Sartre's Nausea And Existentialism

Sartre made the movement popular by defining what Existentialism meant; he wrote various works centered on his views alone. The more these works were read, the more the smiles of those with a fulfilled life faded away. Sartre is perhaps the most well-known, as well as one of the few who accepted being called an "existentialist". Being and Nothingness is his most important work, and his novel Nausea helped to popularize the movement. It may have been the relatable feeling of losing interest in things that once brought joy; or the adversity faced when ending and surviving a relationship. But Sartre’s novel Nausea left any who read it, and finished it, with a sense of bewilderment. It is stated that “Existence is not something which lets itself …show more content…
Sartre famously mirrors Hamlet’s “To be or not to be?” speech; the main reason is that Being and Nothingness addresses, primarily, the idea of Being as well as the idea of the concept of Being. Nausea may have hooked readers for its psychological aspect, but nevertheless it is a work of fiction; however, Being and Nothingness is where Sartre directly addresses readers, and states his own idea of the Existentialist philosophy. Perhaps it was still relatable, as readers found parts that could mirror how they felt; even if they felt that way many years prior to reading it. Sartre confronts the reality of Life and Death, and the meaning of Mankind’s concept of Being. He remarks his life as a sequence of unavoidable burdens, one that is leaves him “without remorse or regrets as I am without excuse; for from the instant of my upsurge into being, I carry the weight of the world by myself alone without help, engaged in a world for which I bear the whole responsibility without being able, whatever I do, to tear myself away from this responsibility for an instant.” (Being and Nothingness, Sartre.) Only then could Nausea be truly understood; and Sartre’s beliefs have been at the core of the Existentialist movement. The idea that the microcosms that people seek for fulfillment are a farce did not sit well with the public; no one likes to be told that what they hold dear is meaningless, but Sartre found a lot meaningless. He refuted the claim that his writings were grim and dreary with the conclusion of his ideals. A man’s freedom is when he attains Nothingness; only then can the existence hold some value. This value was still hard to reach, however, as explained in Nausea, and Sartre ends is philosophical essay with “I exist, that is all, and I find it