Although Donnie Darko and The Plague are stories separated by nearly fifty years, the existentialist view does come through in both. In both, death is the every looming factor that the characters struggle against. It is the inevitable end that none of the characters are willing to accept. From Donnie to Rieux, everyone is trying their best to escape the fate that seems to be handed to them, simply by not believing that it has to do with fate. This is where much of the existentialism comes out, as the characters work to make things in their lives happen rather than sit back and watch. There is no God, there is no predestination. There is only a person and the decisions he or she makes daily that moves the world forward. Rieux will not accept that people are inevitably dammed for their sins, working endlessly to save as many as he can, while Donnie will not settle for allowing the people he cares about to be killed. Donnie has the extraordinary chance to see what is to come before the life changing decision must be made, a luxury Rieux is never given, which may have to do with the gap in time between the writing of the two stories, but the basic line of their lives is very similar. Creating their own meaning, they value life, and will do everything they can to stop it from being doomed to death.
I really like the idea of comparing Donnie and Rieux, i never thought of that. I think Rieux is deffinatly the person that Camus trys to portray his existetial ideals through. So i think this will be very interesting. you should also try to contrast the two characters leading for room of interpretation.
ReplyDeleteDana,
ReplyDeletesomething to think about is that death didn't shape Donnie Darko's life really. It was shaped by this obsession with Frank, and time travel, quite the opposite of death actually. I mean you could argue that death inevitably shapes everyones life, however, this is one of the main points of the debate of existentialism. Cool idea thoug
i digg it.