|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
-Plato, Phaedrus 286 Judith Butler discusses the complex matter of desire, ontology and movement in her essay “Desire”. She surveys the philosophical descriptions of desire and draws conclusions about the creation of existence of man through desire and the endless pursuit of “other” objects of desire. The irony in this is that the pursuit of this endless desire creates and sustains human existence. Both fulfillment of the desire and the lack of motion toward the desired object cause the extinction of the individual. Hamlet’s stunted pursuit of a divinely appointed purpose threatened his existence in both its starts and stops. The ultimate culmination and completion of his desired vengeance held no more fulfillment then during his long worrisome pauses. There is no safe harbor for the individual in the beginning middle or culmination or movement to a desired object. Through the examination of several novels in the genre of post colonial literature the extinction of the individual can be delineated when either the desired object is unattainable or the individual’s desire is easily fulfilled. Like Sisyphus, it is the endless task with which humans are cursed also provides self definition and existence. In his painfully beautiful book The Sorrow of War Bao Ninh, guides the reader through the life of a North Vietnamese soldier. The narrative is dominated by descriptions of Kien’s surroundings, as the narrator blurs the lines between present and flashback, first and third person, and reality and perception. The reader is placed alongside the protagonist in a wretched and impossible situation with no possible escape even years after the actual events. The destruction of his being is unrelenting and complete as the eternal damage from his past corrupts his perception of the present and dooms his future.
Approximate Word count = 1086
Approximate Pages = 4.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|