Purpose In The Movie Shyamalan

We are meant to become our truest selves by finding meaning in our lives, which, according to Frankl, can come from three places: work, love, and our attitude in the face of horrific suffering or difficulty. And at the center of this meaning is our responsibility and human right to choose. In Frankl’s theory, we all strive to fulfill a self-chosen goal, from which meaning has the potential to be found. And if no meaning is found, there is meaning yet to be found, or meaning to be drawn from the apparent lack of meaning. Whatever the case, Frankl viewed man’s lack of meaning as the greatest existential crisis, the stress of this meaninglessness giving life and shape to all of our neuroses.

People find their purpose through struggle. Take Salva Dut from A Long Walk to Water as an example. At the early age of eleven, he was separated from his family during a school shooting, later leading over fifteen hundred young boys across the Southern Sudan desert as teenager. In the documentary On the Way to School, a prime example would be young Jackson Saikong. Every school day, he would have to lead his sister on a nine mile journey, racing past aggressive elephants at only the age of ten. From Linda Sue Park’s A Long Walk to Water to the documentary On the Way to School, many of the characters featured show strong motivation toward their struggle, not wanting for it to be meaningless any longer, thus finding their purpose through their

In the world today, there are many illnesses and disorders that affect people each and every day. One illness in particular that is very big in the US and all around the world is Schizophrenia. It is also the most researched topic. A person who is diagnosed with Schizophrenia lives a very different lifestyle than someone who is not. Many people would consider a person with schizophrenia to be “crazy.” Sadly enough, people with this illness do posses symptoms that might come off as crazy or insane. There are many different causes that come along with schizophrenia. A person who is diagnosed may not know it at first but they do later realize that they have some interesting thoughts, depending on the type of symptoms they posses while having this illness. Although the symptoms may be very brutal and causes cannot be controlled, there still is hope and treatments for individuals who have schizophrenia.

Developing a meaningful purpose in life, is a very strong driving force that can often be underestimated. Without a purpose, living can easily become mere existence.

| The search for meaning and purpose in life is an important aspect of life. According to this psychologist, people are always striving to meet their needs.

Existentialism offers a solution, stating there is no external values, instead people define their own meaning; therefore they are radically free. However, this freedom does not always seem conducive to meaning. Jake makes decisions with abandon, not stopping to think of the ways his actions might affect himself or others. He lives by hopping from house to house, surviving by the skin of his teeth, knowing he is “therefore a parasite” (Murdoch 21). Even though he acts freely, his life lacks a clear sense of purpose. When Jake reflects on what he values, “despair overwhelms [him]”, and he comes to the realization that “everything [he] had been doing lately was pointless” (Murdoch 144). It is only when Jake becomes an orderly does he seem to find a purpose. Not only does the job break him from his depressive state in David’s home, but it also makes Jake “think of other people” (Murdoch 27). Part of personal identity is having relationships with others outside of the self. Jake’s lifestyle neglects those connections, ultimately causing him to lead a self-centered and unfulfilling life. Jake’s prolonged sadness functionally adds side constraints on the existentialist understanding of personhood. While people are radically free to define their purpose, Murdoch proposes in order to make that purpose meaningful it needs to be defined in relation to others.

As humans, it’s in our nature to look for the meaning in our lives. Our minds are very complex and allow us the gift but also the despair of contemplating our existence and purpose in this world. Nowadays, it’s common for us to go on journeys to find the purpose of one’s life and to discover themselves and find direction for their future. In the article “Authentic purpose: the spiritual infrastructure of life” by Corey L.M. Keyes, Keyes explores the reason on why finding a purpose has become so key to one’s health and the different ways that we find purpose in our lives.

Imagine not having any purpose, or at least so far as you can see. This would be quite depressing, since everyone wants a purpose and a reason to go through trials. This theory is illustrated in the book, “The Alloy of Law”, by Brandon Sanderson. Sanderson uses third person point of view and diction to reveal how self-discovery brings happiness.

The beautiful unrepayable gift of life we receive at the moment of birth has to be one of the most complicated things to understand. People go through so many experiences in a lifetime to learn and grow up to be unique individuals. Life is an incredible experience, but why do some of us spend our time following uneventful lifestyles that restrain us from attaining happiness? Using a transition from a black and white world to one of color, both the novel The Giver and the film Pleasantville, suggest the importance of living a life of meaning as each narrative’s main character embarks on a quest to discover the beauty of emotions and the individuality of which they have been deprived.

Simon is a part time artist who developed a mental illness at the age of 17 years old. Simon has had multiple episodes which lasted for about a month at periods at a time in his life. He has developed symptoms of disorganized thinking, psychotic behavior, his thinking becomes strange at times, and negative symptoms with emotions associated with the illness (Mason & Mason, 2002). A huge challenge for Simon is not being able to work full time due to his episodes. Schizophrenia has interfered with his life because this mental illness can sometimes disable him.

Similarly, humans often have to cope with doubt, and the students come to realize they are “different from the normal people outside; we perhaps even knew that a long way down the line there were donations waiting for us. But we didn’t really know what that meant” (pg. 69) In this quote, Ishiguro suggests that a purpose does not solidify one’s meaning in life. Despite knowing their purpose in life is to make donations, the students remain unfulfilled and continue to search for something that feels meaningful to them.

But also in the book it discusses how people do not agree with creating one’s own purpose. They think that if they create their own purpose, then that means that their life meaning is not as meaningful. I do agree with this to some extent but I also think that we know ourselves the best and if we create our own life meaning it can be the most fulfilling. A quote from this chapter is, “What matters is not necessarily what the inventor had in mind, but the uses or purposes the innovation actually has” (p.12). This quote is saying that for example the predetermined meaning of humans is not really important at all. It is what purposes a human can bring about in this world.

Instead of going through life without meaning, individuals try to pursue their interests with purpose. Athletes practice everyday, hoping to improve their performance; farmers wake up early in the morning, readying themselves for a long day of planting; students study hard for exams, hoping to get a high grade. Although such daily activities may seem disconnected and unrelated, a sense of purpose and propensity to make a larger contribution to the world pushes these characters to act. Connecting this idea of society to literature, novelists seek to write with a purpose, too. In the words of Salman Rushdie, a British novelist, “It may be that writers in my position, exiles or emigrants or expatriates, are haunted by some sense of loss,

Individuals must now confront the meaning of their lives without the assured aid of transcendent purpose and direction, while the daily effort to make "both ends meet" condemns most to a life of "repetition," a la Kierkegaard, under the rule of habit and social conformity. The more we struggle to achieve individuality, the more desperate the effort to liberate ourself from the sway of social conformity and ritual, and the more poignant our inevitable confrontation with death.

Experiences encompassed in times of struggle can lead to a new transformative perspective of one’s relationship with self and the world. William Shakespeare’s last play “The Tempest” (1610), canvasses loss catalysing rediscovering the importance of life resulting in a greater understanding of how our flaws compromise our humanity. Prospero, the usurped Duke of Milan, shows this to be true, moving from a mindset focused on vengeance to a profound discovery of self. Similarly, in “Man’s Search for Meaning” (1946), fulfillment with discovering how we choose to cope and find meaning/purpose in life through unrelenting struggle is illustrated. The three-part non-fiction told by psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl, depicts his ordeal inside of concentration camps during the Second World War, elaborating on finding true meaning in life even under the most horrific circumstances. Frankl shares his process of discovery demonstrating his ability to overcome the most overwhelming experience leading to doorway of meaning, purpose and happiness.