"The Island" by Athol Fugard

As defined in The American Heritage College Dictionary, existentialism emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards existnece as unexplainable, and stresses free choice and responsibility for one's actions.  Existentialism is personalized from other schools of thought by its embodiment of three important criterion; 1) the emphasis of the individual as the centerpoint of his domain; 2) an accentuation of human choice and freedom; and, 3) a critique of social norm and its aim for individuals to congregate as merely part of a herd.  These three standards of action are present in all works defined as existential, and are absorbed in Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

Existentialism is a philosophy that puts emphasis on the existence of a person’s freedom or life. In a human point of view, it means to believe in oneself, not a group or religion. (33)

The story takes place in 1984 in London, in a city called Airstrip One. In 1984 which it is the future, there are three states that rule all Oceania (the setting of 1984), Eastasia, and Eurasia. Airstrip One is one of the provinces of Oceania. Oceania is in a constant war state where the people are in terrible living conditions. In the beginning of the story we are told Oceania is in war with Eurasia, and is allied with Eastasia. Then in the middle it’s switched. Oceania is in war with Eastasia and is allied with Eurasia. In Oceania, the government is split into four parts that do different things. There is the Ministry of Love they make sure everyone is following the law, and none are being broken. The Ministry of Truth deals with changing the history to fit into the totalitarian government standards. The Ministry of Plenty, which is in charge of economic relations, and the Ministry of Peace which is in charge of war.

In the novel Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson mysticism is used to address serious topics that are rooted in reality. The problem plaguing the Aunts that drives them to their decision to kidnap children is their concern about the Island and its continuing existence as a shelter for creatures, magical or otherwise. The reason they are so overwhelmed with the continued care of the Island is that there have been so many visitors staying on it, and while it is never explicitly stated, a theme of environmentalism is evident throughout the book. It is never named as such, but the aunts’ determination to protect their home and its inhabitants speaks toward this message.

Throughout the play, he grapples with his desire to work against the government, mostly referred to as simply the Party, and his unwavering paranoia that he will be exposed and punished for his crimes. He finds solace in his hiding spots, away from the seemingly inescapable eyes of Big Brother, reassuring himself with the phrase “No telly screen, no one is hearing or watching.” In actuality, Winston’s most damnable and intimate moments in the

This document states that the Dutch colonists bought the island of Manhattes (Now, Manhattan) for sixty guilders. The island is about 11,000 morgens in extent. They purchased the island from the local natives(the lenape tribe). Then, the colonists planted grain such as, wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat, canary seeds, small seeds and flax in the middle of May and harvested in the middle of August. It also explained that the contents of the ship that was sailing back to Holland from New Netherland had 7246 beaver skins, 178.5 otter skins, 675 otter skins, 48 mink skins, 36 wild-cat skins, 33 minks, 34 rat skins, logs of oak and nutwood. This was written by Peter Schagen, a dutch official.

In our society there is many sayings that "power corrupts." In most works of fiction or nonfiction when men has authorized a certain amount of power, the temptation and tendency has always been to abuse that power or authority in favor of selfish gain, i.e. control, influence, money, prestige, etc. In the book "The island of Dr. Moreau" by H.G. Wells made all the main characters abuse their power and have paid for it by becoming the monster or dying in the proses.

  Existentialism is a philosophy dealing with man's aloneness in the universe. Either there is no God or else God stands apart from man, leaving him free will to make his own choices. From this basic idea of man being alone in an uncertain and purposeless world, many related ideas have developed. One great worry of existentialist writers is that life is becoming too complicated and too impersonal. People become more and more involved with their work, which is taking them away from their friends, family, and culture. However, these provide the only "meaning" that life could possibly have. One author prominently known for his work with existential ideas was Franz

Athol Fugard’s play “Master Harold” … and the boys premiered in Connecticut in 1982 at the Yale Repertory Theatre, but the setting of the play is quite different from that of Yale: South Africa in the 1950’s. The setting is familiar to Athol Fugard himself, who grew up in this time during the Apartheid. Hally, one of the three main characters in the play, shares a similar background with Fugard: his parents own a tea room and his father is very pro-Apartheid. Within the play, the audience sees Hally interacting with two middle aged and black workers of the tearoom, Sam and Willy, who offer an interesting contrast to Hally. As the men struggle to help Hally through his homework, due to the looming return of Hally’s father, a struggle ensues

The existentialist is one who is concerned only with that intense moment of awareness with only his senses at his disposal, never looking to the future – the most living awareness. McCandles, the protagonist, in Into the Wild has come to the realization that existence is already being dead and accepting the fact that life is absurd and marvelous. He embraced the sublime absurdity of existence by renouncing the language games society plays. What is so enticing about the existentialist is that he is not concerned with the pressure of appearances and small talk which society employs to lie about what they think and feel. Existentialism is accepting the inevitability of death and living life for the moment without entertaining hope or falsities that distract one from living and accepting truth. The existentialist sees the simplicity in life and the absurdity of complicating it with pretences and lies, the existentialist is a naked man, he is one who becomes one with the rest of creation in accepting his fate on this earth and not hoping for anything more – he simply exists.

The gist of this lecture was of how the demise of many historical civilizations is related to significant influences from environmental changes. John H, Chafee lecture began by identifying why societies collapses and states that there is overwhelming evidence that it consists of self-inflicted ecological suicides and inability to master their environmental problems. He specifically goes in depth to describe the mystery of Easter island and how the actions of the islanders such as the elimination of the forest and the birds set of chain reactions which only further fueled the seeds of revolution that would come and play an active role in the society's collapse. His in depth examination of Easter island served a purpose of helping him show how

This famous quote summarizes the gloomy philosophy of existentialism. Schopenhauer, using this philosophy, believed that the universe was meaningless and irrational, and that his irrational life was full of choices that brought him in contact with the nothingness of the universe. Existentialism has no definite description because individuals create their own meaning by making sense of the world as it pertains to the individual. While individuals create their own meaning, there are several common themes that are followed. These themes fall under the general idea that reality is absurd and it is the responsibility of humans to make their own choices and accept the consequences of these choices in regard to the individual’s experience. Some

Beckett concludes that through Existentialism, individuals are to be independent and choose their own life decisions.

Bronislaw Malinowski a British anthropologist who studied the kindship, trade, ritual and religion of the Trobriand islanders. As well as, the cultural ideals and daily behaviors of the islanders. As an ethnographer duty you are to report a specific part of the lifeworld. Malinowski being "the father of modern ethnographic methods, in the Trobriand islands", document the verbatim statements, interpretation's and the ways they think of the world. In order for him to do that he had to live with the people he studied, if not he wouldn't be able to understand their experiences and the way they lived. He had three methods, First, to record concrete documentaries by collecting data, making charts and summarizing. Second, to record "imponderabilia"

John Bulls Other Island is a playwright written by Bernard Shaw in 1904. In order to put the playwright into context I believe that it is necessary to have a brief understanding of Shaw’s character and background. Shaw was born