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ESSAY SAMPLE ON "THE PHILOSOPHY OF TARZAN'S ME TARZAN, YOU JANE" |
I Am Me, and You Are You
Existentialists view mankind as individuals whose unique past experiences establish
personal characteristics that set all of us apart. This idea can be best expressed in an
intuitive statement by a celebrated individualist, Tarzan. "Me Tarzan, you Jane" is at
the nucleus of the beliefs of the existential atom. This seemingly simplistic statement
relates to existentialism by leading us to the idea of man's individualism, guiding us to
belief of existence before essence and ushering us to the notion of freedom of choice.
These three beliefs can then be related to the characters in the existential writer
Jean-Paul Sartre's "No Exit."
At first reading of this statement, one notices Tarzan's word choice. "Me Tarzan, you
Jane" implies that Tarzan and Jane are not one and the same. Instead, they are two
different people who lead very different lives. Tarzan, the Ape Man, is by nature
different than his newfound lady friend. Existentialists would further this train of
thought to say that since people are always different, they can never be the same. They
would then argue that every person is an individual, not a copy from a predetermined
mold. Jean-Paul Sartre also portrays his characters as individuals, not carbon copies of
each other. Garcin, a soldier who went AWOL, certainly lived a different life than the
baby-killer Estelle.
These individualistic qualities lead to us by Tarzan's statement, now guide us to the
existential belief of existence before essence. This idea consists of the belief that
people are formed from their own unique past experiences. Tarzan, a lonely boy who was
raised by a pack of gorillas, has not experienced the touch of mankind. His isolation
from the world is completely opposite from that of Jane's past. Jane, a women raised in
the indulgence of the modern day, has experienced many unique events that have made her
what she is. Jane can never know what is like to be Tarzan because she can never
experience what he has gone through. Likewise, Tarzan, the Ape Man, can never experience
what it is like to be Jane because he can never live through the unique events of Jane's
past. Sartre also gives us characters with very unique backgrounds. Garcin can never
experience the troubled past that Inez had and Inez in turn can never understand why
Garcin needs to be told he is not a coward.
After now understanding that existentialists view people as individuals who have unique
past experiences that make them who they are, existentialists would now usher us to the
notion of each character's freedom of choice. By seeing Tarzan and Jane as individuals
with different pasts, existentialists would argue that each would react differently to a
situation. This choice is based on their past experiences. Tarzan's primordial
introduction is one example.. His choice of words are based on how he was raised. "Me
Tarzan, you Jane" hardly sounds like the word's of an educated man. According to
existentialists, if Jane were to do the introducing it, would be more formal than
grunting. Sartre also shows this through the ways each of his characters reacts to their
eternal home. Garcin's past experience of being a journalist influences his attitude
upon arriving in the room. He takes a very investigative look at it , noticing every
detail of his new home while his roommates seem to not really care.
Although, at face value, Tarzan's statement, "Me Tarzan, you Jane," seems very
simplistic, by analyzing it in an existential view, we notice it is more than what it
appears to be. Existentialists, such as Jean-Paul Sartre, see that this statement
brings forth three concepts of existentialism: individualism, existence before essence
and freedom of choice.
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