Existentialism can be defined as a philosophical and literary tendency that typically displays a dismal of abstract theories that seek to disguise the untidiness of actual human lives and emphasizes the subjective realties of individual existence, individual freedom, and individual choice. Runaway by Kanye West is a great example of this philosophical theory and many connections can be made to his work and the work of Soren Kierkegaard, Franz Kafka, and Albert Camus. These four artists apply existentialist themes in their literature and even their private lives. The two themes that I found preeminent in these artists work are isolation and death.
The four artists have a very philosophical ...view middle of the document...
I find it absurd that these characters are trying to act like normal people and trying to be able to fit in but they are basically forced into this predicament and are not able to fit in with our society.
In The Guest by Albert Camus, Daru is a school teacher whom has been separated from civilization all his life. He lives on an isolated plateau in Algeria by himself in a schoolhouse. “They were toiling onward, making slow progress in the snow, among the stones, on the vast expanse of the deserted plateau” (Camus 1). In Runaway by Mr. Kanye West, the phoenix was living her life in a different world and she ends up coming into our world not knowing what to expect. She has missed out on a lot so she lacks some knowledge on how to act so she is look at as a stranger and is isolated from the world just like Daru is isolated in his schoolhouse.
Death and isolation seems to exist in many of these existentialist works by the four artists. In Kanye West’s Runaway and Albert Camus’ The Stranger, death seems to be a prevalent topic. The phoenix is isolated from the world and society due to her lack of knowledge and social skills that many contain. In The Stranger, Meursault is a young man who lacks emotion and is isolated in his own world. The phoenix attempts to fit in with Kanye and his guests and she just drops it all and wants to return in the world that she lived in by killing herself. Meursault is isolated until he meets his girlfriend Marie. Everything is going well for him and Marie until he blows it by being in the wrong place at the wrong time and ends up killing an Arab man but not just shooting him once but shooting him multiple times. Death occurs in this and Mersault gets sentenced to jail for the rest of his life so he faces death by just sitting in jail and rotting away. Kanye West’s relationship with the phoenix is absurd because he loves her just after meeting her. She is a creature that lacks social skills and for him to love her right off the bat in my opinion is absurd. Meursault is also absurd in the fact that he shot the Arab several times and paused after the first shot. The theme of death tends to lead into absurd matters in existentialist works.
Existentialism contains many themes in many stories. Isolation and death are only two of the themes in existentialism and they exist in Dreaming in Cuban by Christina Garcia. Isolation occurs in the book when Pilar is isolated from her family and homeland and wants to go back to Cuba. “So tell me how you want to be remembered I tease Abuela Celia. It’s very early in the morning the light is a transparent blue. I...
