F IN AL P R OJEC T FOR THE COUR SE HIS TOR Y OF M ODER N THOUGHTS

TEGUH UTOMO 072154241

History of Modern Thoughts English Literature 2007

Existentialist Atmosphere on John Galsworthys Quality

I. Introduction
John Galsworthy is an English novelist and playwright who won the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga published between 1906 and 1921 and as a collection in 1922. In most of his works, Galsworthy satirically criticizes the hollow insularity of everything from matters of property and marriage to the ideologies of the class into which he was born. This short essay is going to talk about how John Galsworthy applies the ideology existentialism on one of his short stories entitled Quality. The thinker or philosopher who will help the writer elaborate this essay is Jean Paul Sartre, a French existentialist who asserts freedom of human beings which he considers as the symbol of human existence. To make this essay well organized, the writer will not include any existentialist ideas belonging to other existentialists. This writing will not also personally discuss Galsworthys ideologies in his real life or as the writer of the short story being analyzed, but specifically more on the ideology which is revealed in this story. The writer puts aside the role of Qualitys author, but the role of idea that the Qualitys author tries to reveal, in order to be an objective analysis.

II.

Sartres Existentialism
The basic thought of Sartre's existentialism can be found in The Transcendence

of the Ego in which he says that the thing-in-itself (an individual material) is infinite and overflowing. Sartre refers to any direct consciousness of the thing-in-itself as a "pre-reflective consciousness." Any attempts to describe, understand, historicize etc. the thing-in-itself, Sartre calls "reflective consciousness." There is no way for the reflective consciousness to include the pre-reflective, and so reflection is fated to a form of anxiety, which is the human condition. The reflective consciousness in all its

Existentialist Atmosphere on John Galsworthys Quality

F IN AL P R OJEC T FOR THE COUR SE HIS TOR Y OF M ODER N THOUGHTS

forms (scientific, artistic or otherwise) can only limit the thing-in-itself by virtue of its attempt to understand or describe it. It follows that any attempt at self-knowledge (selfconsciousness-a reflective consciousness of an overflowing infinite) is a construct that fails no matter how often it is attempted. Consciousness is consciousness of itself insofar as it is consciousness of a transcendent object (object of physical human experiences). The same thing holds true about knowledge of the "Other." The "Other" (meaning simply beings or objects that are not the self) is a construct of reflective consciousness. A volitional entity must be careful to understand this more as a form of warning than as an ontological statement. However, there is an implication of solipsism here that Sartre considers fundamental to any coherent description of the human condition. Sartre overcomes this solipsism by a kind of ritual. Self consciousness needs "the Other" to prove (display) its own existence. It has a "masochistic desire" to be limited, that is, limited by the reflective consciousness of another subject. This is expressed metaphorically in the famous line of dialogue from No Exit, "Hell is other people." Sartre stated that "In order to make myself recognized by the Other, I must risk my own life. To risk one's life, in fact, is to reveal oneself as not-bound to the objective form or to any determined existence--as not-bound to life", meaning the value of the Other's recognition of me depends on the value of my recognition of the Other. In this sense to the extent that the Other apprehends me as bound to a body and immersed in life, I am myself only an Other as Ego. The main idea of Jean-Paul Sartre is that we are, as humans, "condemned to be free." This theory relies upon his belief that there is no creator, and is formed using the example of the paper knife. Sartre says that if one considered a paper knife, one would assume that the creator would have had a plan for it: an essence. Sartre said that human beings have no essence before their existence because there is no Creator. Thus: "existence precedes essence". This forms the basis for his assertion that since one cannot explain their own actions and behaviour by referencing any specific human nature, they are necessarily fully responsible for those actions. "We are left alone, without excuse". Sartre also maintains that the concept of authenticity and individuality have to be earned but not learned. We need to experience death consciousness so as to wake up
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F IN AL P R OJEC T FOR THE COUR SE HIS TOR Y OF M ODER N THOUGHTS

ourselves as to what is really important; the authentic in our lives which is life experience, not knowledge.

III.

Existentialism on Galsworthys Quality

Before the writer starts his explanation about existentialism in Galsworthys

Quality in details, the writer will firstly present the plot summary. Quality is a short story talking about dignity, integrity, and dedication which are tightly upheld by two boot makers (Gessler brothers) during their life-time. For years these two Gessler brothers make and sell boots in two little shops which are let into one. The younger brother makes contact with the customers (one of the customers is the narrator), so what is called integrity and dedicationcan be seen through him. For him making boots is an art and an aesthetic masterpieces. The boots they make can last terribly long and their beauty is mysterious and wonderful. But then the big firms of the bootmakers are diminishing Gesslers trade. According to the younger brother the big firms just rely on advertising not on quality. They are forced to abandon one of their two shops to another bootmaker who represents the new regime of advertising and quick service, and this causes the death of the older brother. However, the younger brother refuses to meet the new competition and continues to use the best leather and to produce boots of supreme quality. He finally dies because of slow starvation as his older brother did. The ideology of Mr. Gessler (the younger Gessler) in this short story reflects the idea of existentialism, and that is the main thing to discuss in this essay. Three main things that really impress the writer dealing with the philosophy existentialism in the short story, as follows: 1. The younger Gesslers dedication and integrity in doing his job. 2. The younger Gesslers firmness in refusing to meet the new competition with new companies. 3. The death of the younger Gessler as the result of slow starvation. In running his boot business, the younger Gessler never makes any boots if there are no order. This is because he wants each pair of boots to be a custom fit to each individual and for every pair he makes. He uses a pattern which is taken from the customers foot size. He makes the boots ordered as perfectly as possible. Even he tells his customers (the narrator) that he will give back their money if the boots he makes
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F IN AL P R OJEC T FOR THE COUR SE HIS TOR Y OF M ODER N THOUGHTS

get creaked and he can do nothing with it. He always would like to please and satisfy his customers. According to these facts, the writer can get how making boots becomes a big deal to Mr. Gessler. Mr. Gessler does not take care about the condition of his house, but are busy completing his boots and tries to achieve the perfection of his works. His choice to dedicate his life just to make boots with high quality represents his principle to live his life. Being successful in making perfect boots is a great pleasure for him, even it is a art for him. So, even though making boots with high quality is quite hard and can take several days, he still does it by his heart without any complaint. He chooses to chase the pleasure of presenting the best boots rather than money. He wants people to regard his existence in this world by showing his best works which are full of dedication in spite of financial risk that he has to bear. This kind of person thinks that his quality of existence as a human being is represented by the quality of his each work, in this case, as a boot maker of course it refers to the quality of boots. So, he can be himself with his way of living his life, not being money-oriented which means being moneys slave which means being nothing or not exists. Talking about the death of the older Gessler, the writer tries to connect this with the lost half of his shop. The death of the older brother seems reveal the defeatedness of him, but that is not absolutely true. The death of the older brother after losing the half of the shop is the symbol of his victory instead. In this case Galsworthy tries to depict that for the older Gessler, losing the half of his shop does not mean that he has to involve in the competition. As a human being it is a must for him to die, but his existence with high dedication and integrity will not die before he physically dies. If he dies as the result of lacking money, it is the risk. This is just like what Sartre ever states that to make us recognized by others, we must put ourselves on risk. So this is the consequence of his existence. The younger Gessler firmness in refusing to meet the competition shows how consistent he is. Even though the same principle has led to his older brothers death, he is not afraid of it at all. He keeps upholding his old principle driven by his own willingness and he seems to be ready for the risk and consequences. Even he makes more effort to make boots that can last long time better than ever. Galsworthy designates the younger Gessler as a man with strong freewill to live. The younger Gessler does not want to be a slave of competition, because involving in competition
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F IN AL P R OJEC T FOR THE COUR SE HIS TOR Y OF M ODER N THOUGHTS

means having no dedication. Mr. Gessler chooses to maintain the authenticity of him and of his works, from which he is considered to be existent despite his death of slow starvation at the end.

IV.

Conclusion
This short story seems to suggest that those who do not get involved in

competition are those who will die. However, the strong willingness to maintain the principle that the young Gessler considers as the right ideology has made him as he is. His dedication, integrity, perfectionism, and his firmness is actually he heimself, who exists in this world. Thats his identity. Any risks/consequences he has for his choice are considered as what he is responsible for, despite his terrible death of starvation.

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Existentialist Atmosphere on John Galsworthys Quality