Philosophy Students...

How does the following passage relate to existentialism?

"It was as if the boy had already divined what his senses and intellect had not encompassed yet: that doomed wilderness whose edges were being constantly and punily gnawed at by men with plows and axes who feared it because it was wilderness, men myriad and nameless even to one another in the land where the old bear had earned a name, and through which ran not even a mortal beast but an anachronism indomitable and invincible out of an old dead time, a phantom, epitome and apotheosis of the old wild life which the little puny humans swarmed and hacked at in a fury of abhorrence and fear like pygmies about the ankles of a drowsing elephant;- the old bear, solitary, indomitable, and alone; widowered childless and absolved of all mortality- old Priam reft of his old wife and outlived all his sons." THE BEAR, by William Faulkner

Grassroots Existentialism: APRIL 20, 2010

"Life is here, we live it, we endure it, and we do so without any knowledge of how we have become." From "The Revolting Test", April 19, 2010

For more reflections on the Meaningfully Absurd read the following poem and comment regarding its use of existentialist ideas...

Under the Sun

I have yet to find myself
For I was born under the sun.
Amongst every living creature
I have no sense of purpose.
Alive in awe of wind and fire

I have yet to prove myself
For I am a new born.
The worn out burden of the planet
The existential put to the test.
Destruction of life proves much easier than creation

I have yet to end myself
For I have too much pride.
Look down at the sea of creation
And know it was me.
Gaze at the power of nature harnessed
And know it was me.
See the extermination of my worldly brethren
And know it was me.


For I was born under the sun
And I’m here to stay