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The Rise and Fall of Existentialism

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The Rise and Fall of Existentialism

Existential literature often focuses on the personal journey towards existential awareness. Common themes in existential works, such as alienation and confrontation with death, often lead the "anti-hero" towards a climactic choice that defines whether they have reached true understanding. The themes within existential literature are reflected from the world at large, and the works themselves are a metaphor for a grander shift in Western philosophy.

Intellectualism in post-war Europe had a sort of existential realization of its own, paralleling the experiences of its literary figures. The philosophy of existentialism had its roots in late nineteenth century philosophers such as …show more content…

"The existential attitude itself is not so much chosen as arrived at," writes Porfirio, "...the threat of imminent death... forces the individual to re-examine his life" (88) The threat of mortality is particularly pungent in existentialism, because the philosophy strips away all dressings of an afterlife or the hope that any morality transcends existence. The night before Pablo is to be placed before "The Wall," he re-evaluates all of the relationships, loyalties, and faiths that he had held during life and finds them all to be false when compared to the absoluteness of death (Sartre). When he finally accepts his life's meaninglessness, he is rewarded with rebirth.

War seems to have been a particularly strong influence of existential sentiment. Both "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" by Ernest Hemingway, and "The Wall," by Sartre, were set during the Spanish civil war, and the characterizations reflect the fear and alienation inflicted by the senseless violence of the wars raging around them. Catch-22 was written about the absurdity of World War II, and even The Stranger was set in an Algeria torn by racial animosity. During World War II, the entire world was well acquainted with the senseless slaughter of millions of people, and the pervading sense of death helped a existential realization for our whole society.

"Each individual assumes responsibility for his life through the act of choosing between two

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