Animated Existentialism Paper Example

The film showcases the ultimate fear among human beings to be death. Human beings strive to live forever in the best possible ways and go ahead to facilitate some dangerous methods that would give them a sense of immortality. One can note that the struggle to be immortal connects with the search for more meaning in life. The film represents meaning in life as one that is tied to certain values that the characters want in their lives because they are timeless. For instance, Emily clone contacts the original Emily or Emily prime to harvest memories when she understands that the world is on the verge of complete destruction (Hertzfeldt 1). She wants a human memory in which she is walking hand in hand with her mother. Such a memory is related to feelings of love, family, and togetherness that provide her bleak life with more meaning (Hertzfeldt 1). Moreover, the film highlights that the memories that contain these values in life are some of the best Emily Clone had. For example, she cherishes her love affair with David and Simon more than anything else. Therefore, the meaningfulness of life is tied to these values that connect human beings and matter to the individual desires that people have.

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Todd May illustrates the same when he talks about the nothingness of life. The author opines that life has no meaning and exists in a state of nothingness. The world is purely physical and does not have a God or anything else that could provide a sense of meaning. Hence, the only meaning that individuals can find is through aspects that tend to fulfill their desires. May opines that the universal does not provide the meaning of life that people can reference or justify. The author says, "This is not because we have hit something sturdy that resists our spade. It is only because we have run out of soil. What is left is not granite or marble; it is nothing (May 44)." Given this state of nothingness, individuals can rely on their own values and beliefs to find meaning. The same explains why characters such as Emily Clone seek attributes associated with their memories to find meaning while others risk going into space and turning into shooting stars. The struggle is to have something that is immortal to find meaning in life, which lies in aspects such as love that the film tries to showcase through the memories that Emily Clone chases. May outlines the following narrative values, "steadfastness, intensity, integrity, adventurousness, courage, and creativity (May 53)" as being part of the meaning of life because they are immortal. The values are also reflected in the film when Emily clone tells prime not to dwell on petty things but strive to live well. The values that different characters are chasing are immortal and provide life with meaning.

Works Cited

Hertzfeldt, Don. World of Tomorrow. 2015.

May, Todd. A significant life: Human meaning in a silent universe. University of Chicago Press, 2015.