Nihilism

"He was spawned in that slime, conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God, punished forever for the crime of Abel's death" (Gardner 6). For centuries, Grendel has been classified as a paragon of evil through his abuse of Hrothgar's kingdom in the Anglo-Saxon tale, Beowulf. There has always been the illusion that Hrothgar's people are innocent and are being attacked by Grendel solely for his own pleasure; however, what if Grendel is truly the innocent…

then the poor culture will continued to be misconstrued by society, mass media, and the destitute themselves. Today’s contemporary popular culture has created misinterpretations of the true meaning of poverty and dehumanized the poor culture into nihilism that continues the cycle of despair the underprivileged believe they cannot escape. Because the poor culture cannot escape, they have adjusted routinely to the devalued lifestyle set before them creating no room for growth or improvement.…

A Clockwork Orange is one of the most controversial works of fiction ever created. Upon its original 1963 release it was regarded as overly violent and disturbing. The film adaptation, released in 1972 and directed by Stanley Kubrick, garnered an even larger reputation and was banned entirely in the United Kingdom. Even though both the book and the movie are seen as disturbing in the eyes of the public, they vary slightly in interesting and relevant ways. The movie and the book versions of A…

Throughout Crime and Punishment (CP), the protagonist Raskolnikov battles with a variety of different philosophical beliefs and follows a somewhat unanticipated mental and emotional arc. Such beliefs that he embodies, like the coldness of Utilitarianism and the positivity of Christian faith, mirror the common beliefs of nineteenth century Russia and his reactions mirror how citizens of the time responded to the changes in societal beliefs. More specifically, the author of Crime and Punishment,…

under Hitler’s regime discovers his answer to the basic question that makes us human. Philosophers have long debated the purpose of life and have produced answers ranging from orthodox religion, the meaning of life is given to everyone by God, to nihilism, there is no meaning to life. Despite the atrocities of concentration camps, Frankl determines his purpose and meaning of life through optimism and love; this helped me evaluate my priorities and my purpose in life. Unlike animals, humans…

Catherine Belsey refers to realist literature as a text which ‘positions itself between the facts and a type of illusion through a representation of a simulated reality which could be possible but not real’ . Whilst critically dissecting typical doctrines of classic realism, this essay will discuss the extent to which Dostoevsky conforms or subverts to the realist tropes in Crime and Punishment . Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle propose that realist characters should be ‘lifelike’; They…

Fides et Ratio, written by Saint Pope John Paul II, can easily be regarded as one of his most influential papal encyclicals for its view on faith and reason. The encyclical bridges the topics of philosophy, which is often associated with Hellenism, and theology, which is often associated with Catholicism, and shows how they work together as one free-flowing unit. In this paper, I will be proving how the Pope does this by talking about theology, philosophy, faith, reason, and how they all work…

Ecclesiastes is often thought of as “the book that says everything is pointless”. This is true, to some extent. The book covers almost all other the reasons people have found for living and explains, in detail, why it is not worth pursuing. Everything is a cycle and if you follow it you will only end up doing the same thing over and over again with no real sense of happiness or purpose. The one exception to this and the one thing that can give meaning and happiness to everything else is God and…

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…

Crawford's narrative poem “Malcolm's Katie”, deals with wealth, the building of a nation and, most importantly, it deals with love as a conquering solution to address the major concerns of her country in the nineteenth century. Crawford’s cure for greed, nihilism, and the desirous exploitation of the “smooth-coated men” (II, 230) was love, which she deifies as capital L love. Personified love in the poem is embodied by Katie whose appearance, morals, and steadfastness is exemplary of the…