Desperation and dystopia : existential explorations of Atwood and Bukowski

Abstract

This dissertation strives to look at novels about the desperation of man, in this case predominantly Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes last and Charles Bukowski’s Post Office. The observations made of the novels and the answers to the three main questions posited by close reading of the novels will then be discussed through Existentialist Philosophy. The three questions are: How did the novels identify a source of desperation? What were the results of this desperation? And what resolutions are given, if any? The discussion then goes into issues of ‘Freedom’, ‘Being’, ‘Other’ and ‘Anxiety’ considering the two main overarching themes in the literature, the treatment of ‘Violence and Death’ and ‘Sexual Depravity’. Further questions which emerged throughout the discussion regarded the crux of human nature: Are humans merely subject to their animal nature when all is said and done? What is the bigger picture to humanity and life? Why should anyone attempt to find hope? Through discussion based on Sartre, Heidegger, de Beauvoir, Camus, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, among others, a further set of questions arose regarding the state of the real world in comparison to these seemingly over-the-top novels and ideals.

The final consolation was finding a base-line for what it means for a story to be considered dystopian and likening a number of the phenomena mentioned to real-world instances throughout history. Is this all a work of fiction? Has the world shown real points of dystopia? And why do these works resonate so much? These are the final three questions addressed in the final chapter. The resolution to it all is acceptance of the absurd, acceptance that truth and happiness do not necessarily go hand in hand.