Existentialism of Samuel Beckett Essay Example for Free

Existentialism of Samuel Beckett Essay Samuel Beckett was a very astound Existentialist. Beckett’s work was essentially existentialist and consciously or unconsciously, his works were infused with the idea that things have no inherent meaning and that our fallacy is to perceive meaning in everything. Existential philosophy became prevalent in the twentieth century as a symbol of the destruction of culture and tradition following World War II, asserting the hopelessness of humanity and focusing on life in a more honest but pessimistic manner than other socialistic philosophies. The philosophy recognizes the fact that humankind is capable of great evil and has limitless possibilities. Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of ones acts. It emphasizes the difference between human existence and that of inanimate objects. Existentialism was a term adopted by Jean-Paul Sartre. Existentialism was identified with a cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s. Heideggers 1927 Being and Time, an inquiry into the â€Å"being that we ourselves are† (which he termed â€Å"Dasein,† a German word for existence), introduced most of the motifs that would characterize later existentialist thinking(Edward). One existentialist view is absolute individuality and absolute freedom. The Existentialist conceptions of freedom and value come from their view of an individual. Since we are all ultimately alone, isolated islands of subjectivity in an objective world, we have absolute freedom over our internal nature, and the source of our value can only be internal. I feel Beckett expressed this view in the expelled when the main character got thrown out of his apartment. He had no one he could turn to for help. He just started wondering the city not caring where he was going. He knew getting thrown out wasn’t the end for him because he controlled his own destiny. Another existentialist view is the view of human nature. Existentialism is defined by the slogan Existence precedes Essence. Meaning we have no predetermined nature or essence that controls what we are, what we do, or what is valuable for us. Human beings have no essential self; they are no more than what they appear. A person is basically born with a blank slate; humans have no uniform, predetermined principles or ethics common to all of mankind. Since there is no preformed essence or definition that exists for what it means to be human, a person must form conception of existence by asserting control of and responsibility for their actions and choices. Consequently, a human being gains essence through individual choices and actions. It is solely through the process of living that one defines ones self(Existence Precedes Essence). I feel Beckett expressed this point heavily in â€Å"Krapp’s Last Tape†. The character was an older man listening to a tape of when he was younger. He could listen to the way he use to think, act and be as a younger man. He was also able to see how his past had affected his life in the present but he still had no idea what laid ahead of him. That is way he made this tape’s so he could remind in self in the future what he thought lay ahead of him in the past. He knew to always go back and listen to the tapes to ponder on what he had made for himself and no had predetermined it. Existentialist encourage us to consider, in a personal way, the meaning of living authentically and inauthentically(Oaklander). Man is the only known being, according to the philosophers, that defines itself merely through the act of living. First you exist, and then the individual emerges as he makes life decisions. Freedom of choice, through which each human being creates their own nature, is one of the basic themes. Because individuals are free to choose their own way, Existentialist have argued that they must accept the risk they choose to take and responsibility of their actions. Those people that follow this believe they are in a world that does not always make sense, a world that is filled with uncertainty where well-intended actions can become obscure and chaotic. In basic existentialist beliefs, man is the only animal defining itself through life. Without life, there is no meaning. Existentialist believe in life and fighting for it. While fighting for life, each person must face important and difficult decisions with only limited knowledge and time in which to make these decisions. Human life is seen as a series of decisions that must be made without knowing what the correct choice is. They must decide what standards to except and which ones to reject. Individuals must make their own choices without help from external standards. Humans are free and completely responsible for their choices. Their freedom and responsibility is thrust upon them and they are â€Å"condemned to be free†. Existentialist belief people are responsible for their actions, decisions and beliefs which caused them anxiety. They try to escape by ignoring or denying their responsibility. To have a meaningful life one must become fully aware of his true self and his situation and bravely accept it. Yet other existentialist thought dictates every person spends a lifetime changing his or her essence. Without life there can be no meaning, the search for meaning in existentialism is the search for self. In other words, we define ourselves by living, killing yourself would indicate you have chosen to have no meaning. Existentialist believe in living, in fact fighting for life. In Molloy I feel Beckett expressed this believe many times. First, at the beginning when his mother was dying and dead. He stated â€Å"I have her room. I sleep in her bed. I piss and shit in her pot. † this says to me that even though she had died he had to continue living his life. Also in Expelled Becket had traces of this theme. At the end when he left the cabdrivers carriage in the morning. I felt he was portraying that he used the cabdriver. He just needed a place to stay the night. The next morning he got up and left without saying anything. He got what he needed to survive the night then continued on his life. Samuel Beckett always used the Quote â€Å"a step from the cradle to the grave†. I feel this Quote means that you are only a split second away from dying. Even when you’re a new born one thing could go wrong and you’re died. Beckett used this saying in many of his writings. One time he used this saying was in the Expelled. He said â€Å"In what had just happened to me there was nothing in the least memorable. It was neither the cradle nor the game of anything whatever. Or rather it resembled so many other cradles, so many other graves, that I’m lost. † the character could not remember anything in life. He could not till if he was at the cradle of his life or the grave because they are so close together in life. Existentialism was a very big part of way Samuel Beckett was such a great writer. His works were infused with the idea that things have no inherent meaning and that our fallacy is to perceive meaning in everything which is way his stories where so great. He was also one of the last people to write in that form. After researching this subject I plan on studying Existentialism more in depth. Works cited 1. Barsoum Diane. Existentialism and the Philosophical Tradition 2. Edward N. Zalta, Standford encyclopedia of philosophy 3. Existence Precedes Essence: Jean-Paul Sartres Existentialism and Human Emotions Online at:http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/186425/existence_precedes_essence_jeanpaul. html? cat=38 4. Grene, Marjorie. Introduction To Existentialism. 5. Oaklander, L. Nathan, Existentialist Philosophy an Introduction.

Dave of The Dave Matthews Band :: Music Musical Matthews Essays

Dave of The Dave Matthews Band Death and destruction sells in this day in age. As Santana so correctly put it, â€Å"It seems that I thrive on the dark side of things/ I always feel alive when the death bell rings/ now you come and you bring out the tears in me† As a culture, Americans have a tendency to enjoy something that gets their blood boiling, something that makes them want to just let it all go and scream as apposed to something that makes them feel all warm and bubbly inside. There are however, those bands out there that do manage to keep their fan base interested with love songs that are reminiscent of the sixties â€Å"flower children.† One of the greatest is the Dave Matthews Band. In order to understand Dave and his band, one has to understand Dave’s history. Dave was born in South Africa. Through out his childhood, he moved in and out of the states. Eventually, after his farther died in New York in the 80’s, Dave and his family decided to move back to South Africa. This is when, due to the hatred that engulfs this particular region of our â€Å"peaceful† world, his sister was murdered. One can safely assume that Dave took it upon himself to spread a loving message through his music. Love of ones neighbor is his common theme. Two of the more powerful songs that show this over all image of love are â€Å"The Best of What’s Around† and â€Å"Jimmi Thing.† â€Å"Hey my friend, it seems your eyes are troubled, care to share, your time with me?† Do you care to let me share some of your burdens? â€Å"The Best of What’s Around† is a song that puts the listener into the shoes of one of Dave’s friends. In the song, Dave is found comforting that friend through hard times. There are many forms of love in this world, one being, the love of thy neighbor. In â€Å"The Best of What’s Around† Dave is abiding by the golden rule, â€Å"Love thy neighbor as thyself.† Treat your friends with the same respect that you expect to receive. Its human nature to share loads. When someone sees that their friend is in a bad state, there is a natural urge for that person to try to help their friend out.

Genesis Essay

Genesis gives me a lot of insight to â€Å"the beginning†. As I have read the Book of Genesis, it gave me total but not complete insight of how things were in the past to get where we are now according to the scriptures. What really intrigues me was how the human identity was formed because many ideas are said that we come from animals and evolved over time another, also is said that we come from the Lord himself, lastly one is said that we come from even nature. This chapter in this book showed me a lot and how the world was created and how things like family, the natural world and the covenant was brought upon us. The book of Genesis refutes the opening verses says that there are many believers and disbelievers of God(s); Such as atheism which believes there is no God at all, Pantheism believes that all is God, Polytheism believes that many god exist, materialism which is matter is eternal, humanism which is man is the measure, and naturalism which is nature is ultimate. O.T Allis says and believes that He (God) is the creator of both! Primeval History shares how Israel’s purpose by going through God’s redemptive program and messianic lineage from Eden to Abraham. The first two chapters of Genesis describe God’s original creation. (Yates, 55) The world is a place that was created by God according to the book of Genesis. The pinnacle of God’s creation was said to be â€Å"Man†. But in the creation it tells us how original creation was impacted so negatively by sin in the world he created. Adam and Eve were a good example of this, it was said to us since we were little that they plagued the world by giving into the devil himself and eating the apple off the tree when God asked them not to. Which they were issued a punishment, which they wouldn’t have eternal life, and they would have to suffer together and grow old and die. They had kids and their (Adam and Eve’s) descendants rebelled against God just like their parents. I believe that this is how human relationships were formed. God had little sorts of ways to manipulate people to bring his word about and how to connect with people. He chose to use the FLOOD to connect with Noah because as sin approached its epic proportions as human race became involved more and more. Noah stood out as a righteous man who walked with God every step of the way, which God went to him and told him to build a arch because he was going to flood the world and everything in it to restore creation. The creation of human government with the power of capital punishment was a deterrent to prevent humanity to regress back to violence. Genesis 1-11 on these topics it mostly shows me that the world mostly grew on Sin. Sin was a big time factor we had growing up from Adam and Eve and their descendants. This teaching regarding Adam and Eve shows how their sinful acts of rebellion against God. This goes to show how people in everyday life disobey God or break the Ten Commandments. Genesis 1-11 teaches me that human relationships should involve man and women. Not man and man or women and women. Adam and Eve were created to show the world a human relationship. Adam and Eve also showed me human Identity they were the first human’s created. Adam was created as a symbol of God himself with the Hebrew word Adam known for â€Å"Mankind† and Eve is known for â€Å"To Live†. Chapters 1 through 11 teach how the world’s creation, the mankind of origins and what the Hebrews thought about in the creation of the world. The story of Adam and Eve tells the myth of the truth about our mankind. The last chapter says that there was only one language that God put in because of what people built in the babel tower. Genesis of the Babylonian Exile, added the story of anthropologists developing languages over thousands of years and created new languages and evolved older languages. Which seemed to develop the story of the Tower of Babel. (Yates, 59) This changes my view of the world because in the first passage it is said that God created heaven and earth. Before he created those things he existed prior to making those two. The book only speaks of one God; it shows the creation of the Lord by making the universe. Since, he created heaven and earth, he must be above his creation. The Book of Genesis is given readers an accurate understanding and interpretation of the world. This should teach individuals how they look at the world. Through all these teachings I understand that the world portrays God in many ways and they do not even know it!

The Great Baby Einstein Scam Essay

The text â€Å"The Great Baby Einstein Scam† was written by Mira Jacob. This text is an argumentative issue giving details supporting why parents should not buy materials, such as videos, in hopes of their babies becoming geniuses. The sole purpose of this article is to inform the public of Disney’s inconspicuous way of apologizing for their attempt at misleading parents to believe that they had developed a â€Å"Baby Einstein† video for babies, in whom these videos hopefully would turn your baby into little geniuses, was to issue out refunds. This video, called â€Å"Baby Einstein,† have had a disappointing outcome, which caused an upset, especially with parents. This video used a known genius â€Å"Einstein† to promote its sales. The readers are parents with babies six months to two years, wanting their children to have an advantage of being very smart. These readers are those that knew Einstein was a genius, which gave the scammers leverage for the â€Å"Baby Einstein† video scam. The readers are those who wanted to believe that there is a magical, wondrous, no parental-guidance-required product that will turn their kids into Mensa members. Mira Jacob, is an editor at the online magazine Shine. She was intrigued by an article in the New York Times that said Disney was offering a refund to buyers of â€Å"Baby Einstein† videos that did not do as it promised. The author wants the parents not to depend on every â€Å"educational† toy out there. One constraint is a large number of parents with babies ages six months to two years were convinced to buy the â€Å"Baby Einstein† videos. Another constraint is parents believing that if their babies watched the video the babies would become geniuses. Another constraint is the combination of our lack of time, our paranoia over our kid’s performance, and our faith in technology that caused this generation of parents to accept the clever advertising of the video to be considered as truth. The Exigence of this article is parents with babies six months to two years bought the videos that help their child a chance at becoming a Genius? The only problem with all of this is the video didn’t work.

Mrs. Wright versus Louisa essays

Mrs. Wright versus Louisa essays Desolate, solitary and lonely: these are all qualities that are affiliated with the character Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Wright is a character from the short story "A Jury of her Peers" by Susan Glaspell. Unlike Mrs. Wright, Louisa, from "A New England Nun" by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, lives alone, but Louisa was not truly lonely. Both women, Mrs. Wright and Louisa, were alone, nonetheless Mrs. Wright was lonelier. Louisa, a spinster in the short story, decided that she wanted to live her life alone. Because she was set in her way of doing things, she did not want to change her lifestyle for someone else. Just because Louisa lived alone, does not make her a lonely person. "She had lived so long in one way that she shrank from making a change (page 71)."" Louisa may have been alone, without a companion, but she had a dog and a canary for company, and she liked to sew, polish her china to perfection and look out her window. She had hobbies, and did not feel as if she were lonely. Mrs. Wright, on the other hand, was extremely lonely. She did not have children, and did not have any friends or pets. She had her husband, but they did not have a very good relationship. Thus, this excludes her having a companion, that is, someone to talk to. In fact, Mr. John Wright was not a very cheerful person. He even, supposedly, killed Mrs. Wright's pet canary. "Wright wouldn't like the bird, a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that too (page 170)."" She had liked to sing in the choir, and bought the bird to listen to and also for companionship. She had been lonely previously, but must have been even lonelier without it. Even the trees outside her house were lonely, and her house was lonesome. Mrs. Wright didn't have anything to subside her loneliness without her bird, a caring husband or close friends. Mrs. Wright was so lonely, that she must have become crazy. Without having anybody ...

Cadbury Dairy

Cadbury Dairy milk is in the mature stage of the product life cycle, the reason being is that it is a well-established product since 1905. The maturity point is generally reached when about half the potential users have adopted the product. Since Cadbury Dairy Milk is Australia’s favourite chocolate, it is safe to say that there is already consumer trust and loyalty to the brand. However customers still need continued satisfaction and loyalty, built on lower cost, differentiation or customer service. Seeing that Cadbury chocolate is considered a common brand name in households all over Australia, there is nothing within the external environment that should be modified and it will remain in a strong steady position in the confectionery industry. Product: In order to continue generating sales, Cadbury took into consideration one of the threats that the confectionery industry is facing today. Consumers are becoming more health conscious; therefore Cadbury will support and promote physical activity by giving away mountain bikes to 100 lucky winners around Australia! The promotion will only feature in the Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate block range: including the Fruit and Nut, Hazelnut etc†¦ Featured on the wrapping will be, â€Å"WIN A MOUNTAIN BIKE† with a picture of the bike that will be won. Price: The pricing of Dairy Milk Chocolate will also maintain the same pricing strategies to remain competitive with its competitors Nestle and Mars. Place: The distribution of Cadbury Dairy Milk should be at its maximum capacity, remaining readily available in supermarkets, convenience stores, seven elevens and kiosks. Promotion: Cadbury should continue to generate promotions to remind and encourage consumers to purchase Dairy milk chocolate. In order to maintain the sales of Dairy Milk, sales promotion should be implemented to generate growth. This is done by creating advertisements on Television and in-store promotional posters to display the promotion that is running. The television and in-store promotion is to inform consumers of the promotion that is currently running. The sales promotion will be â€Å"WIN A MOUNTAIN BIKE† This promotion is for the Cadbury Dairy Milk block chocolate range. Every consumer that purchases a block range from Cadbury’s will have the opportunity to enter the competition by text via SMS a code that is given inside the wrapper. f. ) Marketing Action Plans: A key objective is to hold current customers and to maintain and increase the retail and brand market share to make sure that the Cadbury brand and products remain one of the top selling confectionery brands in Australia. Since Cadbury Dairy Milk is in the top five selling chocolates list, there will be no need for any tremendous change. A good way to promote The other Cadbury block chocolate range such as Fruit and nut and Hazelnut†¦etc will also have his competition. Price: Cadbury’s human resources department will need to find a place that will provide us with the mountain bikes. The costing of the bikes and the overall promotions will need to be considered, as Cadbury does not want to spend so much on promotions, when Cadbury Dairy Milk is not declining any time soon. Promotion: Pictures of this new competition will need to be put in magazines such as: Women’s day, News Idea, newspapers†¦. etc†¦designers will be needed to create the advertisements for this promotion. However, to promote Cadbury Dairy Milk’s new competition, television is the key to ensure that viewers all around Australia will know about the â€Å"WIN A MOUNTAIN BIKE† promotion. As television is the main and preferred type of advertising, it is certain that consumers will know about the competition faster. And in addition to that, the Cadbury chocolate commercials will still be showing, to heighten promotions. It is best to air the promotion on television between 4:00 pm – 9:00pm, since that is the time when consumers are most likely to be at home. Place: The exposure of Cadbury Dairy Milk promotion will need to be more publicized in convenience stores and kiosks in the form of a poster. g. ) Management of the marketing effort and the marketing function: In order to make sure that they marketing effort and function works accordingly a few steps have to be taken in regards to the management of the planning. The three step process that will have to be put in place will be based around †¢Marketing Implementation –The process of putting marketing strategies into action †¢Intended Strategy The strategy that the company decides on during the planning phase †¢Realized Strategy – The strategy that actually takes place Cadbury must be able to respond and adapt to its internal marketing department. Coordinating internal exchanges between the firm and its employees to achieve successful external exchanges between the firm and its customers is very important as it allows for a gauge or a measure to be received as a result of acceptance and understanding. In regards to the marketing activities it all starts within the Cadbury management team. The ability to motivate marketing personnel plays a large part in the initial process to get the promotional idea off the ground, once the team is able to have a grip of the idea that tackles the current health issue and that a bike will be awarded as a prize and health product then extreme communication within the marketing unit will be essential. Openness and responsiveness from other marketing departments will be just as important to make sure that the management and strategy travels across all channels. This will be indispensable to the organizing and coordinating of marketing activities which then lead to a schedule for implementation. The marketing control process consists of three steps; Establishment of control standards, Evaluation of actual performance relative to established standards and corrective action if necessary. A few key guidelines that will help Cadbury in controlling marketing activities: Within the Marketing Control Process †¢Establishing performance standards and trying to match actual performance to those standards Establishing Performance Standards Expected levels of performance †¢Taking Corrective Action oImprove actual performance oReduce or change the performance standards oDo both †¢Problems in Controlling Marketing Activities oLack of the information required to control activities oUncontrollable influence of market environment changes on marketing activities oTime lag that occurs between marketing campaigns and their results delays corrective actions A few problems can also occur in the controlling of marketing activities, however the ability to act on these problems will only make the campaign more successful and responsive.

9 paragraph Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

9 paragraph - Essay Example is was pronounced by Shelley in Frankenstein saying â€Å"Nothing could exceed the love and respect which the younger cottagers exhibited towards their venerable companion. They performed towards him every little office of affection and duty with gentleness, and he rewarded them by his benevolent smiles† (Shelley 82). Opposite to love is also the feeling of desolation due to Frankenstein monstrous appearance as he was a mere creation of man. This was evident with these line â€Å"cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. . . when night came I quitted my retreat and wandered in the wood; and now, no longer restrained by the fear of discovery, I gave vent to my anguish in fearful howlings† (Shelley 103). Probably, Frankenstein was Shelley’s attempt put face on man’s ugliest character. Victor’s creation Frankenstein embodied all things that are ugly, wretched, vindictive, hateful and murderous which is the ugly nature of man. All this pain was not of the monster’s doing but the sin of its father which is Victor who has brought him â€Å"pain that nothing could alleviate† (57). Frankenstein also explored the bitter aspect of loving and losing someone. This happened to Victor when the monster killed his brother that he too became a figurative monster because he was consumed by vengeance and shared the monster’s desolation. In the monster’s confession, he told how desolate he felt by being alienated from society; that he â€Å"killed the boy out of revenge† (Shelley 41). The monster further confessed how miserable it feels to be alone and miserable because of his monster physique that even the family of cottagers who sheltered him that gave him hopes for compassion even drove him away. Corollary to this, the novel also explored the folly in man’s life.