Arthur Schopenhauer and Existentialism

2.9.2 Arthur Schopenhauer and Existentialism

In analyzing the philosophical aspects of noir productions, a common theme is that life has no meaning. This is portrayed as a permanent condition, not just something temporary that will get better after time or from a conflict resolution. Therefore, noir protagonists always face a major crisis because the essence of life is meaningless in a noir world. Many of the characters are in a state of anxiety because they have no real purpose in their lives. This belief that existence has no meaning is reflected in the writings of various existentialists over time. For example, Arthur Schopenhauer 1788-1860 wrote negative essays about the Enlightenment goals of human progress, contentment, and self- improvement. In his essay On the Vanity of Existence in The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer: Studies in Pessimism by T. Bailey Saunders, Schopenhauer contemplates the meaning of life. The philosophical ideas and attitudes espoused by Schopenhauer in On the Vanity of Existence give insight into the universal stresses found in the human condition over time, as his essay was published about a century and a half before the advent of noir but still holds true at that time. He conveys the position that life is void of meaning, which the protagonists in noir novels and films also reveal through their anxieties and problems. In the opening of his essay, Schopenhauer claims, This vanity finds expression in the whole way in which things exist; in the infinite nature of Time and Space, as opposed to the finite nature of the individual in both; in the ever-passing present moment as the only mode of actual existence; in the interdependence and relativity of all things; in continual Becoming without ever Being; in constant wishing and never being satisfied; in the long battle which forms the history of life, where every effort is checked by difficulties, and stopped until they are overcome. 106 106 Saunders, T. Bailey. The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer: Studies in Pessimism. Penn State: Pennsylvania State University, 2005, p.18. Schopenhauer cites these characteristics as being at the heart of the human condition, which allows pessimism to gain a foothold and expand. Schopenhauer then states that people are in a never-ending cycle where they try to fulfill their own needs and desires. With each second that goes by, people are decaying and that much closer to death. Humans do not have intrinsic value because they have a finite existence. Only things which last through eternity carry value. Schopenhauer then reveals that humans should realize all the meaninglessness around them. The fact that people become bored just shows how empty their lives are and how they do not really deserve to exist. We will lose everything we know and care about in the world. We are always in a state of motion but unable to escape from our daily routines. Schopenhauer believes that this is terrible because we can never rest and there is no finality in things. This concept can be thought of like a hamster in a wheel running around but never really accomplishing anything. Schopenhauer thinks of living as just related to change, decay, unrest, frustration, and boredom. Schopenhauer continues by stating that vanity is found in all things. It can be seen in all our actions like wanting new things and feeling dissatisfied with our lives. Vanity results in people having difficulties in facing their daily routines as they try to get by various hindrances. Time passes us and any efforts we make to accomplish something are useless. Also, when time passes us it does not exist anymore, so it is like a fleeting moment and once it goes by we cannot get it back. When things that have meaning to us in the present go by, they stop having meaning and have no more true value. Schopenhauer also thinks it is a mistake or coincidence that people exist at all. In the grand scheme of things, the universe is bigger than all of us. We are just a small insignificant part of it. When we die we will just return to nothingness. He also compares this to a person running down a hill and the motion of moving his legs forces him to keep going. If he stops he will fall and die. So it is essentially like the person is a slave to this action. When we are in a constant motion like this, we can never attain happiness. We always want more and are not satisfied once we get something. He claims that life is just a series of moments joined together that disappear in front of us. Since man’s existence is finite, we always need things. Since a finite existence has a beginning and an ending, life is really meaningless. Our lives are only driven by hunger and sexual impulses. These impulses are influenced by boredom. Schopenhauer believes that we always have to get better things and look to the past and repent to have what is no more. When we are continually nostalgic about the past, then our present escapes from us and eventually we just die longing for things of past years. When man plants seeds of desires, they grow and blossom into more desires which in turn become more desires in a never- ending cycle. People are driven to fulfill their individual desires, and when they cannot achieve all of them it results in a lifetime of misery. Schopenhauer states that because people have to work to fulfill their needs, it becomes tiring and burdensome. This will cause people to become bored and try to escape from their bored states. Even if we are temporarily satisfied, boredom is still there, which confirms that life is meaningless. By revealing this, Schopenhauer wants to emphasize that it is pointless to struggle in life, because people lead vain and empty lives and never really accomplish anything. Schopenhauer then concludes his essay by saying, If we turn from contemplating the world as a whole, and, in particular, the generations of men as they live their little hour of mock-existence and then are swept away in rapid succession; if we turn from this, and look at life in its small details, as presented, say, in a comedy, how ridiculous it all seems It is like a drop of water seen through a microscope, a single drop teeming with infusoria; or a speck of cheese full of mites invisible to the naked eye. How we laugh as they bustle about so eagerly, and struggle with one another in so tiny a space And whether here, or in the little span of human life, this terrible activity produces a comic effect. 107 By saying this, Schopenhauer strives to put forth the notion that life is nothing but a chance mistake. A religious perspective will counter Schopenhauer’s arguments by claiming that the good deeds you do on Earth will be remembered when you try to get to heaven, and humans have the opportunity to live in heaven or another kind of otherworldly existence based on how they live their lives on Earth. However, noir literary and film works prefer to view the world from Schopenhauer’s perspective. In a noir world, characters generally do not take solace in religion. The world is viewed in a pessimistic manner, which becomes a characterization of the noir world. Film noir characters are easily influenced by or dependent on others as well as vulnerable to their desires, irrationalities, and wiles. This is seen with Walter Neff in Double Indemnity as he is easily infatuated with Phyllis Dietrichson and does whatever she wants with the hope of possessing her but to no avail. In The Postman Always Rings Twice, Frank Chambers can gain solace in religion at the end of the story only after confessing to his crimes. However, Frank does not regret killing Nick Smith; he is more concerned with receiving absolution from God for not being guilty of murdering Cora Smith as a result of the car accident. As long as the priest understands he did not play an intentional role in Cora’s death, Nick is willing to go to the gas chamber for her murder. Legally Frank is guilty of the death of Cora, but spiritually is guilty for the death of Nick.

2.9.3 Friedrich Nietzsche and Nihilism