Everyone desires to understand the significance of life, to unveil the importance of human beings and reconcile that importance to the surroundings. Many philosophers, alive and dead, from Descartes to Eve Cole, have indulged in the question of the significance of a human life, and the relationships that people form. In real life situations, many leaders; religious, political and academic, push forwards thoughts about life. Professional counselors and psychologists make a lot of money by telling people how they can achieve their full potential. In the literal works; Doll House by Ibsen, The Plague by Albert Camus, Ikiru by Kurosawa and Woman in the Dunes by Teshigahara, we meet different characters who are embroidered in this pursuit of significance; and their efforts, experiences, and fates will be discussed in the following paragraphs.
In the novel, The Plague by Albert Camus, Dr. Rieux finds himself in the middle of a health disaster, with the outbreak of a plague that was finishing people in the city or Oran. The plague had begun when thousands of rats staggered and died in the open, and people started dying of complications that were related with the Plague (Camus). At first, the government refused to acknowledge the disaster, until convincing evidence came up. Other people in the community joined to solve the menace. Around Dr. Rieux, there are funny characters, like Cottard, who makes a fortune from smuggling goods into the country during the plague, and the priest, Father Paneloux, who delivers a powerful sermon condemning the behaviors of the people of Oran. He later falls sick and refuses to see a doctor, surrendering his fate to some divine beings. At the end of the epidemic, Cottard goes gaga and starts shooting in the streets, Dr. Rieux’s wife die after a long illness while Rambert’s wife joins him after the gates of Oran are opened.
In the play, A Doll’s House by Ibsen, we meet Nora and her husband, Torvald. From a conversation between Nora and her childhood friend, Mrs. Linde, we learn that Nora and Torvald had had a tough year in the early years of their marriage (Ibsen et al. Act 1). Torvald does not know that Nora borrowed money to take him to Italy for medication and that her creditors are on her neck (Rosenberg and Templeton 891). When he knows, he grows mad and rowdy, calling Nora a liar and deceptive person. At the same time, Krogstad, an employee at the bank where Torvald works, comes in with a letter that has Nora’s contract, reversing the anger of Torvald. The woman question arises because all the ladies in the story are shown around as subjects of men. Despite Nora making a heroic move to save her husband’s life, she gets a tongue lash and accusations of being a liar. That affirms Ibsen’s image as a chauvinist who had no respect for women rights (Templeton 29).
Kanji Watanabe is a loyal worker who has been working in the same position for thirty years. His wife passed away years ago, and he has a son who he lives with, and the wife’s son. He receives bad news from the doctor that he stomach cancer, and he only has one year to live. Depressed and traumatized, Watanabe decides to ‘enjoy’ his last year in this world by devouring the nightlife of Tokyo, where he meets a girl, Toyo, who needs his signature to resign. He is interested in her, and how she seemed very happy with life. After some time, he reveals his situation to Toyo and asks her about what keeps her happy. She narrates that she has a job where she makes toys, and it makes her very happy. That story motivated Kanji to find a purpose for his life, and he leaves the bureaucratic job and sets his time to reclaiming a pool that was full of mosquitoes and make it a children playground (Gordon)
In the film, ‘The Woman in the Dunes’, a school teacher sets for the desert in Japan to collect insects. He meets misfortune in the pretext of hospitality after missing the last bus to the city. The villagers take him to a place in the deserts where there is a house on the hill, where a lonely woman lives. Someone has to use a ladder to climb to that house, and, a ladder is erected for him, and then removed once he is in the house. He is burdened with living with the woman in the house on the dunes, and after some time, gives into the new life, thinking that even if he goes back to his wife, he will still be a prisoner (Mitchell par. 4). People in his village town wait for him for seven years, and when he does not return, he is pronounced dead.
Reflections
The characters in the ‘Plague’ and ‘A Doll House” are faced with conflicts that frustrate their lives. For instance, Dr. Rieux does everything in his power to save as many lives as possible, only for his wife to die when the epidemic is over. He sacrificed a lot for the well-being, yet he does not find peace at last, despite defeating the threat of the epidemic, and saving the city of Oran from total suffrage. One of the most interesting characters in The Plague is the priest. He declares that an epidemic is a form of punishment from God for the sinfulness of the people in that city, yet he dies of sickness, though he is cleared of the plague. Thinking about it regarding the foundation of the imaginations of Rieux, one would wonder about the significance of life, mainly because he works so had yet he suffers as much as the other people through the death of his wife.
One of the major factors that influence the character’s views of life is the culture and society where they live in. For instance, the school teacher in ‘The Woman in the Dunes’ finds himself in a place where the villagers have a weird hospitality, where they force him to live a woman. First of all, the woman in this situation does not have control on who should be her mate (Ito par. 8). Relating to the story, “A Doll House’ that revisits the woman question, or feminism, we find that the perspective of the significance of life is influenced by the majority or dominant group. While Nora and Mrs. Wilde have a sense of independence (at least they can work and choose their sexual partners), the Woman in the Dunes does not enjoy such a privilege. The fact that the villagers thought about it as a punishment shows how trampled upon women are in Japan (Welber and Templeton 361).
Perhaps, the most troubled man in the above stories is Kanji. He has lived a good life, and from nowhere, the doctor tells him that he has cancer, news that disturbs him very much. He has been living a quiet life and all of a sudden he thinks of tasting the nightlife of Tokyo. He is living with a constant fear with a series of thoughts on his life, re-questioning his past, and looking for one thing that will make him feel that he has lived a very important life. In essence, Kanji is traumatized by his inadequate use of time, rather than the shortness of the remaining period of his life. He finds himself through the lady, Toyo, who tells her about her job of making toys, that makes her happy.
Personally, I view life from the perspective of service; to fellow human beings and the entire creation. The need to live in harmony and peace with nature is critical to me because I have this thought that God wants us to advance the work of creation, by leaving this world a better place. I would relate my thoughts with Kanji’s because he decided to reclaim a pool that was infected by the mosquito to be a playing ground for children.
Conclusion
People spend more time searching for the significance of life than they do in living according to their new found meaning. In worse situations, some people never really get to understand life, and they die prematurely. For instance, Cottard in the Plague lives a wasteful life, smuggling goods and taking advantage of the epidemic. In the end, he gets confused and goes out in the streets, shooting carelessly. He is arrested and imprisoned. It means that the question of life’s significance should be taken seriously and keenly.
Works Cited
Camus, Albert. La Peste/ the Plague. United States: Debolsillo, 2005. Print.
Gelber, Michael Werth, and Joan Templeton. “Ibsen and Feminism.” PMLA 104.3 (1989): 360–362. Web. 9 June 2016.
Gordon, Jeffrey. “Kurosawa’s Existential Masterpiece: A Mediation on the Meaning of Life.” Human Studies 20.2 (1997): 137–151. Web.
Ibsen, Henrik, et al. A Doll’s House (Student Editions). Ed. Nick Worrall. London: Bloomsbury USA, 2008. Print.
Ito, Masami. Women of Japan unite: Examining the contemporary state of feminism | the Japan times. The Japan Times, 3 Oct. 2015. Web. 9 June 2016.
Mitchell, David. “No Escape.” The Guardian 7 Oct. 2006. Web. 9 June 2016.
Rosenberg, Marvin, and Joan Templeton. “Ibsen’s Nora.” PMLA 104.5 (1989): 894–896. Web. 9 June 2016.
Templeton, Joan. “The Doll House Backlash: Criticism, Feminism, and Ibsen.” PMLA 104.1 (1989): 28. Web.
