TOL STOY, C A MUS AND DEATH
TOL S TOY, C AM US AN D D E ATH
by Irina Jauhiainen
by Irina Jauhiainen
Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Albert Camus’ The Outsider have many narrative similarities: both have as their protagonist a man who gets on with life without really reflecting on it; without any particular attempt to live to the fullest or awareness that it will not last forever. And both stories end with the protagonist having to face their inevitable death. Ivan Ilyich has been ill for a long time and the realisation that his illness is lethal has dawned on him after endless attempts at denial. Camus’ protagonist, Meursault, is on trial for shooting a man and after a long wait at the prison he understands that he is going to be executed. As soon as the understanding of the inevitability of having to die is expressed, the story ends. Each is, then, a story about coming to the realisation and acceptance of the fact that all human existence ends eventually, and that every individual must face their own death as their final experience in the world. The fact of inevitable death which each individual must face alone is a major concern in existentialist philosophy. According to Martin Heidegger, human life is a beingtowards-death: “Holding death for true does not demand just one definite kind of behaviour in Dasein,” he writes, “but demands Dasein itself in the full authenticity of its existence.” As Gaitanidis explains: “The very power which enables man to understand his death is, for Heidegger, the same power which makes it possible for him to gain understanding of his life. Man therefore ‘sees’ his life in the light of his death.” The defining quality of life, then, is temporality. Neither of these stories’ protagonists is fully aware of temporality during their lives, and therefore each story – as it narrates a life of someone unaware of their inevitable death – illustrates ways in which people avoid existential responsibility and fail to gain full understanding of their existence. Camus sees the source of existential anguish as the tension between the human need for meaning and recognition and the indifference of the universe towards human needs. The only way to overcome the anguish is to deny either side of the tension – admit that one has
Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Albert Camus’ The Outsider have many narrative similarities: both have as their protagonist a man who gets on with life without really reflecting on it; without any particular attempt to live to the fullest or awareness that it will not last forever. And both stories end with the protagonist having to face their inevitable death. Ivan Ilyich has been ill for a long time and the realisation that his illness is lethal has dawned on him after endless attempts at denial. Camus’ protagonist, Meursault, is on trial for shooting a man and after a long wait at the prison he understands that he is going to be executed. As soon as the understanding of the inevitability of having to die is expressed, the story ends. Each is, then, a story about coming to the realisation and acceptance of the fact that all human existence ends eventually, and that every individual must face their own death as their final experience in the world. The fact of inevitable death which each individual must face alone is a major concern in existentialist philosophy. According to Martin Heidegger, human life is a beingtowards-death: “Holding death for true does not demand just one definite kind of behaviour in Dasein,” he writes, “but demands Dasein itself in the full authenticity of its existence.” As Gaitanidis explains: “The very power which enables man to understand his death is, for Heidegger, the same power which makes it possible for him to gain understanding of his life. Man therefore ‘sees’ his life in the light of his death.” The defining quality of life, then, is temporality. Neither of these stories’ protagonists is fully aware of temporality during their lives, and therefore each story – as it narrates a life of someone unaware of their inevitable death – illustrates ways in which people avoid existential responsibility and fail to gain full understanding of their existence. Camus sees the source of existential anguish as the tension between the human need for meaning and recognition and the indifference of the universe towards human needs. The only way to overcome the anguish is to deny either side of the tension – admit that one has
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TOL STOY, C A MUS AND DEATH
TOL S TOY, C AM US AN D D E ATH
by Irina Jauhiainen
by Irina Jauhiainen
Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Albert Camus’ The Outsider have many narrative similarities: both have as their protagonist a man who gets on with life without really reflecting on it; without any particular attempt to live to the fullest or awareness that it will not last forever. And both stories end with the protagonist having to face their inevitable death. Ivan Ilyich has been ill for a long time and the realisation that his illness is lethal has dawned on him after endless attempts at denial. Camus’ protagonist, Meursault, is on trial for shooting a man and after a long wait at the prison he understands that he is going to be executed. As soon as the understanding of the inevitability of having to die is expressed, the story ends. Each is, then, a story about coming to the realisation and acceptance of the fact that all human existence ends eventually, and that every individual must face their own death as their final experience in the world. The fact of inevitable death which each individual must face alone is a major concern in existentialist philosophy. According to Martin Heidegger, human life is a beingtowards-death: “Holding death for true does not demand just one definite kind of behaviour in Dasein,” he writes, “but demands Dasein itself in the full authenticity of its existence.” As Gaitanidis explains: “The very power which enables man to understand his death is, for Heidegger, the same power which makes it possible for him to gain understanding of his life. Man therefore ‘sees’ his life in the light of his death.” The defining quality of life, then, is temporality. Neither of these stories’ protagonists is fully aware of temporality during their lives, and therefore each story – as it narrates a life of someone unaware of their inevitable death – illustrates ways in which people avoid existential responsibility and fail to gain full understanding of their existence. Camus sees the source of existential anguish as the tension between the human need for meaning and recognition and the indifference of the universe towards human needs. The only way to overcome the anguish is to deny either side of the tension – admit that one has
Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Albert Camus’ The Outsider have many narrative similarities: both have as their protagonist a man who gets on with life without really reflecting on it; without any particular attempt to live to the fullest or awareness that it will not last forever. And both stories end with the protagonist having to face their inevitable death. Ivan Ilyich has been ill for a long time and the realisation that his illness is lethal has dawned on him after endless attempts at denial. Camus’ protagonist, Meursault, is on trial for shooting a man and after a long wait at the prison he understands that he is going to be executed. As soon as the understanding of the inevitability of having to die is expressed, the story ends. Each is, then, a story about coming to the realisation and acceptance of the fact that all human existence ends eventually, and that every individual must face their own death as their final experience in the world. The fact of inevitable death which each individual must face alone is a major concern in existentialist philosophy. According to Martin Heidegger, human life is a beingtowards-death: “Holding death for true does not demand just one definite kind of behaviour in Dasein,” he writes, “but demands Dasein itself in the full authenticity of its existence.” As Gaitanidis explains: “The very power which enables man to understand his death is, for Heidegger, the same power which makes it possible for him to gain understanding of his life. Man therefore ‘sees’ his life in the light of his death.” The defining quality of life, then, is temporality. Neither of these stories’ protagonists is fully aware of temporality during their lives, and therefore each story – as it narrates a life of someone unaware of their inevitable death – illustrates ways in which people avoid existential responsibility and fail to gain full understanding of their existence. Camus sees the source of existential anguish as the tension between the human need for meaning and recognition and the indifference of the universe towards human needs. The only way to overcome the anguish is to deny either side of the tension – admit that one has
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