Jean-Paul Sartre Born 1905 From France Worked with the French Resistance in World War II Wrote novels, short stories, and plays Became a Marxist Turned down Nobel Prize (1964) Died 1980

Sartre’s Contributions Popularized existentialism Argued for absolute freedom and responsibility for human beings Author of many memorable quotations and examples –“Man is a useless passion” –“Hell is other people”

Existentialism is a philosophy of human existence The existence of a human being is prior to that human’s essence What I am now is a matter of the free choices I have made “Subjectivity must be the starting point”

Atheist Existentialism Denies the existence of God If there is no God, there is at least one kind of creature, the human being, in whom existence precedes essence There is no human nature, because there is no God to conceive of it: man is only what he wills himself to be

Subjectivity The starting point for humans is subjective because humans make themselves what they are Making ourselves what we are leaves us responsible for our own actions Humans are responsible not only for themselves, but for all humanity, since we “create an image of man as we think he ought to be” We always choose the good, which is good for all

Forlornness Heidegger described humans as forlorn because we must face the consequences of the non- existence of God It is distressing because there is no ultimate source of values if God does not exist Dostoyevsky: If God does not exist, everything is permitted

Reality Alone Counts An person is of a certain kind (e.g., writer) only insofar as he engages in that activity What a person hopes or wishes to be does not matter; only the produced realities do In assessing a person, we must take all his activities into account For man is the sum of his undertakings

Optimistic Toughness Existentialists write of people with character flaws They do not attribute these to circumstances or heredity, but to free choices The existentialist keeps open the possibility of change in anyone in any circumstance

Subjectivity Again The only firm beginning is “I think; therefore, I exist” Everything else is mere probability This prevents man from being reduced to an object

Universality There is a universal human condition: mortal being in the world This is objective, and the situation of any human can be understood But it is subjective, as the human condition is always being built through individual human choices

The Novel (Defined) Extended work of fiction written in prose; Foer’s novel includes: detective story humor writing first-person testimonials epistles (letters) photographs and concludes with a reversible flip-book Walter Kirn on Foer’s work: “Everything is Included” like an “overstuffed fortune cookie”

Literary Terms Stream of Consciousness: the uninterrupted flow of impressions and perceptions, thoughts, and feelings Especially popular among the Modernist writers post-WWI (i.e. Woolf, Joyce and Faulkner) This technique mingles memories, feelings, and seemingly random associations Also termed free indirect discourse Technique is reflective of human mind

Synonyms for “coming of age” Aging Growth (esp. “growing up”) Development Maturation Initiation

–Protagonist: 9-yr-old boy who invents –Setting: Post-9/11 NYC –Tension: Loss of father, obsession –Style: groundbreaking, demanding

Themes Growth after loss Finding meaning and one’s place in the world The human experience- we all have an unspoken human connection Father-son relationships Mortality-life and death