Brendan Behan’s The Quare Fellow and Samuel Beckett Essay

Brendan Behan’s The Quare Fellow and Samuel Beckett Existential works are difficult to describe because the definition of existentialism covers a wide range of ideas and influences almost to the point of ambiguity. An easy, if not basic, approach to existentialism is to view it as a culmination of attitudes from the oppressed people of industrialization, writers and philosophers during the modern literary period, and people who were personally involved as civilians, soldiers, or rebels during WWII and witnessed the worst aspects of life and war. These attitudes combined the aspects of loss of identity and autonomy, the uselessness of pain, a sense of alienation, and the meaninglessness of a harsh life where death is the only way†¦show more content†¦Brendan Behan’s play, The Quare Fellow, contains all the characteristics of an existential work through the depiction the realistic portrayal of an Irish prison. Behan wastes no time in expressing his disdain for the public’s blind acceptance of the present state and motives of the modern world. The setting of the play, an Irish prison, is a microcosm for the modern, capitalistic society. In this context, the inmates represent ordinary citizens of society and the warders, respectively, represent those who maintain power and order—governments and corporations. Behan’s presented imagery is that of an inescapable world where no person is actually free. There are always powers that people must follow and respect in order to survive in such a society. The loss of autonomy and complete freedom is always the result, thus perpetuating the stratification of power and the continued sacrifice of the masses; however, the delusion of freedom is always present. Although Mickser is released from the prison, there seems to be little hope in his future as â€Å"he’ll be back,† inevitably, in prison (Behan 309). Mickser is a physically free man, but with the world working against him, he will return to the place where every decision is