Term Paper Topic

Well, our days are winding down to a close, and paper topics loom before us, frightening and captivating. If only there was more time..... My sister commandeered the Internet for most of last night, so I apologize for this blog being a bit late. However, here it is.

When thinking about possible term paper topics, I knew I wanted to write about Beckett. Earlier on in the semester, I wrote a blog...more like a rant of sorts, about people dismissing the darker side of life as "depressing" and moving on. I railed on those who would rather not feel these emotions, deny their existence, rather than walking through that avenue of fire to find the revelation and discovery on the other side. Some things are worth being felt....deeply. I really connected with Malone Dies. Though he strips away everything from his characters, I found this absence, this nothingness, was full. Just as when true silence abounds all around you and you feel it like a physical presence or force, I found this emptiness to be deafening.

In my paper, I will be adressing this process of kenosis or emptying out of self to reach the core. This term relates to alchemy in some ways, but is more connected to a process of awareness in my eyes as opposed to a process of purification, though this absolutely comes into play. There is a certain sense of endurance in Malone, a desperate clinging to life combined with unattachment and breaking down. I find the paradox of emptying self to find self incredibly engaging. In my paper I want to describe or dive into this process and see what results.