IndexIntroductionAbsurdityAlienationFree will and responsibilityDespairConclusionIntroductionThe literal definition of existentialism states that it emphasizes the existence of individuals as completely free beings who determine their own growth through self-made choices. Multiple characteristics such as absurdity, alienation, responsibility, free will and desperation play an important role in an existential life. With the idea originating and gaining popularity in the 19th century, Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche first began writing on this topic at the turn of the century, followed soon after by many other philosophers. Existentialists believe that life is nothing, there is no higher power or authority; God may or may not exist, but he or she truly means nothing to the individual, an individual's life will not be affected by his or her presence. Therefore, the only way one will find happiness is to accept the fact that life is meaningless and that only the individual matters when it comes to being satisfied with life because there is no authority for an individual to contribute to. This leads to the belief that people are truly free, their essence must be independent in order for them to be as joyful as possible. Human beings must define the meaning of life by making their own decisions, whatever the effect of the decision, people will still begin to create their own essence tailored to suit only that individual. This is what Kierkegaard and Nietzsche argued when this view began to become popular; the only way to joy is to accept that personal essence that you have created yourself. When one learns to create his own happiness in the sense of his own essence, nothing can stop him from flying high forever in the mind of an existentialist. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Absurdity Being absurd is when you look for answers that aren't there. This can be presented in many ways; for example, many people wonder about the meaning of life, a question that has no answer. Individuals try to find meaning in a vast and confusing world. A human being's inability to find meaning in a universe full of things is the reason why absurdity arises and begins to affect an individual. For example, in The Myth of Sisyphus, Albert Camus states that there is a conflict between what we want in the world and what we find. One will never find what one wants to find, so an individual is forced to choose between accepting and placing hope in God or concluding that life is meaningless. In any case, life is absurd because one searches for meaning in a world that has no meaning for them. In the writing, “the gods condemned Sisyphus to roll a rock incessantly to the top of a mountain, from where the stone would fall back under his weight. They…thought…that there is no more terrible punishment than useless and hopeless labor.” Making someone do a task over and over again is absurd because it's just like life, life is repetition, everything someone does on a daily basis can be considered as pushing the rock up the hill because it's always the same thing. This is absurd because there is no meaning in these things but people look for it anyway just like in real life, you have to accept this absurdity to truly find meaning in your life; Camus supported this in his work, stating that it is difficult to find meaning in a world like this, so the only way to find meaning is to realize that this is happening and be able to enjoy whatever task you choose to do forthe rest. of his life. To conclude the essay, Camus states that "we must imagine Sisyphus happy". This is because Sisyphus has accepted the absurd, he pushes the rock up and down, just like going to work every day because he knows that life is nothing. The only way he will be happy is if he accepts the fact that all he is doing is pushing the ego rock of what he is doing. The rock is just meant to be a metaphor for all the tasks you do in everyday life, Camus tries to argue that the rock can be anything as long as you have fun with it. It can become a routine that will keep the mind in check when it realizes that life is nothing, this routine is something that keeps despair in check which then in turn allows happiness to blossom from an individual because they are doing something they love so much that they don't even realize that they are in a completely meaningless situation. Alienation Alienation is when a person feels isolated and disconnected from the world. Whatever beliefs one may have, everyone feels disconnected from certain things because they feel a lack of belonging. People are shaped by materialistic things that bring short-term joy but offer no long-term help. This leads people to think they are estranged from their own lives and the world, at which point the disconnection only tends to grow. With nowhere to go, people begin to question many things when they find themselves in an existentialist state because they are trying to find meaning in life. In the poem "The Unknown Citizen" by WH Auden, there is a man so utterly insignificant that the state honored him with a poetic monument about what a perfect citizen he was. This man had cataloged every aspect of his life. The Bureau of Statistics and all other reports show that he respected his duties, had a job, paid union dues, had no radical opinions, reacted normally to advertisements, had insurance, had the right material goods, had opinions correct about current events and was married with the “right” number of children. Although the man had everything going for him, he could not do one thing, escape the shadows of everyday life. “He was a saint” from the point of view of the State, “he served the Greater Community”. Some of the words used to describe him were “normal,” “fair,” “sensible,” “correct,” and “popular,” words used to describe an ideal citizen. Being an ideal citizen may make one think he is free or happy, but the evidence of his life shows that he is just another needle in the haystack, an unknown bureaucratic machine with no sense of self and no authenticity. Man can do everything right and obey society's beliefs, but man will never truly gain that authenticity to connect with himself if he doesn't start living life differently. Man constantly tries to adapt, but the more he adapts, the further he distances himself from connection with himself and others. At the end of the poem we read: “Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd. If something had gone wrong, we would definitely have known." With these last lines the deeper meaning of the poem emerges, despite all the data collected, some parts of the man's life may not have been captured. It becomes clear that the man is “unknown” because in this collection of data the individuality and identity of the man are lost. This is why things at the group level hold truth, but at the individual level it is the opposite, every individual has the opportunity to become something better and the only way to do that is to become themselves. Feeling excluded and lost is completely natural because society is focused on its official vision of the common good without taking into account the individual who is whatit really matters. Society evaluates a person using characteristics easily categorized as the man was rather than respecting his uniqueness in his thoughts, feelings, hopes, fears and goals. Being alienated can lead to despair, but the only way to stop it is to create personal authenticity by accepting the absurd. Living a life you really want to live can be scary, but that fear is what will make you happy, live, laugh, and love, but only do so authentically. Free Will and Responsibility Everyone is free to do anything, be it good or bad, folks on an individual level there is always a choice at the end of the day. Whatever choice you may make, the consequences and subsequent events will depend on that choice. This is the time when you take responsibility because some of those life-changing decisions can have a huge impact on your life. The choice aspect of free will and responsibility is something that plays an important role in existentialism because almost everything you experience in the future could be influenced by that single choice. This theme is consistent in Ernest Hemingway's The Hills Like White Elephants; the story is about how a woman finds herself at a crossroads, literally and figuratively. The story is set in a train station in Spain, surrounded by hills, fields and trees in the middle of nowhere. A man known as the American and his girlfriend decide to have a couple of beers and talk while waiting for the train to Madrid. While they drink, they argue about little things; for example the girl says "the mountains looked like white elephants", but the American becomes very agitated. The girl replies that she is just having fun and then retracts her previous comment by saying that the hills no longer look like white elephants to her. By saying this on purpose and wanting to keep her baby, she implies that she wants to keep him by changing her mind, which annoyed the man a lot. Bringing himself to the point of his literal crossroads, he then asks what will happen after he has the operation, saying "and if I do this will you be happy and things will go back to the way they were and you will love me?" The man replies that after that things will be fine and will go back to the way they were before. In great confusion, the girl then heads to the end of the station, looks at the landscape and wonders if they could really be happy if she were operated on. At this point, the entire story has been building up to this point of tension. Here Ernest Hemingway created an atmosphere where there were only two choices for the girl; the girl, literally left at the crossroads between the two opposing railways, is forced to decide whether to get on a train to keep her baby or get on the other train to keep her boyfriend and her current life. Either way, the impact on his life will be huge, which demonstrates the idea of ​​having a choice and then dealing with the consequences. Having free will and responsibility is a crucial part of existentialism because it allows you to navigate your life and create your essence by doing and perceiving things around you on an individually authentic level. Having this freedom allows one to be satisfied, this happens because people feel that they are important and whatever they choose to do falls on them too, so it is not as if someone else is living their life. This allows them to be happy with their life thanks to that authentic essence that they have created through their personal decisions and desires. Despair Despair is felt by everyone, and when you are in an existentialist state, desperation plays an important role in your ability to be happy. with life. A loss of absence and hope, known as despair, can affect many people because it takes away the desire to get up every day. If the desire is taken away it can.