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Analysis Of Sartre 's ' The Gambler ' Essay

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Sartre argues that one breaks their resolution because of his/her freedom and anguish of the past. He uses a gambler as an example. The gambler makes a resolution to stop gambling, but when he sees a gambling table he rethinks the resolution. According to Sartre, the gambler is in anguish because of his freedom to gamble. Sartre writes that the gambler “perceive[s] with anguish that nothing prevents him from gambling” (Sartre, 70). The anguish provoked comes from the freedom to break the resolution. The gambler made the resolution in the past to stop gambling, but when he sees the gambling table he has to remake his decision because the resolution is not set in stone. He stands there in nothingness as he contemplates what to do realizing that there is nothing in his way of gambling. This freedom to make a new decision presents itself as anguish. It is a “constantly renewed obligation to remake the self which designates the free being” (Sartre, 72). The gambler wants to no longer live in the past through following the resolution, but instead wants to become his future self. If the gambler changes himself his anguish will be removed for the moment. Although the outcome with the gambler was not stated, it can be assumed that he started gambling again to remove the anguish. Some people may look at the gambling as an addiction. These people would argue that it is not the anguish created by the power of freedom that brings a gambler back to gambling, but rather the chemicals in

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