Jean-Paul Sartre, one of the big poppas of existentialism (Heidegger gets the official title), said life was like walking around a dark room looking for the light switch. There is no certainty and hope/faith is absurd.
For this blog, write a formal response in which you define existentialism in your own words (no copy paste from dictionary.com) Then imagine you are in that dark room (similar to Helen on a metaphorical level) and what would happen if you found the switch, and everything you thought you knew was wrong. Nothing looked the same, nothing was as you thought, and you have no idea how to process this new world. I want deep thinking. What is to be done? Minimum - 150 words.
18 comments:
If I were in Helen's "dark room" and suddenly was able to see everything for what is was supposed to be, I would feel alone. I would feel more alone than I did in my dark room. At this point in the story, Helen is quite content about what her world is like and knows nothing else. If or when Annie finally teaches Helen words, will Helen just break down and figure out that her dark world was lacking substance? If I were Helen I know I would break down. It is a scary thought learning that what you thought about the world, and more importantly about yourself, was wrong. Existenstialism in this case, is the ability to open your eyes and figure yourself out. Once turning on the light switch in your dark room, would this even be possible?
Existentialism is the idea of people being themselves, and seeing one another in a certain way. Helen was in a world different then the average person, she was in her own dark room where she couldn’t see or hear. I cannot imagine not being able to see or hear. The only thing playing in Helens favor is that she doesn’t understand what she’s missing, but if Helen was able to find the switch and turn on the lights her world would change completely. If Helen was some how able to regain her vision or hearing, she would most likely be overwhelmed. There would be so many things that she wouldn’t understand and that would be new to her. All the things that went on in her mind, most likely have been changed. I would probably be in shock; there would be so many things that I had never seen before. I don’t know if I could handle it.
Existentialism is the thinking that every thing you do and every movement you make affects your existance. Sometimes life can be like walking around in a dark room looking for a light switch. You may be lonely looking for someone to be your companion or you may be lost looking for a direction to go. Helen is very much in a dark room because she is unable to see or hear and can not communicate with other humans. If I were in her place I would be very confused and angry that I cant understand or talk to others. Once the light goes on I would be even more confused since everything I knew was gone. I had to learn something completely different which can be very difficult. This new way of thinking would be overwhelming but eventually interesting and helpful in life later on. Jean-Paul Sartre stated something that shows how being in a dark room can affect your mood, personality and life. Since Helen has been in a dark room for so long it has made her into a crazy child that doesnt know how to communicate and act.
Existentialism is when someone is isolated from a certain experience or atmosphere. This is exactly what it would be like if you were in a dark room searching and searching for the light switch and finally find it. You would finally realize what you were missing and how certain things are different from different perspectives. This is just like Helen, if she would be able to “turn the light on” after being in this dark room her whole life she would have everything in her train of thought change. She would have been living her whole life classifying things as they are without seeing them with her actual eyes and being able to see with your eyes for the first time would leave you with no idea. I know if I was in Helen’s situation and then being able to “turn the light on” I would be freaked out. I would have no idea what to do or what was going on. It would be like learning things all over again with different senses. In this new world it would take weeks to get used to it and accept it how the world really is.
Existentialism individuals responsible for their own actions. To put oneself in Helen shoes and imagine that since age two it was impossible to see or hear anything is frightening to think about. What is even worse is to think about is the fact that all your life you have developed an idea about everything without ever seeing it and one day when it finally is possible to see, everything becomes unfamiliar. Now everything would have to be re-taught. It is as if the individual is a new born baby at the age of thirty-five. Life would be difficult as well as confusing. Metaphorically, “turning the lights on” can be looked at as a person has planned out their life just to how they want it to be and suddenly this one change has thrown off everything. Not only would the person be confused as to what to do next but they would also most likely become upset with the result.
To me existentialism is ones will to want to look for a change. Whether they are looking for something inside themselves or not, it cant be certain as to what they will find for that is a mystery (the darkness). For Helen this darkness is real to her everyday. She is unable to know what is actually happening and what is going on. She has no I way to actually tell what the light looks like but if she every found it could be catastrophic. For being in complete darkness for a long time it would be totally different for her and she probably wouldn’t be ably to handle it. If I were in this situation f being in the dark and when the light was turned on I wouldn’t know what to do. It would be a whole new world that I wouldn’t be able to handle ad might go insane trying to.
life is a dark room no question about the truth fullness of this statement. Blinded by the true meanings that people take for granted. Blinded by appearance or stature or simply by the color of there hair. In Helen kellers world it is dark but in a sense she can see better then any of us. having sight is truly not seeing. seeing is looking past mere physical aspects of life to see what really lies beneath the surface. If Helen kellens dark room in which her mind roams happens to be a light. her life would change. she would gain the option to judge by appearance and not sincerity she'd learn to sort those physical appealing from those intellectually appealing. She would not loose she would gain a whole new world and loose and old one. Shed be pained that most things aren’t as they seamed. she will forever learn from this dark room though. She will know to have sight and to actually see.
Existentialism is ones who will want to look for a change. The dark room represents life and when you find that light switch everything seems to come together. If I was in a dark room like Helen I would be scared and annoyed because you can’t understand and relate to the world around you. When I find that switch my whole life gets shined upon and like Helen I start to understand. But everything I thought and imagined was wrong I would be devastated because I would have to change the way I use to thing about everything. Helens mind has started to change because of the new learning she is going through. All this learning has changed almost all her thoughts on how everything was and how they worked. The biggest improvement on Helens life though is being able to communicate with others and being able to know what’s going on in her life.
Existentialism is the idea of individualism and that every move you make effects the future. If I was in Helen's "dark room", my hopes and dreams would be high. When and if I found the switch, I'd be gleaming at first. However, when I looked around, and realized how different everything is, I would suddenly feel alone. Helen is not able to see or hear in her "dark room", or world, but good for her, she doesn't understand the rest of the world. She doesn't know what shes missing. If she as able to suddenly open her eyes, everything around her wouldn't have meaning. I wouldn't be able to process the new world and it take a lot of time getting used to my surroundings. I would probably be in shcok at first, but as time went on, I get even more excited to see more and more of the new world. It may never have been like what I imagined, but it has so much more meaning and greatness than a dark room. I would be happy to finally find the light switch because it would be like reaching my hopes and dreams.
Existentialism is the idea of people believing in what they want to believe. These people live in their own world and are used to living that way, without the use of sight. If I was born blind and/or deaf, I would probably be fine and able to move on with my life. However, if I became blind at this point in my life, I would struggle. I would become depressed, angry, not knowing what to do anymore with my life. If I was born blind, but had the chance to turn on a switch to see, it would be overwhelming. Able to see and understand what everything looks like again. Helen Keller would be overwhelmed as well, to see every detail; such as the color of her doll’s eyes. If it was someone else they would realize that they do not need sight to be happy in life. Sight is not more of a literal knowledge, but a metaphorical knowledge.
Ya I definetly would be scared if everything i thought was wrong. Although as scared as i might be i think...no i know my anger would be a hundred times worse. I would be soo angry that everything i thought was wrong and exspecially to have someone else tell me that im wrong i would flip! If i dont know what something is i have to find out for myself i dont want anyone to do it for me. Existenstialism i think is knowing who you are and looking at yourself in that way and looking at everyone else in a different perspective. For Annie to "turn on the light switch" for Helen is good in a way and bad in a way. Good in that shes trying to help Helen understand the greatness of the world but bad for Helen because she feels hopeless and has to "rely" on someone else.
Existentialism is the notion that life is what you make it. You decide your destiny and surroundings; your relationships have the freedom to do as you chose. As Jean- Paul Sartre stated "life was like walking around a dark room looking for the light switch. There is no certainty and hope/faith is absurd." Helen can’t see or hear the world around her. She gets through life by touch. She is in darkness everyday of her life and unlike normal people who would be able to "turn on the lights" she will never have that opportunity. She touches things and decides by her own definition and not by the world around her what things are. If she could regain her vision her world would be turned upside down. Having her sight at age two she must have some mental pictures in her mind, yet over the course of her life it is most likely that they are now distorted. Nothing would be what she though it was because there is a very low percentage that she conceived that things were in terms of what society uses them for. She would be extremely confused, befuddled, and overwhelmed.
I believe that Existentialism is one creating their own view or role in like, and its also the outlook people have on there life. If i had what little perception of life like Helen did, and suddenly i began to see the only thing i thought of life wasn't remotely true, I would feel lost. It would be like what we talked about in class, going to a different country, not knowing one person, and having no clue what anything means. This reminds me of the time when i was a little boy , and i got lost in the mall, i thought my parents forgot about me , and i had no idea what to do but in Helen's case its different, cause she hasn't seen or herd on thing, so all her belief would be ripped away. I know that i could never handle what she went through, and i have unending respect for her.
Existentialism is the idea that a person takes responsibility for their actions without knowing if it right or wrong, good or bad. If I was in the dark room and found the switch, I would be scared and confused. I would wonder why nothing looked like what I thought it did. Helen is in that "dark room." She doesn't have a good understanding of the world around her. She only knows what she thinks things are, she doesn't really know the actual objects. If Helen ever found the switch, she would be in shock because everything she thought was right was actually wrong. She wouldn't be able to deal with what was going on around her. I would feel the same way if this ever happened to me. For Helen, and for me, it would take several weeks, or months, to finally be able to process and accept this "new" world.
If i were placed in a dark room, similar to Helen's, i would feel very uncomforatable. i would not be used to the change. Everybody has their own prefrences and customs that they've aqurired over the years. Existenstilism is the idea that everyone is diffrent, and you as an idividual is the only one who completly understands whats really happening. If i had been born blind, dumb, and deaf Hellen's dark room would not seem so foreign to me. When one experiences something dramatic it has the possibility of changing their whole perspective on it. Helen grew with her disablilities. This gave her the ability to become acoustomed to them.
If I were in Helen’s dark room and I found the light switch and turned it on, and when I did everything was different than what I thought it was I would want to shut it back off, and go back to my dark room. This far into the story all Helen knows is her dark room where she thinks and “sees” things the way she wants to see them, if I were her and suddenly now at age 6 found out that everything I had learned was wrong I would want to just be left alone so I could go back to my life the way it had been. If today my world changed and I found out everything I had known had changed and nothing was what I thought it was anymore I would freak out and want everything back to normal. Now as Annie opens doors for Helen, maybe Helen just wants Annie to leave her alone so she is able to just live in her dark room. Existentialism in this story is developing Helen’s dark world into something that she is not used to, opening new doors for her to explore.
Existentialism is the idea of believing in what you want to believe in and every step you take will affect your future in some way or another. If I was in Helen’s “dark room”, I would honestly be scared. Knowing and imagining the world in a different perspective and then one day when it is possible for you to see it is strange and unfamiliar. Once and if I saw the world as it is today I would want to learn and experience thing that were not possible for me to do without sight. It would be very challenging and time consuming for someone to learn all over again. In Helen’s dark room it is always dark and silent but when she opens her eyes to a whole new world it will amaze her. She will get to experience the world just like a human that can see. Finding the light switch would reach the expectations that Helen has always dreamed about.
The definition of existentialism is to bland. The true definition can be seen through example. The metaphor in that helen is in a dark room and searches for this light switch that she suddenly finds and flips her world. The is would be the definition of existentialism. the example makes it the definition because helen had understood everything her own world, made the picture of what she though everything had appeared to be and suddenly everything she though she knew suddenly replaced with how reality made it. If i were placed in helen situation searching for this light switch and found it. which flipped my world and told me everything i knew was wrong, i would personally be afraid, i would be afraid to try and accept what i grew up learning was different. although switching the light was my decision so it meant i was ready to try and understand what society had really made everything out to be. Many people that could be placed in this situation of having there world flipped would most lily scare them and effect them greatly. there are several examples of cases where blind people are cured in that there vision is restored, and within their first weeks months or even years that they want to be blind again because they cant understand it because it contradicting what they know. all of the examples define existentialism because the true meaning is what one believes is taking away from them and new rules are forced into them to create their society's reality.
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