Flipped Learning: Existentialism

Existentialism

How to define existentialism?

Existentialism comes after the state of absurdism. Where a person find meaninglessness in life, though doing many things in life, but when come to realization about 'what we're for on Earth'? A person may try to interrogate himself/herself and suddenly took the countenance of what they until now did in their lives and when came to realization, they may converse with themselves 'as being futile until now, what will be now the purpose of living life'. 

At present the person's life is full of absurdity, despair, hopelessness, devoid of purpose.

For Example: Waiting for Godot-Samuel Beckett 

The surrounding seems to be full of piled garbage, the paved way is isolated, noone is walking in and around, just two are there, moving here and there.

A person named 'Gogo' sitting on mud pile, trying to remove boots from his leg, but unable to remove it, due to his age factor and felt weakness. Gogo and his partner are constantly shouting on each other, than deducing to understand each other but as they don't have nothing to talk, they're just talking about that past not fastness. Where Bible, a dream etc are discussed.

'Nothing can be done' is repeated for few times by both the characters and to divert their attention they talk about their past, in sharing manner. But it is also in futile as it is without purpose because what the Bible and its gospels will do now rather than hoping.

They went near the barren tree, which symbolizes barrenness and death of itself as well as of the characters as one of the characters define the very tree as dead and so Gogo says 'No more we be'. Similarly they talk about park, stone, river that we two along with th elements of nature, are waiting for GODOT.

Suddenly some voice came and they try to hide themselves, but at their surprise this is someone else named 'Podso'.

These all are waiting for Godot. Godot is presented in this movie in very weird manner, it feels to be something horrific, unusual and terrific but then abruptly the atmosphere transform into normal.

The Search for meaning

How to find the meaning amidst such meaninglessness 

With reference to discussion in online google meet class, we will see how the meaningless of the play 'waiting of Godot' is.

The essence of the play can be interpreted in many ways, that's why Martin Esslin said about this play that 'the significance of Waiting for Godot' was to be sensed by the audience at last and it may vary from person to person, won't be defined in a particular frame but it can be elasticity interpreted. When questions are presented, one rather than focusing on giving questions' answers, should ponder upon, what was the predicament, the person who have asked has seen, though it is meaningless.

So when such things are presented, it can be seen empathically through that person's situation rather than judging them through your own perspectives.

In the play there is uncertainty which can be seen in the ebb and flow, that occurs through hopefulness of repeated disappointment through the discovery of God.

Where yes a person waiting the whole day, for God but God never comes, goes and its awful(On contradictory in Birthday Party, some goes, some comes, yet it is awful) and gradually night falls and the same situation recurs day after another and the situation remains static.

Though the play seems to be simple and not embellished with ornamental language, but presented with brevity and wit that surfaces as per the character's characteristics, which one can clearly sense through the pointed dialogues in the play. So it has multiple meanings but it has  a limitation that the play can't be simplified.

Therefore the characters of the play, are constantly waiting for Godot to come, remaining in darkness, so that the God can give some meaning to their life as their lives have become absurd and unfortunately it remains till the end of the play, static(absurd).

Works Cited

Barad, Dilip., "Flipped Learning Network: Existentialism", Dilip Barad's Blog, 24 January, 2016.

https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2016/01/flipped-learning-network.html?m=1

"Waiting for Godot", By Samuel Beckett, from YouTube.

"Existentialism12: Meaning of the play", By Dilip Barad, From YouTube Channel(with the name title).

A Blog on existential crisis: https://samiyakagdi313.blogspot.com/2020/04/janeeyrebycharlottebrontte.html?m=1