"The Sickness into Kafka' vision of Existence : Requiem for an article"

        THE SICKNESS INTO KAFKA’S VISION OF EXISTENCE: REQUIEM FOR AN ARTICLE

        If you look forward a detailed interpretation of Soren Kierkegaard thinking presented in his book “the despair of existence”, or a philosophical analysis of the novel “metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka , or even more a requiem, you are not at right place. Some will deal with it far way better than me. Yet I would like to offer few reflexions about these three works. A movie with junkies, a man metamorphosing in a giant cockroach, and even a Danish philosopher writing 69 pages about the “sickness unto death”. At the first sight, they are so different, but looking more carefully they appeared really linked.

Thus I would like to prove why they raise essential issues concerned by existentialism.

         

       First of all, the Darren’s (Aronofsky) movie, ‘’Requiem for a dream’’ and the “Metamorphosis” by Kafka, they both treat the notion of loneliness. But more precisely what kind of loneliness? That’s not a loving solitude but the meaning of human loneliness. On the one hand, Gregor Samsa getting up a morning to go to work and discovering that he has became a giant pest.

           And on the other hand, we have Sara Goldfarb, Harry’s mother who is widow for years. They are linked by an unexpected event that prevent them from giving a meaning to their existence. Certainly, Mrs Goldfarb want to get on television and Gregor have to work in order to pay debts, but for the instant put it on the back burner. In the first time,  Gregor doesn’t a choice, and he becomes a monstrous beast, who can’t say anything like a human. Moreover, Harry’s mother lost her husband while her soon hasn’t time to visit his mother. He is busy… Consequently, they have to suffer terrible shocks, which have some after-effects. And by the way, they can’t give voice to their despairs. Finally, it’s maybe the most introspective approach for them, even if we ask: is it really a way to live their lives ?

        In a second time, they fix it objectives. Find a solution to communicate and survive with his family, and going to participate in her favourites TV show. Nevertheless, Kierkegaard’s reflexion is contradicting this aspect. He wrote p.59 “A prison who has no will at all is not a self, but the more will he has; the more self-consciousness he has also”.  This is why consciousness is decisive. Even if they haven’t goal in life, self-consciousness isn’t here. Because they have will to achieve something, self-consciousness is appearing.

          From the moment that it will be right, we must admit new key element. In fact, I would like to show how new links appears. If they do cope with loneliness, these are leading to violence dimension. Despair beat down against them. Gregor’s sister and Gregor’s father are devastated by his transformation. Besides, his father becomes much violent. On the other side, during Darren’s Film, violence appear all the time, like the link down show us. But, what are kinds of consequences ? Maybe is it theory of Kierkegaard : The Sickness unto Death. And this form of despair alienate Mrs Goldfard, who becomes crazy. She imagines a ‘’Fridge-Attack’’ on her kitchen. On a certain way it is this form of despair that put an end to their existences.

            Even if some other details can be shows, I find interesting to compare these works, who have much in common than in the beginning. However, in the absence of  finish by something happy, I leave you with these words to consider from Albert Camus (in French): “L’habitude du désespoir est plus terrible que le désespoir lui-même.”