Jean-Paul Sartrebet Angest: A Literary Analysis

Whether a person is truly free is a commonly asked question in philosophy. Many philosophers have taken different approaches to answering this question. One theory is existentialism. Existentialism is the view that a person determines their destiny. A French philosopher by the name of Jean-Paul Sartre coined the term existentialism, but the idea of this philosophy was first brought up by Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher. Sartre was heavily influenced by Kierkegaard and his book Begrebet Angest which when translated means The Concept of Dread or The Concept of Anxiety. This book embodies the idea of the first sin. Kierkegaard begins the design with Adam in the Garden of Eden. Adam is innocent and happy until one day God commands Adam …show more content…
The word freedom is defined as having the absence of constraint in decisions or actions, and the word monstrous is described as strange or unnatural (Webster). The reason Sartre paired these two words together is that people fear to have freedom. Having no restraint on their actions gives them the free will to do as they please and make choices that may have adverse outcomes or make decisions that are not seen as morally right. Sartre believed that if people accepted their choices and the consequences of their choices, having the freedom to do anything they please would not be scary. People are the choices they make; they cannot not decide. People must accept responsibility for their choices, but instead, people look to blame their thoughts on their conscious (Sartre). Sartre tells the story of a young bride who was mad at her husband for leaving her by the window while he talked to the people who passed by. She became insane and thought that she could have any man by merely waving from the window (Palmer). This thought and possibility that she may go through with this action terrified her. Just like the young bride scared of her feelings, we are afraid of