Speaking from a nihilistic perspective, if we live in an inherently meaningless world, where do we derive motivation? The answer is that we create the meaning which gives us purpose through sheer force of will. In her essay “Great to Watch,” Maggie Nelson discussing the pervasiveness of violence in media in our society. Additionally, Oliver Sack’s essay “The Minds Eye,” is a famous essay concerning how blind people perceive their world.…
The society we are being raised in has shaped us into mindless, mechanical robots. Our opinions are being spoon-fed to us through forms of entertainment to the point where we can’t even think for ourselves anymore. Our status and our worth is based off of how many things you have. Not the measure of intelligence. Not the measure of creativity.…
To feel alone, completely, and utterly alone, can be a crushing sensation. It can destroy a person from the inside out, and drive them completely mad. And if you couple that with being confined, you have a formula that can only conclude in disaster. In The Painted Door, through Ann, we see that when one feels neglected, trapped, and alone, it can drive a person to do things outside of their normal behavior. And if one gives into cravings, consequences that may not have been imagined could be brought to fruition.…
How Will An Individual Feel When They Have No Meaningful Relationships? Relationships can mean the world to some people and sometimes it even saves them from a life of darkness, whether the relationship is of a friendship, family or even a romantic bond, every relationship is special and meaningful to someone. Some individuals do not have the chance to form meaningful relationships and as a result they met be lost in a life filled with loneliness and sorrow, individuals may even develop a sense of hopelessness and may consider themselves trapped. In the poem To Keep One’s Treasure Protected by Stephan Dobyns we are confronted with an individual whom is upset with their life showing that they are lonely, and the reason being that they have…
Consequently, many act foolishly based on their ignorance. This inhibits people to settle and use materials to define their level of happiness in life. However, McCandless wished,” to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence , from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature”(189). McCandless wanted to live a simpler life in which stuff had no worth. Many times he was offered gifts in which he refused to receive because it took way from the struggle of his…
Cinematic depictions of real life can sometimes be a bit fantastical or outside of what is seen as normal way to display story that holds some truth about reality, but it has always been that way, only in different form, in the early 1900’s there was The Great Gatsby in book form, that showed the American Dream and materialism has stemmed from it but now that we have the capabilities to produce realistic visual depictions people are weary of accepting cinematic depictions as credible. In recent years there have been a number of movies that have shared a number of flaws with the thinking that has been bred from the American Dream, including the 2015 film “The Bling Ring”. At first glance- probably the second glance as well- it looks like “escapists…
In the essay “Here Is New York” by E.B White. White in this essay combines memories, time, and “the change” that New York make with time. He talks about New York as a poem. White does not see New York like a simple city with big buildings, amazing monuments, or movies White sees deeper into New York than any other person that comes to visit. White state’s…
Vladimir Nabovok has said that “Common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.” If this indeed is true, then how are we to make the most out of this short illuminated interval? Many of us are dealt modest hands, and we live through this window in a simple and content fashion while pursuing our goal and forming our very own destiny. Few lucky ones are given hands that are much envied upon by the rest of us. They are able to live a life of extravagance, yet they feel as if there is much more to be desired.…
I am sitting down watching your lecture over Plato’s Republic Book 2. In this lecture you discuss how Socrates suggests that the basis of people is their education; not just any education but the education that comes before people of born. As I am sitting here my little brother pulls up this television show titled Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home. This television show is about the homeless people who live in Los Angeles, California and how they live.…
In the beginning, Hemingway points out the use of nothing in the beginning of the story when the waiters are trying to observe and analyze why the older man is drinking so much. Yet this small detail is important to both the dark and "empty" setting Hemingway creates, and the waiters interactions with eachother. When the author includes the older waiter`s mini-moologue about the topic of nothing, the author uses this word as his "iceburg priniciple. Hemingway isn`t making an argument because of the literal use of nada, but he uses it as a metaphor to make the reader question if those who are more fortunate benefit from their luxuries. Hemingway then takes a further step to judge society using a religious tradition when he says "our nada who…
In the face of the meaningless of life, one must find scorn and happiness in the very absence of…
Is there transcendentalism today in our world? Yes, there is tons and tons of transcendentalism today in our society. They are found mostly everywhere and we do not notice it. They can be found anywhere in general like television, music, art speeches and literature. For my project, I found a song that relates to transcendentalism.…
Back in primitive times, society was split into the strong and the weak. The strong, alphas of a village were the hunters, who risked life and limb to go out and slay beasts to provide for their village. The weaker members of the village were the gatherers, who were not strong enough to go out and kill with spears, but had the intellect to go out and harvest the roots and fruit that were not going to poison the village people. The novel Fight Club, written by Chuck Palahniuk, perfectly portrays the message of how modern day society has flipped the order of our primitive natures. , giving the gatherers equal opportunity to the hunters.…
In reality, many people work up until their last breath to have more and more money. However, when they look back, they realized they never lived their lives with fulfillment. Money may buy them materialistic needs but love and affection are able to bring purpose and meaning. According to Morrie, “The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning” (43). By devoting himself to love the others around him, Morrie was able to create “a cocoon of human activities – conversations, interaction, affection – and it filled his life like an overflowing soup bowl” (43).…
The world is a buzzing place with endless sites to see, people to meet and possessions to own. The problem with this buzzing society, is that we forget to live in the moment, and enjoy each day to the fullest. People are consumed with worrying about how much they ‘have’, which can leave them competitive, materialistic, selfish, and forgetting what is really important. Henry David Thoreau believes to combat this, people need to simplify their lives, minimize the amount of friends they have, meals they eat, and possessions they own (1102). Thoreau graduated from Harvard university and throughout his life he worked as a tutor, house painter, carpenter, mason, surveyor and pencil maker.…