Art MOL Final

The ideas that the meanings of our lives are controlled by what other people say and do have been around for a long time. In his book “Survivor”, Chuck Palahniuk explores a step further and creates a character that has, throughout his entire life, had his meaning of life created and controlled directly by other people. Through this character Palahniuk demonstrates how modern day culture is now doing this for all of us and the meaning of life has become something impersonal that is created by other people, thus they are meaning less. Although he shows this meaning of life in the story, he also shows that even though you are stuck this way, you have to enjoy the better things in life. He does this through a secondary character's outlook on the world in the story, the main character's life as a member of the so-called “Creedish Death Cult”, and through his life afterwards as the publicly promoted hero/sole surviving member of the “Creedish Death Cult.” He also shows that you need to enjoy the finer things in this meaningless life through the main characters love interest, Fertility.

The main character, Tender Branson, has always had everything in his life controlled by others, even the meaning of his life has always been dictated by other people and never by himself. This is first evident in his situation with the “Creedish Death Cult,” in which he was raised, named (even his name was dictated by what point in the family he was born. Because he was not a first-born, and because he was male, he was named Tender, just like every other second born male in the cult), taught beliefs, and sent to work. The leading members of the Creedish “cult” control all these things. “If you met someone from the church district colony, you could say: May you be of complete service in your lifetime. You could say: Praise and glory to the Lord for this day through which we labor. […] That was the limit. […] No hugging. No hand shaking. You would say one approved bit. She would say one. The two of you would of back and forth until each of you had said two lines. You kept your heads bowed, and you each went back to your task.” The Creedish Church controlled all his actions, interactions, jobs, and relationships, and by controlling all of these things, they controlled his meaning of life, which Palahniuk is using as a blatant example for how all of our life meanings are controlled by others. Because all these things were controlled, Tender Branson’s life was meaningless, but he still tried to enjoy life, this is seen through his love interest with Fertility. However, the Creedish Church forbids him to have sex, but he still tries to enjoy the companionship of a female. Though Tender fails this relationship in the end, it still shows the importance of enjoying life despite it being controlled/meaningless.

The idea that life is meaningless is explored in other means of art as well. The song zero sum also explores the idea that life is meaningless through the idea of the end of the world, and the lead singer talks about how life has been fairly meaningless up until that point in time. “Shame on us; doomed from the start; may god have mercy; on our dirty little hearts; shame on us; for all we have done; and all we ever were; just zeros and ones” This line talks about how up until now (the end of the world) everyone has wasted their lives, and because everyone’s lives have been wasted, and now that there’s no chance to make it up (due to the fact that it’s the end of the world) our lives are meaningless. This song does a good job of expressing ideas about the meaning of life in song form. Along with the aforementioned chorus other lyrics in the song bring out the idea that even though life is meaningless and has been wasted, it was still important to enjoy life all the same: “and i guess i just wanted to tell you; as the lights start to fade; that you are the reason; that i am not afraid; and i guess i just wanted to mention; as the heavens will fall we will be together soon if we; will be anything at all” What he is implying is that although the earth is ended, he is still glad that he was able to enjoy the time spent with the person he is talking too (presumably a lover). This expresses the idea that even though life is meaningless because you die in the end, it is still important to enjoy life without worrying about your inevitable fate.

The song Zero Sum is not the only piece of art that expresses the meaning of life in that sort of way. The movie The Seventh Seal expresses similar ideas to the song about death and enjoying life. Throughout the movie the main character is striving off death by playing chess with him. The movie expresses how death is inevitable, and that death always will make life meaningless in the end, but that even though life is meaningless in the face of death, you still have to enjoy the finer things in life. In the movie, this enjoyment is symbolized by the innocence of the traveling actor family, who share strawberries with the main character during the journey and all how him enjoy life. The innocence of their child and the main character's reaction to the child shows that life is meant to be enjoyed, and that one should not brood over death, because it will happen to all of us.

The enjoyment of life is a reoccurring theme in art about the meaning of life. The writing piece Rita Hayworth and the shawshank redemption covers ideas about enjoying life no matter what situation you are in. The main hero in the book, Andy, is said to enjoy life and not let the institution of prison get him down, which is the main theme of the story in relation to the meaning of life. The idea is that no matter what situation you are in (such as facing death as in the Seventh Seal) you still need to enjoy the finer things in life, this is shown in the shawshank redemption by the way Andy lives in prison and how he still retains who he is even though prison tries to break him down. Andy is an example of a person who enjoys (in a sense) life no matter what situation he is thrown into, much like all the other aforementioned pieces of art.

The idea that life needs to be enjoyed despite the situation is a recurring theme among the displayed art, but this is not the only message conveyed by art. Art has conveyed countless ideas about the meaning of life throughout time, and is one of the greatest forms of communication. As shown art can convey idea through the use of a main character (Andy), through the use of a friend (Fertility), through the use of symbolism in a movie (Seventh Seal), and through song (Zero Sum). It is clear that art can display many messages about the meaning of life and other things, and that is the main reason art is so important to our culture, because of its ability to convey complex ideas about complex questions, such as what is the meaning of life.