atheism, even in the presence of the clerk as he jousts a crucifix towards his