Existentialism, as a branch of philosophy, would suggest that the correspondent has recognized the “absurdity” in life. Absurdity is the frustration people encounter when their human instinct to seek order, purpose, and meaning is challenged by the refusal of the world to be orderly or meaningful. Indeed, the narrator states “The whole affair is absurd” (Crane 212). Robert C. Solomon, in his book Existentialism, further illuminates the narrator’s state:
The existential attitude is, first of all, an attitude of self-consciousness. One feels herself separated from the world… In isolation, one feels threatened, insignificant, meaningless, and in response demands significance through a bloated view of self… One constitutes herself as a hero… as unique... As a result of this self-exaggeration, the world becomes…more threatening. So, one attacks the world, discovering, with both despair and joy, that its threats are themselves without ultimate …show more content…
Yet despite the comradery and each other’s assistance aboard the tiny vessel, when they swim for shore, each man can only rely on his own agency. In facing death, each man stands alone just as it is up to each individual to define their life’s meaning. By chance, the correspondent is saved by a freak wave- by nature, the same force which had threatened him. The oiler, by chance, perishes even though he was strong. Again, we may be tempted to personify random chance into an orderly force by calling it “luck.” In our efforts to make sense of the senseless, we call upon conceptualizations that impose our biases onto random events. As we call out to gods and Fate, we are asking ourselves to create greater meaning. In recognition of the absurd, we can find acceptance and empower ourselves as free-willed meaning creators; lest we slip into
The existential attitude is, first of all, an attitude of self-consciousness. One feels herself separated from the world… In isolation, one feels threatened, insignificant, meaningless, and in response demands significance through a bloated view of self… One constitutes herself as a hero… as unique... As a result of this self-exaggeration, the world becomes…more threatening. So, one attacks the world, discovering, with both despair and joy, that its threats are themselves without ultimate …show more content…
Yet despite the comradery and each other’s assistance aboard the tiny vessel, when they swim for shore, each man can only rely on his own agency. In facing death, each man stands alone just as it is up to each individual to define their life’s meaning. By chance, the correspondent is saved by a freak wave- by nature, the same force which had threatened him. The oiler, by chance, perishes even though he was strong. Again, we may be tempted to personify random chance into an orderly force by calling it “luck.” In our efforts to make sense of the senseless, we call upon conceptualizations that impose our biases onto random events. As we call out to gods and Fate, we are asking ourselves to create greater meaning. In recognition of the absurd, we can find acceptance and empower ourselves as free-willed meaning creators; lest we slip into