Seeking_Meaning_Essay

It is an innate part of the human condition to continually seek meaning and purpose in our lives. This desire is driven not only by an awareness of our mortality, as explored by Jack London’s short story “The Law of Life” and T.S Eliot’s poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, but also by our desire to enrich our lives through companionship. However, as seen in the poem “Musee des Beaux Arts”, this fervent search for meaning and purpose can result in indifference towards the experiences and emotions of others, and feelings of isolation if we are not socially-accepted. Therefore, man’s thirst for a meaningful existence plays a significant role in the human condition. In man’s quest for purpose, we are often so strongly driven by our desire to discover meaning that the suffering and emotions of others are frequently overlooked. In “The Law of Life”, the bleak imagery used when Koskoosh’s granddaughter is ‘too busy to waste a thought upon her broken grandfather, sitting alone there in the snow’ reflects how we are most absorbed in furthering our own lives, at the expense of others. Short sentences such as “camp must be broken” emphasise the matter-of-fact manner in which the tribe is abandoning Koskoosh, and how they are coldly moving on with their lives. This indifference towards the suffering of others is instilled deep within the human psyche, as reflected by the cyclical nature of the plot when it is revealed Koskoosh once “abandoned his own father on... the Klondike”. ‘Musee des Beaux Arts’ conveys a similar message – that because humans are so intensely focused on their own lives, they become indifferent to the suffering of others. The conversational tone of “eating or opening a window...” creates a casual atmosphere which contrasts starkly against the strong emotions associated with suffering, showing how easily we can continue with our lives despite tragedies. The antithesis between ‘the aged... passionately waiting’ and ‘children who did not specially want it to happen’ exemplifies how we are rarely concerned by the events others are experiencing, and how we prefer to be absorbed in our own concerns and activities. Even the deaths of others rarely impacts our conscience, as conveyed by the cynical tone used when the narrator describes Icarus’ death as ‘not an important failure’. This idea echoes the metaphor used when Koskoosh from “The Law of Life” describes his ancestors as ‘episodes’ that ‘did not count’. Thus it is obvious, that through our intent pursuit for fulfillment in our own lives, we often overlook the suffering and hardships experienced by others. Our desire to seek meaning within our lives impels us to experience a fulfilling life before our deaths. In T.S Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, Prufrock is severely troubled by the fact that he is aging, with the repetition of ‘there will be time’ ironically emphasising how time is running out for Prufrock to find fulfillment and purpose in his life. He is acutely aware of his mortality, as conveyed by the euphemism in “I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat” and the admission that he “was afraid”. Melancholy imagery of ‘lonely men in shirt-sleeves’ hints that Prufrock is desperate to find satisfaction in his life before he becomes one of those men. The repetition in “I grow old… I grow old…” highlights how Prufrock is aging, and must hurry to discover meaning within his life before he dies. However, these views towards death are contrasted in “The Law of Life” where Koskoosh suggests that the search for purpose in our lives is meaningless, considering that we all die anyway. Motifs of death such as “the yellow leaf” or “the moose pulled down by the wolves” effectively highlight the mortal nature of our existence. The symploce in “Did he not perform it, he died. Did he perform it … he died”, suggests that the pursuit for purpose in life is futile, since we all die eventually. However, Koskoosh does admit that for the others in the tribe, “Life called … and the duties of life, not death”, with the conduplicatio emphasising how in life, it is our pursuit for purpose and meaning which drives us. Thus, our mortality compels us to pursue meaning and purpose before it is too late. Therefore, it is clear that man’s search for a purposeful and meaningful existence has profound impacts on the human condition. It not only drives us to achieve a rewarding life before we die, but also has negative consequences, such as emotions of isolation and alienation, or indifference towards the hardships suffered by others. Hence, it is evident that that the perpetual quest to live a fulfilling life plays an essential part in the human condition.