The ideas of existentialism as revealed through the main character in Paulo Coelho`s The Zahir - USD Repository

  7+528*+ 7+( 0$,1 &+$5$&7(5 ,1 3$8/2 &2(/+2¶6 THE ZAHIR AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

  By

  Student Number: 044214092

  

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THE IDEAS OF EXISTENTIALISM AS REVEALED

ALBERTUS ARYK WIDODO

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2011

  

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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

  

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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI v “ I don’t w ant a light er burden, but a st ronger back” (SACRED 2 : FALLEN ANGEL)

  PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI vi For my beloved Father and Mother And O live….

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all I would like to thank Jesus Christ for His blessing every day.

  Secondly, I would be glad to say that my mother and father are my biggest inspiration in my life and I deeply thank them for that. My gratitude is also for my brother Brotie and Mandra, who always encourage me with their own way.

  My special gratitude goes to my advisor Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum., for giving me her precious time and patience in guiding me to finish this thesis. My gratitude also goes to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum., my co- advisor. A special appreciation also goes to all English Letters secretariat staff who have been so kind to help me during my study in Sanata Dharma University.

  Afterward, I would like to thank Intan, Dessy, Nila, Indri and Dewi for the fun they share in the class with me. My best friend Taufig for the shelter, advice, food, and smile; Tante Ningsih who lends me the book The Zahir; Uke, Sho, Ronny, Ian, Ndu2, Galih, Adit, Wawan, Dhita, Fitra, Koh Abun, Sesco, and the rest of my friends of the 2004 class that I could not mention one by one. Last but not least is my gratitude for Indra who lended me the computer and everything.

  Albertus Aryk Widodo

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ........................................................................................................ i

APPROVAL PAGE .............................................................................................. ii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………………………… ……... iii

PUBLICATION PAGE.......................................................................................... iv

MOTTO PAGE……………………………………………………………………v

DEDICATION PAGE……………………………………………………………. vi

ACKNWOLEDGEMENTS………………………….…………………............... vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... viii

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................x

ABSTRAK ...............................................................................................................xi

  

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1

A. Background of the Study ........................................................................ 1 B. Problem Formulation ............................................................................. 5 C. Objectives of the Study .......................................................................... 5 D. Definition of Terms……………………………………………………..5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ....................................................... 6

A. Review of Related Studies ..................................................................... 6 B. Review of Related Theories ....................................................... ……... 7 1. Theories of Character and Characterization……………………….. 7 2. Theory of Existentialism…………………………………………… 12 a. Existentialism View…………………………….……………… 12 b. Soren Kierkegaard’s Theory on Existentialism………………... 14 c. Martin Heidegger’s Theory on Existentialism………………..... 16 d. Jean Paul Sartre’s Theory on Existentialism……………………17 3. Literature and Existentialism………………………………............. 19 4. Theoretical Framework .................................................................... 20

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY .................................................................... 21

A. Object of the Study ................................................................................ 21 B. Approach of the Study .......................................................................... 22 C. Method of the Study .............................................................................. 23

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 25

A. The Characterization of the Main Character…………………… ……... 25 1. Dependent man…………………………………………………….. 27 2. Social creature……………………………………………… ……... 29

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3. Free man……………………………………………………………. 32 4.

  Responsible man…………………………………………… ……... 34 5. Brave man………………………………………………………….. 36 B.

  The Ideas of Existentialism Revealed through the Main Character…… 38 1.

  The Narrator’s view towards freedom……………………………... 40 2. The Narrator’s experience of anxiety……………………………… 43 3. The Narrator’s fall into the They…………………………….…….. 46 4. The Narrator’s experience in The Look of The Other……………... 51 5. The Narrator’s view towards death………………………………… 53

  

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ............................................................................ 56

BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 59 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

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ABSTRACT

  ALBERTUS ARYK WIDODO. The Ideas of Existentialism as Revealed thr ough the Main Character in Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.

  The Zahir by Paulo Coelho tells about the journey of a man looking for his

  missing wife. The journey itself turns out to bring him into a journey to find the true self. There are some principles found from the main character’s attitudes, thoughts, speech and the others character’s point of view about him that lead to the principles of existentialism.

  The objectives of this undergraduate thesis are; (1) To find out how the main character of The Zahir is characterized and (2) to find the ideas of existentialism as revealed through the main character of the novel.

  The writer uses the library research and moral-philosophical approach for the analysis because the study focuses on the philosophical idea of the novel, which means that the novel is the source of study.

  From the analysis, it is found that the main character’s characterization is significant role in revealing the ideas of existentialism. The narrator as the main character illustrates that the true self can be found by realizing one’s freedom. Human beings have freedom; in which freedom is defined as the ability to make choices for everything at every time. The realization of ‘anxiety’, as the result of human freedom and responsibility, leads human beings to realize the immediate lifestyle. By living in the immediacy or actuality, human will be able to find the true self. Human beings should break free from “the They” to be able to find the true self. Meanwhile “the Look of the Other” helps human being to realize the “I’m this being”. Thus the human being will be able to live the true self. The last one is death that should be accepted as a constant possibility that could happen at any moment and seeks nothing beyond death. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ABSTRAK

  ALBERTUS ARYK WIDODO. The Ideas of Existentialism as Revealed Thr ough the Main Char acter in Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir. Yogyakarta: Fakultas Sastra, Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.

  The Zahir oleh Paulo Coelho menceritakan tentang perjalanan seorang lelaki

  mencari istrinya yang menghilang. Perjalanan itu sendiri berubah membawa dia ke dalam sebuah perjalanan untuk menemukan jati diri yang sebenarnya. Melalui tingkah laku, pemikiran, perkataan dan penilaian dari tokoh lain, tokoh utama, pembawa cerita, di temukan prinsip-prinsip yang mengarah kepada prinsip-prinsip existentialisme.

  Tujuan dari studi ini adalah: (1) untuk menemukan bagaimana tokoh utama dari The Zahir di gambarkan dan (2) menemukan gagasan-gagasan existentialisme yang di ungkapkan melalui tokoh utama di dalam novel.

  Penulis menggunakan studi pustaka dan pendekatan filsafat moral untuk melakukan analisis karena penelitian ini menitikberatkan pada ide filsafat dari novel tersebut, yang berarti novel tersebut juga menjadi sumber peneltian.

  Melalui bagian analisis, ditemukan bahwa penokohan tokoh utama mempunyai peran yang penting dalam dalam mengungkapkan gagasan-gagasan existentialisme. Pembawa cerita sebagai tokoh utama menggambarkan bahwa jati diri yang sebenarnya dapat diraih dengan menyadari kebebasan yang seseorang miliki. Manusia mempunyai kebebasan, yang di jabarkan sebagai kemampuan yang ada setiap saat untuk membuat pilihan. Kesadaran manusia akan ‘kegelisahan’ sebagai hasil dari kebebasan dan tanggung jawabnya, menuntun manusia untyuk menyadari gaya hidup dalam kesiapan. Melalui hidup dalam kesigapan atau kenyataan, manusia dapat meraih jati diri yang sebenarnya. Manusia harus terbebas dari pandangan umum untuk dapat meraih jati diri yang sebenarnya. Sementara itu, pandangan orang lain mengingatkan kita akan keadaan kita yang sebenarnya, untuk dapat hidup dengan jati diri yang sebenarnya. Yang terakhir adalah kematian, yang harus dipandang sebagai kemungkinan yang pasti yang dapat terjadi setiap waktu dan tidak mengharapkan apapun setelah kematian. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Backgr ound of the Study Existentialism, as part of philosophy known for its focus on human being, is

  interesting to discuss. There are various kinds of existentialism which results from the various way of thinking from the human itself. From their different way of thinking one to another, there are two main types of existentialism. They are the atheistic existentialism who deny that God exists, and the theistic existentialism who believes that God is the source of our being. In both streams of existentialism, human takes place as the main character to study, the central of everything.

  From Kierkegaard to Heidegger, there are similar notions that can be found in the thought of these existentialist philosophers. One famous concept is ‘existence’ precedes ‘essence’ in existentialism, which means that existence is prior to essence (Horton and Edward, 1967:457). According to Barret, man does not have a fixed innate essence that is given to him, but he makes his own nature out of his freedom and his historical condition where he lives. Human beings have freedom, choices to make, and condition where they live that could shape their personality.

  Many philosophers such as Jean Paul Sartre, Heidegger, Jaspers, Sőren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Albert Camus interpret the existence of human beings. Each philosopher came with different concept of existentialism, according to his or her own concept of existentialism. However, these

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  philosophers argue the similar issue that is the existence of human beings in this world.

  In this undergraduate thesis, the writer focuses on the concept of existentialism proposed by Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard. Soren Kierkegaard is generally acknowledged as “one of the greatest thinkers of the nineteenth century”. Soren Kierkegaard who is a theistic existentialist, teaches people to defend their life on God and choose to live as Christian. It is different from Albert Camus whose existentialism concept does not believe in God’s existence. Moreover, like Sartre and Nietzsche, Camus is considered as an atheistic existentialist (Kaufman, 1956: 47). Nevertheless, Kierkegaard who lived from 5 May 1813 to 11 November 1855 had to wait until 1870s to come into local public. Kierkegaard’s work entered the German translation in 1910s; which by then opened up the possibilities for English translation to be available for most thinkers. These translations made it possible for Kierkegaard to begin exerting his enormous influence on 20th-century German, Japanese, French, and English thinkers and authors.

  Soren Kierkegaard has been called a philosopher, a theologian, the Father of Existentialism, a literary critic, a humorist, a psychologist, and a poet. He has

  th

  century existentialists, both theistic and been the inspiration for many 20 atheistic, and theologians. Those people have drawn many concepts from Kierkegaard. His notions of angst, despair, and the importance of the individual, are well known among those thinkers. His fame as a philosopher grew tremendously in the 1930s, in large part because of the ascendant existentialist

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  movement pointed to him as a precursor, although he is now seen as a highly significant and influential thinker in his own right. Kierkegaard is commemorated as a teacher in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 11 November.

  In literature sometimes the writer shares to his reader the idea that the writer believes. Sometimes it can be the writer’s own life philosophy, life experience, political point of view, or religious belief. Like what Paulo Coelho stated in his interview with Glauco Ortolano about his work The Zahir,

  I would say then that the book is more inspired by my philosophy of life rather than by life. Anyway I don’t feel afraid of exposing myself. I actually feel a bit of relief. You see, truth is fundamental in the dialogue with readers. That’s what makes us free. I had already opened up my soul with my readers in my first book, The Pilgrimage. This time I can do this with my readers and it’s a fantastic experience (2005: 2).

  One way to share the writer’s mind to his reader is by imbuing his own life experience or life philosophy into his works. Like what stated in the interview, in the dialogue with readers through his work’s The Zahir, Coelho considered that truth is essential. An author’s work or here we can say generally a literature is one way for people to speak out their mind, feelings and desire. According to Wellek and Warren in Theory of Literature, the function of literature is to relieve either writers or readers from pressure or emotions (1962: 36). Although it seems like a one-way communication, literature is a means to express the feelings they have.

  Thus literature can be considered as a media for the writer to communicate to the reader.

  Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir itself is the main source for analysis in this undergraduate thesis. The Zahir is a story about a man who lost his wife, which

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  made him so bewildered about the mysterious event. The mysterious event brought him into a journey that leads him into his own religious experience. The journey forced him to be aware about himself, the true self about him. It started with the condition and ‘knowledge’ that he must understand before being able to meet his wife. It ended up with his struggle to understand his life and himself as a human being in this world. Choices that he must made in his spiritual journey, his view toward love, and the power beyond love itself above human beings brought the idea of existentialism of the main character.

  The novel’s point of view toward love and the spiritual journey in the story make the story interesting to read and worth-studying for this undergraduate thesis. The journey that takes the main character deep into his spiritual understanding is interesting because the power that brought him in the first time is what is called as love. Moreover, Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir has been translated into 56 languages, has become the top bestseller list, and also a subject of social and culture debate internationally.

  The topic discussed in this undergraduate thesis is The Ideas of

  

Existentialism as Revealed Through the Main Character in Paulo Coelho’s The

Zahir.

  The Narrator, who lost his wife and the main character of the novel, will be the focus of this study. This thesis focuses on his spiritual journey of the main character in the story to find his love of his life. The spiritual journey, which the main character went through, brought him into a human being who was aware of himself.

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  B. Pr oblem For mulation Based on the preceding paragraphs stated in the background of study, the problems will be formulated as follows:

  1. How is the main character characterized in Paulo Coelho’s The Zahir?

  2. What are the ideas of existentialism depicted through the main character in the novel? C. Objectives of the Study

  The objectives of this study answer the questions in former part, the problem formulation. The thesis purposes are: first, to find out how the main character of The Zahir is characterized; and second, to find the ideas of existentialism as revealed through the main character of the novel.

  D. Definitions of Terms According to John K. Roth in his International Encyclopedia of Ethics, defines existentialism as an approach to ethics that emphasizes individual subjectivity-freedom and responsibility, and the irrational as primary features of human condition (1995:294).

  In The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language by Miffin, existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe; regards human’s existence is inexplicable and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the sequences of one’s act. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI CHAPTER

II THEORETICAL REVIEW A.

  Review of Related Studies Charles at www.libertybooks.com/Books/BookPreview.aspx states in his essay Everyone has their Zahir, on 14 December 2006, that Paulo has the ability to explain in simple words, some of the most confusing and conflicting feelings that touch the human soul. The Zahir is a testament to Paulo’s abilities and a must-read novel for all aspiring humans looking for true spirituality. There we can find the life philosophy of the famous author, and his idea about this world.

  Paulo Coelho as a famous writer, that some called him as an alchemist of words and many other see him as a mass culture phenomenon, brought the concept that love brought with it a desire that drives human to do almost everything in The Zahir. Paulo Coelho with his works that has been translated into 56 languages, become the topped bestseller list, and also have gone on to become the subject of social and culture debate internationally, make him into very famous writer. His idea and life philosophy presented as the subject on his books touch the aspiration of millions of reader who search for his or her own path and new ways of understanding the world (http://www.santjordi.asociados.com/news.htm).

  The study by Lusia Wikanita (2006) in her undergraduate thesis “Plot and Symbols to Reveal The Messages In Paulo Coelho’s By The River Piedra I Sat

  

Down And Wept ”, explores one of literary work by Paulo Coelho. The thesis

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  objectives are to find the plot development, the symbols and the importance of the symbols in revealing the messages in Paulo Coelho’s By The River Piedra I Sat

  

Down And Wept ”. The study found that in the novel there are symbols that give

contribution to the revelation of the messages.

  There are studies about Existentialism that have been conducted before. One of them is the undergraduate thesis by Bambang Hendrianto, entitled “Human Revolt Related To The Criticism of Freedom In The Main Characters of Albert Camus’ The Stranger”. This thesis puts a full attention to the study of plot, setting, characters and how the main character represents the human revolt related to the crisis of freedom (Hendrianto, 1998: 4).

  Those review and studies that have been conducted above are related to Paulo Coelho’s works, and the theme of this study, existentialism. In this thesis, the writer tries to have a specific study on one of Paulo Coelho’s work, The Zahir.

  The writer wants to reveal the ideas of existentialism in the novel, by exploring the main character of the story.

  B.

  Review of Related Theories 1. Theories of Character and Characterization

  In his book A Glossary of Literature Terms, Abrams defined the terms character as: The person presented in dramatic or native work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expresses in what they say-the dialogue- and what they do-their action (1985; 20).

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  Here Abrams also stated that basically, based on the importance, the character can be divided into two categories. They are major character and minor character.

  Major character, usually appears in the whole story, from the beginning until the end. He or she becomes the focus of the story. The events that appear in the whole of the story always involve the major character, whether it is directly or indirectly (Abrams, 1985:20-21). Minor characters have a predicate as the supporting character in the story. Their roles are less important than the main character as their characters are not fully developed and they function to support the development of the major character (Henkle, 1977: 95).

  Meanwhile in Mastering English Literature, Gill (1995: 125) says that a character is a person in a literary work that has some sort of identity which can be seen from his appearance, conversation, action, name and so on.

  Foster (1927: 46-48) in Aspect of Novel divides the character into two terms: Flat and Round character. He states that a Flat character is a single idea or quality and is presented without much individualized detail and therefore can be fairly described in a single phrase or sentence. A round character is complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularity. Thus he is difficult to describe with any adequacy as a person in real life, and like most people, he is capable of surprising us.

  Holman and Harmon (1986: 83) say that a character can be either static or dynamic. A static character is someone who does not experience a conversation on himself. Something that happens to him does not influence on his character. The action describes his character. On another hand, a dynamic character is

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  someone who influences the actions and experience. He experiences conversation in himself as the result of the actions.

  The development of a character is a change of a character in a novel. The theory says that a character should not be static because the plot and the story go forward and it affects the character. The character is influenced by the action and incident which occur in the story, and it causes a change and development to the character. At the end of the novel, the character would not be the same from what it is at the beginning of the novel (De Laar and Choonderwoerd, 1969: 171). To know about the development we can see the change from the characteristic of the character, we compare the characteristic at the beginning of the story and at the end of the story.

  Meanwhile, characterization according Roger B. Henkle “is central to the fictional experience”. The principal objective on the creation of characters in novels is to enable us to understand and to experience the people” (1977: 86). The same note is also spoken by Marjorie Boulton who says that an author should create his or her character as if they were in real conditions (1975: 77). The greatest created character has a roundness, complexity and multiplicity; they develop, they give the impression that they had real past, and have real future. The author is bound to make sense the characters as they can be made sense by the reader. According to M.J. Murphy (1972: 161-173) there are nine ways in which the author attempts to make his characters understandable and lifelike for his reader. Those nine ways to characterize a character are discussed as follows.

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  First is by analyzing the character’s personal description. In this way the writer characterizes the character by seeing a character from the physical appearance such as his build, face, skin, eyes, hair or cloth.

  Second is by analyzing from another character’s point of view or character as seen by another. A character can be analyzed through another character’s eyes and opinions to describe the character that the writer wants to expose.

  Third, by characterizing the character’s speech. The readers can have an opinion about the character by paying attention to the character’s speech. The reader can also see the conversation where the character is involved; the way he or she gives his or her opinion may also show the personality of the character.

  Fourth, by considering the character’s past life, the readers are made known of some important clues to get to know about the character. It can be described by the author’s direct comment, the character’s thoughts, the character’s conversation or the medium of another person.

  Fifth, by analyzing other character conversation. The readers can get to know a character through the conversations of other people and the things they say about him or her.

  Sixth, by perceiving the character’s reactions to various situations and events, an author shows his character’s tendency, and this tendency gives the readers a clue about the character’s personality.

  Seventh, by analyzing the author’s direct comment and description on the character. In this way there is no medium for the author to use to characterize the

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  character. The author directly describes the character and also gives comment on the character.

  Eighth, by analyzing the thought of the character. The author shows the character’s personality by allowing the readers to understand the deepest thoughts of the character in a novel.

  Ninth, by describing the character’s mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies. The author shows the character’s personalities by stating the character’s gestures and habits.

  Sometimes, there are insufficient information and judgment of others about the characters. In order for the reader to make a rough and ready judgment and insufficient evidence, Graham Little in his book Approach to Literature: An

  

Introduction To Critical Study of Content and Method in Writing offers three

  ways in studying a character (Little, 1981: 90). The three ways are as following:

  1. His or her basic characteristic (the physical conditions, social relationship, the mental qualities).

  2. His or her appearance from various points of view (how a character, how various other characters see him or her, and how he or she develops or fails during the course of the story).

  3. His or her place in the work (the treatment of the author, his or her place in the story, his or her relation to the theme.

  There is another way of characterization related to a major issue that a character must face, as offered by Roberts, Edgar V and Jacobs in Fiction An

  

Introduction to Reading and Writing : the characterization itself can be through

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  dialogue, actions, comments, and also the interaction between a character with another character, involving a difficult situation or with an idea (1989:56).

  2. Theor y of Existentialism Philosophy begins with philosophical problems raised by the philosopher.

  Philosophical problem is defined as questions about the meaning, truth, and logical connections of fundamental ideas (Woodhouse, 1994: 2). Most philosophers begin their thought with a philosophical problem questioning the meaning of this life. Rooted from the same philosophical questions of life, there are many philosophers who came out with different theories or concept of existentialism. Namely philosopher such as Soren Kierkegaard, Jean Paul Sartre, Friedrich Nietzsche, Heidegger, Dostoevsky, Karl Jasper, and Albert Camus, bring their own different theory or concept.

  Soren Kierkegaard began his philosophical thought when he was motivated by a desire to satisfy the deepest needs and questions of the society of his day, begins his philosophical thought. His philosophical thought develops with his own uniqueness, based on his upbringing and perception. Here are the analyses of some views on existentialism and theory of existentialism.

  a. Existentialism View There are many thinkers who suggest the definition of existentialism. One of the definitions is by Holman and Harmon in A Handbook to Literature, here existentialism is defined as:

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  “A group of attitudes (current in philosophical, religious, and artistic thought during and after the second World War) that emphasizes existence rather than essence and sees the inadequacy of human reason to explain the enigma of the universe as the basic of philosophical question” (1986: 199).

  Existentialism, in this book, is defined as some attitudes that based on philosophy, religious and artistic thought. Existentialism becomes known during and after the Second World War. The thought emphasizes on human’s existence; meaning to say that human existence precedes human’s essence. There is also the awareness of human being’s inadequacy to explain everything in this world, the mystery of the universe which is a part of the philosophical question of human being. Furthermore, the important point is human being’s awareness of their situation that they have a total freedom but at the same time they are also completely responsible for their act and decision (Holman and Harmon, 1989: 199).

  Encyclopedia of World Literature also explains about literature relates to

  existentialism. In this book, it is stated that literature relates to existentialism emphasizes on the idea of “the fact that men are not determined priori, but ‘exist’.

  They are in the state of ‘becoming’ within the framework of a certain given situation, and are in the long run, what they make themselves. In this way they escape from a mechanical determination and are ‘free’ “(Steinberg and Buchaman (eds), 1973: 224).

  According to Steinberg and Buchaman’s definition, human beings are not initially determined but they created themselves in their own way. They are free to choose their own way to live and free to shape their life, different from what is determined by the society. John K. Roth in his International Encyclopedia of

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Ethics , existentialism defines as an approach to ethics that emphasizes individual

  subjectivity-freedom and responsibility, and the irrational as primary features of human condition (1995:294).

  In The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language by Miffin, existentialism is defined as a philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, it regards human’s existence is inexplicable and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the sequences of one’s act. This is quite similar to Holman and Harmon’s definition of existentialism. Both emphasize on the individual uniqueness and the freedom to choose one’s own way and decision. Furthermore, one also has the responsibility of the choice he or she has taken.

  b. Sor en Kierkegaar d’s Theory on Existentialism Although it has been claimed that existential philosophy has its origins in

  Pascal and Saint Augustine, perhaps dating as far back as Socrates, the Danish philosopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) was the first philosopher to employ the term “existence” (Existenz in both Danish and

  German

  ) in its modern sense, in opposition to Hegel’s concept of absolute consciousness (Akarsu, 1987:193). Kierkegaard, who argues that the subjective, or personal, dimension of human life cannot be disregarded, rejects the objective understanding of the universe, giving precedence to subjectivity and trying “ to introduce the individual into our thinking as category” (Kaufmann, 1956: 16). In looking back at his own life, Kierkegaard distinguishes three stages through which

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  These three stages may exist in any one of these stages throughout life or may move from one to other (Warnock, 1970; 6-7). Indeed, each of these three stages represents a philosophy of life. The first stage is the aesthetic stage with a focal point of pleasure resulting in perdition. The second stage is the ethical stage, focusing on action that results in victory. The third and the last stage is the religious stage, the focal point of which is suffering (Gallagher, 1962: 78).

  Kierkegaard rebels against the eternal verities and traditional conceptions of Christianity. He does not find paramount importance for the individual, claiming that it is our individual choices and commitments – in other words our own decision – that give our life an ethical structure. To him, the soul or the self (intangible, as opposed to the body) is subject to possibilities and decisions that lead human being to the experience of Angst – which is variously translated as “dread” or “anxiety”. He claims that this experience motivates man to commit himself to “an ethico-religious life which offers a salvation” dependent upon relationship with God (Honderich, 1995: 259). His literary works depict human life as anguished and absurd. In his philosophical writings he develops a complete skepticism and ascribes human beings into a state of total ignorance. In his opinion it is impossible for man to know anything about the world that might be deemed true or necessary. Trapped in a state of absurdity with no real knowledge, man’s only solution is to believe in a God who can enlighten us – even though we will never be sure that this is the right decision to make. As Kierkegaard did not want his theory violated, nor to find himself in a position to claim that he could

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  reveal the truth, he insisted that the most he could do was to raise certain questions but leave the answers to his readers, as truth exists only in the subjective (Popkin and Stroll, 1993: 308).

  c. Martin Heidegger ’s Theor y on Existentialism Martin Heidegger (1889 – 1976), a German philosopher, is “usually seen as existentialism founder.” Although he refused to call his own philosophy as existentialism on the grounds that he was interested in being in general, many people consider Heidegger as the first true existentialist (Warnock, 1970: 93).

  According to Heidegger, as stated by Honderich, the key aspect of being is

  

Dasein, signifying “the entity which each of us himself is” and “the being of

  man.” This mode of being is different from that of the objects categorized by us in terms of their use, since man is the only creature in the world that can question his being. Human existence is limited to the world and is inseparable from the everyday world. Dasein in German means “being there;” Heidegger expands his concept of Dasein as “being-in-the-world.”

  The human being is conceived of as being-in-the-world; the world does not stand opposite to him, but is inseparable from him (Monkemeyer, 1962: 101). He lives in a world that is already structured: we do not create our world; our emotions arise “from involvements of everyday life which we find ourselves in” (Honderich,1995: 260).

  The self of everyday Dasein is the they-self, which is distinct from the authentic self. If the human being turns away from the distractions of everyday

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  life, it is possible for him to experience Angst, an awareness of the precariousness of life whose goals and values are not structured in line with his own existence (Moenkemeyer, 1062:105-106). Heidegger connects this experience of Angst with one’s attitude towards his own death. To realize that we live our life leading to death reveals the structure of our own existence, makes us aware of our finitude, our responsibility, our freedom and our authenticity (Honderich, 1995: 260).

  d. J ean Paul Sar tr e’s Theory on Existentialism According to Kaufman, existentialism has come to the attention of a wide international audience mainly through the work of Jean-Paul Sartre (40). Sartrean philosophy is strongly influenced by Hegel, Husserl, Heidegger and Marx (Kaufman 1956: 40). Sartre’s existentialism mainly lies in its concern for the individual, the human existence, and in its consideration of responsibility, engagement and action.

  His early basic idea is the difference between human existence and that of other objects. Sartrean existentialism is interested in concrete situations in one’s everyday life as well as in stronger emotional experiences such as solitude, despair, anguish and nausea (Mihalich, 1962: 137). Like Kierkegaard’s existentialism, the key term in the philosophy of Sartre is existence. According to Sartre, existence does not only mean “being,” since plants and animals are also beings although they are unable to questions their existence. Ever since Sartre is an atheist, he believes that if God does not exist, everything would be permitted

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  and man cannot find anything to depend on, except to depend on himself (Kaufman, 1956: 295).

  Sartre sees man’s situation in the world is absurd and tragic (Kaufman, 1956: 47). On one hand, there are physical objects, each an “in-itself” (en-soi) without any relation to the exterior, locked in their contingency without consciousness; on another hand, there is human being with a consciousness of total freedom, the “for-itself” (pour-soi). Sartre’s en-soi is the self-contained existence of a thing: it is what it is; a stone is a stone, for example (its being coincides with itself). However, that which exist pour-soi has access to a realm of consciousness that allows it to go beyond itself if it chooses to; a human being is free to choose an existence “in-itself” or “for-itself”. Meaning to say, it is the source of our freedom as human beings to choose the choices, or the point of view to see this world.