Farewell

When I started this blog, I expected to write about literature; giving my interpretations of symbols and meanings while supporting my claims with the critiques of authoritative writers. What I didn’t expect was the much self-reflection.

My Narration blog in particular forced me to do some introspection. I had to explain why I like Absurdist literature, and what brought me to like it. This was the hardest blog for me to write because it was about me. I don’t like writing about myself, and I feel a lot more comfortable writing objectively. Having done the narration blog, however, I learned a bit about myself, and it made me analyze further what it is that I see in such writings, and what it says about me.

I feel that after having written these blogs, I have become a better writer. Yes, I learned good writing techniques, such as using active verbs instead of passive ones, writing good first sentences, and tying in the first and last paragraphs. But I gained more than this. Over the last few weeks, I have become more analytical in my writing, more reflective and more thoughtful.

My first blog dealt with Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. I presented a clear thesis and then went to prove it. But I wouldn’t consider this great writing. Looking through my blogs, I can see that they become less and less about proving a thesis, but more about what the works say about mankind in general, and how the works tie into the philosophies of existentialism and absurdism. In this way, my writing has improved. Instead of viewing the works in isolation, I have been able to tie them into real life situations and see connections to the philosophies of the time. I still have a long way to go, and I plan on developing this further as I continue with my education.

As this is my final blog, I must say goodbye. I enjoyed writing the blogs especially because I knew that others would be reading them, and this made me want to improve even more, and make my writing more interesting. I appreciate the comments I have received on my blog over the last few weeks. Solipsunny, in particular, has written some very thoughtful comments on a few of my blogs, tying in the philosophies that she’s been reading with the works that I’ve been writing about. Magic Maker, as well, has provided some thoughtful comments on modern literature in general. Thank you to all who have read and commented on my blog. Writing means so much more to me when I know that people are actually reading what I have written.

One thing that I have tried to stress in my blogs is that of individualism, of thinking for oneself and using one’s free will purposefully. Many have a negative view of existentialism, seeing it as a pessimistic and depressing outlook on life. I have attempted to emphasize that existentialism is not a pessimistic philosophy, but a logical one which sees human beings as free and able to accomplish much. As Albert Camus, an existentialist states in his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus”: “The point is to live.”

This blog has allowed me to analyze works more thoroughly and read works that I have always wanted to read, but never made the time for. I have also learned a lot about myself, and learned about authors and philosophers. In the future, I plan on developing my ideas about these works more, and developing my writing further.