Building the Existential Man

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There are many genres in music. Today, people see the charts dominated by pop, rock, and hip-hop, but there are numerous genres that fill bottom cultures of music. For instance, jazz music is not booming like it was in the 1930s. However, the culture still fully exists. It is still being performed and experimented with by musicians. It is even arguable that jazz was a starting root to music today. Literature also holds an abundance of genres. From fantasies to lectures, news to philosophies, literature is also a constant part of human life. Now, if there were a genre of literature that works as an analogy to jazz, it would certainly be existentialism. Existentialism is a philosophical movement that was birthed post-World War II. It is a deep study of the existence of life, and revolves around the idea that we create our own nature. The absolute internal freedom humans own is only beat down by the anxiety humans create from their freedom. That is why life is absurd. With such a deep, complex philosophy, it is important that it is studied, investigated, and explained. The same can be said for jazz music. The complexity may be why existentialism is still being explored today. There are many modern works that set up existential experiments, attempt to define the existential character, and display consequences of the philosophy being ignored. Existential investigation is important because on the surface, it seems like a dark philosophy, but through understanding it becomes powerful.
With the overall outlook on existentialism seeming quite daunting, it is important to find the resolution. One of the themes that make existentialism so daunting is that life is absurd. What is absurdity, and what are people able to do about it? Sartre expr...

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Dasa, Gadadhara Pandit. “Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi: The Liberating Power of Non-violence.” The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post., 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 May 2014.
Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo. New York: Modern Library, 1996. Print.
"Existentialism in Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis." 123HelpMe.com. 13 May 2014
Groundhog Day. Dir. Harold Ramis. Perf. Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliot. Columbia Pictures, 1993.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Dover Publications, 1994. Print.
Schrahé, Svenja. “Albert Camus and The Myth of Sisyphus.” Albert Camus Society. Camus Society., 2011. Web. 13 May 2014.
Shelton, Robert. No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 1986. Google eBook.
Wildman, Wesley. “Existentialism.” People.bu.edu. Boston University., 2010. Web. 13 May 2014.

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