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...