Jean-Paul Sartre by René Marill-Albérès

Author:René Marill-Albérès
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497675964
Publisher: Philosophical Library/Open Road

IV. THE ODYSSEY OF FREEDOM

A. FROM ESTHETICISM TO ACTION

The Flies (1943) reflects the profound influence which the war, captivity, and the Resistance had on Sartre’s thought. Until then he had insisted that individual freedom must not be masked and fettered by self-deception and social conformity, but he had advanced nothing, except perhaps watchful lucidity that ran the risk of remaining purely critical and negative if not actually vain, to serve as a guide in the pursuit of his ideal; we can never be certain that we are not playing a role, and even as we say to ourselves, “I will not assume a conventional attitude,” there is nothing to guarantee that we will stop being comedians.

The criterion will then be the degree of personal responsibility that we put into our acts. If the demands made on us commit us in such a way that we incur a risk, our conduct will bear the stamp of authenticity to the extent that we accept the consequences of our actions.

Such is the transformation of young Oreste during the play. Educated in the tradition of comfortable living, irresponsibility, and estheticism, far from his own family and yet responsible for avenging his father’s death, he wants only to hold on to his indecisive position and refuses to take a stand. His pedagogue had brought him up in such a way as to allow him to enjoy life even while remaining uncommitted.

“Now you are young, rich, and handsome, as circumspect as an old man; you have no beliefs, no family, no country, no religion, no occupation; you are free for any commitment and know that you must never commit yourself—in short, you are a superior man.” 1

But in this unsettled situation Oreste has an uneasy feeling; nothing constrains him, but at the same time nothing belongs to him; his freedom is empty and he wonders if he is really living:

“To love, to hate, is to give oneself up. He makes a fine impression, this aristocrat entrenched in his worldly possessions, when one day he gives himself over to love, to hate, and with himself his land, his house, and his memories.” 2

On returning at the age of twenty to the town of Argos where he was born but about which he remembers nothing, Oreste feels that he is cut off from life. Men with their problems seem alien to this stripling with none of his own. But while their industry seemed grotesque to Roquentin, Oreste is envious: “Oh, if only there were acts which would give me the rights of a citizen among them.” 3 For Sartre has now discovered in human warmth and solidarity ideas capable of giving a content, a practical application, and a field of action to freedom. To make contact with reality the man concerned with an abstract freedom must mingle with other men, enter into their quarrels, and transform the world by giving it the meaning that he has chosen. He must act and choose, but Oreste vacillates.

On learning of the crime that has been oppressing the town, he ought to try to seek revenge.

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