The human condition
requires that we search for our purpose.
No matter how old, what race, or what social class, every person on this
planet searches for purpose in some way or another. Some find purpose through belief in a
deity. Some search for purpose in power
over others, or simple relationship with the world around them. Literature has found a way to discuss this
search for purpose – all literature has. The primary link that connects the
literature we have looked at in class, and all time, is the common desire of
all humans to have a purpose in this life.
In
Modiano’s work, Afterimage, we see a
photographer who searches for purpose.
He looks in his memories, in images, and in his lack of attachment to
any worldly locations. We see people
searching for purpose through the contrasting motifs of religion and love in Love and Other Demons. It is written “For you was I born, for you do I have life, for you will I
die, for you am I now dying.”
Speaking of reasons for why people live, what they live for. The Rod
of Justice provides an example of a man who eventually finds peace in
finding his purpose at the end of his life.
Kraukauer
refers to purpose throughout his book, we see McCandless giving up what many
people would consider great purpose (career, love interests, etc) for what he
considers to be important. In Candide,
Voltair writes "it was love;
love, the comfort of the human species, the preserver of the universe, the soul
of all sensible beings, love, tender love." Purpose, meanings, and search for what we are
here for is the motif for all these pieces and more.
Each piece of literature throughout history is an example
of a way that humans have searched for meanings. Whether this is a single human searching for
meaning for his life or a group of people looking for their future, all
literature is about meaning. All
literature is about people searching for purpose.
