Existentialism is a rather modern philosophy, which has origins in the works of Martin Heidegger, but is associated with the contemporary, post World War 2, philosophers such as Satre, De Beauvoir to name but a few. This philosophy had a great affect on literature, with its reality based truths, and can be found in the works of Franz Kafka, Albert Camus and Samuel Beckett among others. I chose to write this essay on existentialism because I think that it has an often-overlooked influence on literature, and therefore deserves some attention.

It is an existential principle that mankind is ‘thrown’ into existence, with no control over the circumstances, and must, from that point on, proceed with life as that person sees fit. Although this does not apply to young children, the underlying value of the principle is maintained. Such a birth, if it may be called so, is evident in both The Metamorphosis and Waiting For Godot, although the nature of the births are very dissimilar in some respects. Waiting For Godot starts off with what might be seen as random, arbitrary, settings that have little meaning at that point in time. This can at first be taken for granted, but as the play progresses the circularity becomes clear, implying the meaninglessness of the beginning insofar as the fact that there is no beginning. Whereas the phrase “Tomorrow is a new day” can be used as a reassurance, that the impact of today’s events will be softened by a good nights sleep, in Waiting For Godot it is put into its extremes where tomorrows events will have no coherence with today’s whatsoever. Time loses its meaning. Although Vladimir and Estragon do reflect back on past events in their lives, under morbid circumstances, the current position they find themselves in seems to have neither beginning nor end. Waiting For Godot is basically, as the title suggests, about two persons waiting for someone named Godot. Unfortunately, there is a lot of uncertainty in the lives of Vladimir and Estragon. First of all, they have no idea as to what Godot looks like. They have no clue as to where or when they should be meeting Godot, which is even more inconvenient. Their life is meaningless. They have no purpose whatsoever other than waiting for Godot.

Estragon:            Charming spot. (He turns, advances to the front, halts facing auditorium.) Inspiring prospects. (He turns to Vladimir.) Let’s go.

Vladimir:            We can’t.

Estragon:            Why not?

Vladimir:            We’re waiting for Godot.

Estragon:            (despairingly). Ah!

In The Metamorphosis, on the other hand, this birth is brought on by Gregor’s sudden metamorphosis into an insect. Unlike in Waiting For Godot, emphasis is placed on Gregor’s past, for it plays an important factor in the existential interpretation of the story. The whole situation of Gregor’s transformation, and his lack of realization thereof, leaves the reader rather baffled. His body has turned into that of an insect, and he is worried about getting to work on time. It is here that his past becomes important to the meaning. Gregor is a dedicated worker and financial supporter of his family. This sounds quite common, but it extends so far that his whole life revolves around his taking care of the family, paying off their debt. His father, on the other hand, makes no attempt at assuming this role. The family is quite happy to allow Gregor to do all the work for them. One could state that he is in fact a drone of society, metaphorically speaking. No different than a working class bee whose whole life is spent working for the good of society, for the good of others. This is, of course, closely related to ants and other such insects. Mentally, or metaphorically, he is a drone insect. For some, irrelevant, reason Gregor is physically morphed into that very insect.

“His numerous legs, which were pathetically thin compared to the rest of his bulk, danced helplessly before his eyes.”

Whereas a major change has occurred in The Metamorphosis, stress is placed on the lack of change in Waiting For Godot. Despite these two very diverse systems of events, there still remains an underlying existential principle in both books. With the fact that time has lost its meaning, in Waiting For Godot, which is the foundation for the existential interpretation of the play, it is possible to analyze how the chaos created affects the character’s lives. The same is true for Gregor, in terms of his metamorphosis.

Existentialism has several underlying principles, where one of the main ones is that any given choice will govern the later course of a person’s life, and that the person has ultimate will over making choices. This is a theme common to both books.

Starting off with The Metamorphosis. It was previously stated that, metaphorically, Gregor was already an insect before his transformation. This was, as said before, a state of mind. It was Gregor’s choice in life to choose that path; he chose to be as dedicated as he was to his work. Objections might arise to that fact, but he could have chosen another way of paying back his debt. In an extreme case, he could even run off with his family to a far away country to seek refuge. This, however, in an unlikely and immoral option. A simpler option could be to find a balance between hard work and perhaps leisurely time for himself. Instead, Gregor chooses to be a dedicated salesman. Right after his transformation, he still maintains this state of mind. He does not even acknowledge or accept the fact that his whole being has transformed into an insect.

“He slid back again into his original position. ‘This early rising makes one quite stupid,’ he thought.”

Gregor is still the same, but he has physically become what he already was from a mental point of view. When his family perceives him, they see the physical attributes of what were his well accepted mental ‘methods’. This comes as a shock to them, but they are quick to learn that he is still the same. Unfortunately, it took a whole physical metamorphosis of a human into a bug to highlight the, from an extreme point of view, inhumanity of Gregor’s life. It is sad to think that his family accepts him after his ordeal, and find no need to help him. They fear him. Gregor’s transformation results in his inability to function as the drone that he once was, which results in him being trapped in his room all day and all night, alone. With little social contact, he is forced into entertaining himself. The tables have turned, so to speak. Gregor starts off with full concentration towards work, and no time for leisure- the mental drone. After his transformation, he is forced out of work and into leisure- the physical drone. The loss of his productivity towards society, he is eventually ignored and abandoned, resulting in his inevitable death.

“Just come and look, the creature’s done for; it’s lying there dead and done for!”

Relating this back to the existentialistic principle, it can be seen that Gregor had the choice between sacrificing his individuality for society, and finding a balance between the two. The morbid outcome of his unfortunate choice leads us to the conclusion that it is essential for a human being to find a balance between individuality and society. This too is an existential belief, which Kafka chose to depict in this story.

This seems to have very little in common with Waiting For Godot. This is probably quite true, but nevertheless, the principle has a valid place in Waiting For Godot. Vladimir and Estragon are present with three basic choices. The first is that they should forget about waiting for Godot and should leave for somewhere else. The second is waiting for Godot, and finally, they can commit suicide. All three options are presented throughout the play, with the more emphasis on the latter two. The mere fact that they are waiting for Godot seems to be enough reason to stay. As for suicide, they lack some ability to go through the motions, they choose otherwise. Baring in mind the fact that their lives are devoid of meaning, they perceive the act of waiting for Godot as a meaning. The structure of the book, which suggests the circularity of events, also implies the fact that the probability of showing up Godot is nihil. This verifies the existential belief that we may search for an answer on meaning to our existence, but will probably never find it. It his within the freedom of mankind to choose the meaning of existence whilst accepting the uncertainty of life. Waiting For Godot suggests that human life is totally dependant on chance. Not only is this evident from an outside point of view, but is also touched upon within the play.

Vladimir:            One of the thieves was saved.  It's a reasonable percentage

 There comes a point when Vladimir finds the truth about their reality, concerning the meaning of their lives, but chooses to return to ignorance. This suggests that humans try to remain oblivious of their conditions.

These two different aspects of existentialism can be combined in a philosophy of life, where it is up to the individual to choose the meaning of life, and where sufficient moderation between value to society and value to self must be assumed by the rational individual.

Fraser Scott,
Sometime during the winter