Freedom and Choice: Existentialism
...rds the Arab after he sees him. Had he just walked up the steps, or even turned around once he saw the Arab he never would’ve shot the Arab, and he never would’ve had to face the death penalty. Meursault was faced with the freedom to make a choice in his life, and it turned out to be a very significant choice, one that ultimately led to his death. Earlier within the novel, The Stranger, Meursault had another significant choice to make. He chose to write the letter for Raymond that ended up intertwining him into Raymond’s life and his problem with the Arab. Meursault says, “Since I didn’t say anything, he asked if I’d mind doing it right then, and I said no.” All Meursault had to do, was refrain from writing the letter for Raymond, citing that it was really none of his business and the incident with the Arab never would’ve occurred. Instead, however, Meursault said, “…I didn’t have any reason not to please him,” and thus the reader interprets that Meursault instead actually does a good job writing the letter. Meursault had the freedom to choose which path he took, and he obviously chose the wrong one. His decision and it’s outcome is a definitive example of existentialism because Meursault must assume ultimate responsibility for his acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong, good or bad. Existentialism also presides in other Camus stories such as “The Guest” and “The Myth of Sisyphus.” In “The Guest” Daru is given an Arab in which he is supposed to take to jail; however, it becomes a moral problem with Daru. To appease his own consciousness he ponders the idea of letting the Arab prisoner run off to the Nomads. Daru has the choice to either see to it that the prisoner gets to the jail, or give the prisoner his choice. Daru eventually defines himself by his moral decision to let the prisoner make the decision on his own. Daru did what he thought was morally right, and yet when he returns to his schoolroom, on the chalkboard it says, “… You will pay for this.” As is the case in Existentialism works, the main character was faced with a choice of what to do, and the choice decided his fate for him. Like Meursault, Daru will most likely die for his choice. In “The Myth of Sisyphus” it is once again the main character Sisyphus who is faced with a choice that will ultimately decide his fate. It is these choices and the freedom to make these choices that have so much impact on these character’s lives that are a predominant theme within Existentialism work. Sisyphus obtained the permission of Pluto to venture back to earth in order to chastise his wife, but when he saw the earth again, he didn’t want to go back to the underworld. He was given many warnings; however, he would never go back. Despite his passion for life, because he refused to return to the underworld and because he defied the Gods, he was forced to push a rock up a mountain everyday for the rest of eternity. All Sisyphus had to do was return to the underworld when he was warned; however, he chose not to, and then had to accept the fate that he was given. Sisyphus is forced to accept responsibility for his actions, and live the difficult life, and yet at the same time it does partially define who he is, by the way he endures his fate. Like Camus, Richard Wright often writes existentialist literature. One of his novels featuring existentialism is Native Son. In Native Son, the main character, Bigger, finds himself in a very tight p...